Zelina Vega And The Lost Art Of The Manager In Professional Wrestling

There aren’t as many great wrestling managers as back in the day, but there’s still a few examples of some personalities that are shining through to the top.

Professional wrestling is an entertainment and art form that continues to transform. As time passes new trends come into play to replace those of previous generations. There is a laundry list of ways that wrestling has changed over the years; some for the better and some for the worst. But there’s one position in wrestling that has gone away but should make a well-timed comeback, the manager.

Look across all of professional wrestling and its clear there’s a dearth of managers to hype up the wrestlers they are acquainted with. Take a gander back through history however, and you will find a list of managers that not only made their wrestlers big name, but they eventually became big stars themselves. “Sensational” Sheri, Jim Cornette, Jimmy Hart and of course Bobby “The Brain” Heenan jump off of the page as men and women that served their role as managers so well that they eventually became legends. The skills of gab and improvising that each of them showed hasn’t manifested itself in this generation of professional wrestling.

In many ways this position has morphed into what is known as the General Manager. Take Paige on SmackDown Live and Drake Maverick on 205 Live. Both individuals are letting their personality shine through in such a way that they are nearly as much of an attraction as the men and women on their roster. Both Paige and Maverick had strong professional careers, but since circumstances have forced both of them into this role outside of physical competition. While they are not managers in the traditional sense, they have shown the ability to adequately serve in that position if the opportunity ever came up.

But there are still solid examples of managers within professional wrestling. Take Zelina Vega in the WWE and Salina de la Renta of Major League Wrestling. Both of these ladies are excelling in their roles as managers; helping their talent get over as main event stars.

In the case of Vega, she was paired with Andrade Almas at a time when it looked like he was destined for failure in the WWE. No one could argue that the man known as La Sombra was a talented performer who proved his worth all around the world. However, he struggled from day one when he joined NXT. Whether it was a language barrier or unfamiliarity with his performance in other promotions; the WWE fan base was not taking to him.

Enter Zelina and his career trajectory changed from that point. After a year of them being paired together he became a must see champion for NXT and one of the most anticipated prospects on the main roster. Zelina’s ability to deliver a powerful promo and play the compelling heel is exactly what he needed to boost his character. Then there’s the fact that she can also compete in the ring; an addition that’s going to lead to an eventual singles run of her own.

Then there’s Salina de la Renta over at MLW. She is more of the traditional, business person type of heel manager – but she’s certainly one of the biggest personalities in that brand. She’s paired with the organization’s current tag team champions, Pentagon Jr and Rey Fenix. What’s intriguing about Salina is that she doesn’t get involved in the same way that other heel managers of yesterday would have, but her character still demands the level of fear and respect that keeps the others in check. It will be interesting to watch her character continue to develop over time.

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Managers may not be as imperative to professional wrestling as they once were; but there’s an opportunity to change that when looking at the current stars across the sport. There are many men and women that are great performers but struggle to get over with the crowd. This is what makes a great manager – they do that for their wrestler and make them look good at the same time.