5 female wrestling managers who surpassed their clients in WWE

Karrion Kross is one of the rising stars in NXT at the moment, seemingly the next in line to challenge for the NXT Championship. The WWE management seems to be pushing him hard, giving him on of the best entrance gimmicks in recent history, before booking him to squash an NXT legend in Tomasso Ciampa.

But what makes the package complete is the presence of his manager/valet, Scarlett. Known as Scarlett Bordeaux in her Impact days, she was a major star in the promotion before she decided to follow Kross to the WWE. The duo are in a relationship in real life and the chemistry is for all to see on NXT.

However, there have been questions raised about their continued success as a group. Is Kross charismatic enough to headline an NXT division comprising of the likes of the Undisputed Era, Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor on his own? The gimmick and the overall presentation has masked his flaws in the ring, but what happens if Scarlett is not part of the equation?

Fans and critics have suggested that Scarlett is the bigger star between the duo and that Kross might not make it as a singles star in the WWE. While it is too early to pass that judgement, it does bring back memories of quite a few female managers in pro-wrestling who reached those dizzying heights that their clients were not able to.

This list looks at five such tandems.

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#5. Carmella - surpassed Enzo and Cass

Carmella was part of a team with Enzo & Cass

Carmella had an inauspicious debut in the WWE. She was first shown on NXT TV as a hairdresser in a throw-away segment involving Enzo Amore and Big Cass. She would soon join the duo on a permanent basis, making her main roster debut on the Roadblock 2016 pay-per-view, in a match for the NXT Tag team titles.

But things turned sour when Enzo & Cass were called up to the main roster the night after Wrestlemania 32 and Carmella was left behind on NXT. She had a match with Bayley for the NXT Women's title, but she seemed lost without her former stablemates.

She would soon join the main roster after the WWE draft, but was assigned to Smackdown whereas Enzo & Cass became major players on the RAW tag team scene. She was eventually paired up with James Ellsworth to form a comedy duo, but finally rose up the ranks after the introduction of the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match.

Carmella's women's title win ensured that she surpassed her former partners

Ellsworth climbed the ladder to retrieve the briefcase for Carmella, which sparked negative reactions on social media. People were sympathetic that Carmella's big moment was overshadowed by the inclusion of Ellsworth, but she made it right the next week when she won the follow-up ladder match to retain the title of 'Ms. Money in the Bank'.

Carmella would hold the briefcase for nearly 300 days, while the tag team she previously managed were also doing fine at this time. Enzo was the Cruiserweight champion, while Big Cass seemed to be groomed for a main event spot. However, by the time Carmella cashed in her contract on Charlotte Flair to win the Smackdown women's title, both of her former clients had left the company.

Enzo would leave after misconduct accusations outside the ring, and Cass reportedly had an attitude problem. Neither of them won the world title or even a tag team belt in WWE.

#4. Alexa Bliss - surpassed Blake and Murphy

Alexa Bliss managed Murphy and Blake in NXT

Alexa Bliss is a true pioneer of the women's evolution in the WWE. Bliss has held seven championships in the WWE, and is one of only three women in the WWE roster to have won the RAW, Smackdown and tag team titles in the women's division. However, she had quite the humble beginning in the company.

She initially had a 'fairy' gimmick, and was floundering in NXT. Bliss eventually carved a niche for herself by becoming the manager of the tag team of Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake. She would guide them during their NXT Tag team championship reign, beating the Carmella-managed team of Enzo & Cass.

Bliss, who was then dating Murphy in real-life, had a few title shots at the NXT Women's title against Bayley, but came up short. When she was called up to the main roster in 2016, expectations were low. She competed in a six pack elimination match to crown the first Smackdown women's champion, but was the first person eliminated.

Alexa Bliss is a five-time women's champion

While she didn't win the title that night, her charisma soon won over the audience. The Harley Quinn-inspired 'Little Ms. Bliss' soon got her mic time and dominated the entire women's division, so much so that WWE's top brass made the decision to take the title off the popular Becky Lynch and put it on Bliss.

She would go on from strength to strength, winning the Smackdown title three times in total before moving over to RAW and winning the RAW women's title twice. She has been credited as a major player on the women's scene, defending the women's title at Wrestlemania 33 and 34, hosting Wrestlemania 35, and winning the tag team titles at Wrestlemania 36.

While Bliss' was forced to limit her in-ring career over the past year due to concussion issues, she still towers over her former clients. Murphy enjoyed a Cruiserweight title run and has won the RAW tag team titles with Seth Rollins, and is a part of the Monday Night Messiah's faction. Meanwhile, Blake is also a part of the main roster as part of the Forgotten Sons, but has not been seen on TV for months.

#3. Trish Stratus - surpassed Test and Albert

Trish during her early days in the WWE

Trish Stratus was never supposed to be a serious wrestler in WWE. Signed to the company in the early 2000's primarily due to her looks, she did not have wrestling training and was supposed to act as valet/manager for male wrestlers. Her first role was managing the tag team of Test and Albert - dubbed T&A.

Test and Albert's average mic skills meant that Stratus' personality shone through with her promos. She would become the main focus of a number of feuds in the tag division - especially a long program when her clients faced the Dudley Boyz. She would soon split up from T&A and start a program with Vince McMahon.

While she hadn't really been in a proper wrestling match at this time, both Test and Albert were expected to get over as singles wrestlers. They would both win the Intercontinental title, with Test getting a more prominent run compared to Albert. But as time passed, the duo were relegated to the mid-card, while Trish was busy honing her in-ring skills to become the complete package.

By the time Wrestlemania 18 came around, just over a year after the team had split, Trish Stratus was challenging for the Women's title whereas Test and Albert were on dark matches. She would go on to become one of the greatest women's Superstars in WWE, overshadowing both Test and Albert in terms of in-ring accomplishments.

Trish Stratus would even return to compete against the likes of Charlotte Flair in recent years, whereas Albert's in-ring days are past him now. He is the chief trainer at the WWE Performance Center. Test sadly passed away in 2009.

#4. Sunny - Multiple teams

Sunny was more popular than any superstar she managed, including Chris Candido

While Sunny's post-WWE career doesn't leave much to write about, she became one of the most popular celebrities in the United States during her run in Vince McMahon's company. An early internet sensation, she became the most downloaded woman of 1996 in AOL.

Sunny initially managed her boyfriend Chris Candido, and Tom Pritchard, in the WWE, before going on to manage Farooq, Legion of Doom 2000, The Goodwins and the Smoking Guns. Among her clients, only Billy Gunn went on to reach top level superstardom and he had to leave her group to do so.

Sunny's addiction issues, problems with female wrestlers and no-showing multiple events led to her inevitable release from the WWE in 1998. Candido would be by her side till his death, accompanying her to ECW, WCW and the independent circuit.

While she has been mired in legal and drug issues since then, nothing can take away her accomplishments in pro-wrestling. Dubbed the 'original diva', Sunny was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, safely surpassing any of the wrestlers she managed.

#1. Sable - surpassed Marc Mero

Sable became one of the most popular WWE Divas of all time

The ballad of Marc and Rena Mero in the mid 1990's in the WWE has been told over and over. Vince McMahon was seriously impressed with the 'Johnny B Badd' character in WCW and jumped at the chance to offer the man who portrayed it a bumper WWE contract. Marc Mero took McMahon up on that opportunity, while insisting that he bring in her then wife Rena alongside him.

Vince McMahon agreed and the rest is history, even though Mero didn't become the focal point of what happened. Marc Mero's push was detested by fans and fellow wrestlers, with Mick Foley found it insulting that his WWE contract was considerably lower than Mero's. The Attitude Era fans never took to Mero, but were fascinated by the stunningly beautiful Rena at ringside.

Dubbed 'Sable', Rena surpassed Mero in popularity - so much so that WWE had to run an angle where Mero was jealous of her success. The angle ended with Sable power-bombing Mero in the middle of the ring. She would go on to replace Sunny as the most over female Superstar on the roster, earning a salary on par with the top male Superstars of the era.

Sable would win the women's title, have a WrestleMania title match and cross over to pop culture. Marc Mero, meanwhile, was let go soon after - never getting that main event push in the WWE. The final blow for Mero came when Sable decided to end things with him in real life, eventually going on to marry Brock Lesnar.

Marc Mero and Sable have taken separate paths now

Sable would have two separate stints with the WWE while also settling a case with Vince McMahon's company out of court.