A professional wrestler is expected to be well rounded. He should be good in the ring and at the same time, he should excel as a performer outside the ring as well. While the combination of the former and the latter will help him or her to succeed during the phase where they work as active in-ring performers, the latter helps them to stay in the wrestling business after in-ring retirement.
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Most of the wrestlers take up non-wrestling roles after retiring. When some take-up backstage roles, others still deliver on-screen. This list is going to take a look at some of those superstars that ended up being Authority figures.
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#5 Ric Flair
The years that Ric Flair spent as an authority figure might not come easily into one’s mind. However, he played such prominent gimmicks both in WCW and WWE. Flair, who was one of the biggest draws back in the territory days, had an immense amount of power in WCW. This real life power would sometimes ooze into television as well and he was projected as a heel that would use his powers to help out his friends.
Later, Flair became the kayfabe co-owner of WWE but this time around he played a babyface as Vince McMahon was enough to keep the heel side going. Flair then got restricted to managerial roles with the most recent one coming up for his daughter Charlotte.
#4 Mick Foley
The wrestling career of Mick Foley was cut short considerably due to the amount of punishment that he’d put it through. But thanks to the great performance skills that Foley had, it was not a big problem for him to morph into a non-wrestling performer. Foley would serve as the Commissioner of the WWE for a solid time period and was known for firing and hiring heel wrestlers just to give them a lesson.
He was also the commissioner that announced the legendary TLC matches in the Tag team division during Attitude Era. Foley also had a stint as an Authority figure down in TNA as well but this is not remembered by many.
#3 Kane
The big red machine is not retired to be precise. However, for the past few years, the schedule of Kane has considerably come down and the corporate Kane gimmick helped him to transform into an Authority figure as well. The Authority angle was in top gear when Kane got included and it would be safe to say that Kane showed his versatility in the role.
In between Kane also showed that he is flexible by taking up the Big red monster gimmick and wrestling occasionally. Kane still has a lot of years ahead of him as an authority figure and hopefully, WWE will make good use of him in the coming years.
#2 Jeff Jarrett
Jeff Jarrett is a name that gets often overlooked when we discuss authority figures. Although Jeff did not play one in the WWE, his venture in TNA probably marked the most successful years in the promotion’s history. Before embarking on his journey with TNA, Jeff had some forgettable spells in WCW and WWE. He was blacklisted by the latter for his attitude and when WCW went out of business, Jeff decided to start TNA along with his father, Jerry Jarrett.
Jeff did start off as a wrestler in TNA, but soon, he involved and started playing a character which could pull strings for his favor. He is currently working out a similar role with Global Force Wrestling and still has some meaty years ahead.
#1 Triple H
Triple H has evolved as a performer over the years. He started off in WCW under a forgettable gimmick and then jumped to WWE to find huge success as a wrestler. He was a prominent part of the promotion during the Monday Night Wars thanks to the anti-authority D-Generation-X. Triple H then went on to wrestle in the main event scene for a long time before slowly starting to take up backstage roles with the WWE.
Hunter then donned the cape of a part-timer and an Authority figure on television and made the fans feel that he is indeed the next person to take over once Vince McMahon retires. The Authority figure character of Triple H was heavily inspired from real life and this might be the reason why it turned out to be a success.
