Who remembers Mike Adamle? The former NFL player and sports broadcaster was one of WWE’s worst acquisitions in company history. For much of 2008, Adamle worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in a variety of roles, including interviewer, play-by-play commentator, and General Manager of Raw. His time with the company was short-lived, which proved just how bad he was on the mic and as a figurehead in the larger than life reality circus.
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While Adamle’s time in professional wrestling was one of the company’s darkest hour, there have been others who have excelled at booking matches, providing commentary and adding to both Raw and Smackdown Live. The jury is still out on current Raw GM Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan from SmackDown Live, but at least they are not as irrelevant as someone like Adamle.
At one point WWE changed general managers as fast as the company marked days off a calendar.
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Back when WWE was building on Hulkamania and the beginning of WrestleMania, the World Wrestling Federation was ruled by the governing fist of Jack Tunney. He was known worldwide for his appearances on World Wrestling Federation television as the promotion's figurehead president who would rule on important decisions involving matches that impacted the promotion and wrestling history.
At that point, no one had ever heard of a general manager. Tunney was the “law” and was the all telling authority. Under his watch, Hogan faced Roddy Piper. Under his watch, Andre the Giant and Hogan met at WrestleMania III.
WWE has been fortunate to move forward with the changing era of the business with the general manager as the all-known wizard who made matches and laid the “smackdown” on law and disorder. Some like Adamle were awful at their “job” while others thrived at it.
Here is a look at the five best general managers WWE has had throughout the years.
Vickie Guerrero
EXCUSE ME! For everything we all hated about Guerrero, with her whiny attitude and nails on a chalkboard voice, she was solid in her role as general manager. The woman who made a living out of getting negative reactions (heat) from fans is the widow of former WWE great Eddie Guerrero.
The fact she was married to such a mega star was incorporated into many storylines. In 2007, Guerrero was first names general manager of SmackDown. During her time in “power” she was the focal point of several storylines which included La Familia, a relationship with Edge and manager of Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.
John Laurinaitis
If you believed in “Power to the People” you liked the former Johnny Ace of the wrestling ring. Laurinaitis became a figurehead in October of 2011 on Raw. Following a kayfabe 'strike' by members of the WWE roster as a result of Triple H's management, Laurinaitis was announced by Vince McMahon on behalf of the Board of Directors as the new Interim Raw General Manager.
That same night, Laurinaitis would fire Jim Ross and reinstate The Miz and R-Truth, who had been suspended following repeated attacks. He was always good at getting a negative push from the fans and was disliked by stars such as John Cena.
The Anonymous Raw General Manager
At first it was a great gimmick, with everyone wanting to know who the cryptic voice behind the computer was. But after a while, it became almost comical and made many WWE superstars agitated. This GM controlled the Raw brand from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011.
The Anonymous General manager controlled the show by sending emails to a laptop, the emails were usually read on-screen by its spokesperson, Michael Cole. The figurehead was introduced to the WWE Universe after Mr. McMahon fired Bret Hart as acting GM.
In July 2002, it was revealed that Hornswoggle was the person behind the emails, but in reality, there was never any intention to reveal the identity of the person who communicated with Cole to begin with.
Eric Bischoff
Say what you will about the former executive in the AWA, WCW, TNA and eventually, WWE. He made things interesting. Bischoff has been accused in the past for the demise of both WCW and part of the issues related to TNA. What Bischoff could do is create drama, chaos and controversy – which in the end, created cash for AWA and then WCW before the end of its role in the business.
Bischoff was one of the best heel general managers of all time, taking on Ric Flair in WCW, which was a real-life struggle between the two over Flair’s contract and WCW holdings, and later Vince McMahon over control of the company (Kayfabe). He is credited with creating the Elimination Chamber PPV during his reign in WWE.
Teddy Long
Listen up Playas. Long started in this business as a referee and moved on to managing talent before he moved into an advisory role in WWE. The man who was once affectionately known as “Peanut Head” was a general manager of SmackDown for two tenures which lasted six years.
After Kurt Angle was fired from the General Manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American general manager of SmackDown. At first, he was known for giving the fans what they wanted to see, changing the direction of the brand and making matches that favored babyfaces. Him and Vickie Guerrero had a long-standing feud of general managers that worked well as a program that ended in 2008. He also served as general manager of ECW.
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