WWE's 7 Worst General Managers and Other Authority Figures

As any long-time WWE fan will know, it was the emergence of WWE owner Vince McMahon as a heel authority figure in 1998 that led the company to its biggest-ever boom period. With his promo skills, over-the-top facial expressions and mannerisms and ability to absorb real physical punishment in matches with hated rival Steve Austin and others, Vince was a riot in the role, and he set a standard no one has been able to live up to.

Vince was an authority figure that succeeded beyond anyone's expectations.

But alas, WWE has also had its fair share of terrible, incompetent and just downright embarrassing authority figures over the years. More good than bad to be honest.

Let's be honest: The role of the authority figure isn't too difficult. Generally they exist as characters to explain the storylines more clearly to fans, make matches and, if the GM/authroity figure is the heel, stack the odds against the babyface, thus ensuring the audience is more likely to cheer the wrestler.

However, some of these people have been so bad, they make it look like rocket science. You'd think they were out there performing Shakespeare or something. 

With this in mind, here are the worst general managers/authroity figures in WWE history...

Debra

Upon her return to the promotion in late 2000, wrestling manager Debra McMichaels Williams was assigned to the high-profile role of assistant commissioner by Mick Foley, who was in charge of WWE on-screen at the time.

A terrible talker and unbearably awful actress (her acting career may have peaked in her bit part in 1994's Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre), what exactly were Debra's qualifications for the role? Eh, she was Steve Austin's real-life wife. No, really, that was probably why.

Teddy Long

OK, Teddy is a fairy smooth talker and, unlike some other authority figures in wrestling, doesn't dominate the whole show (Karen Jarrett, I'm looking at you), but he still makes the list for his sheer repetitiveness.

Picture the scene: a group of wrestlers are arguing back and forth in the ring on an episode of Smackdown. They may even start brawling. So what happens next? Long's music hits and the Smackdown GM rushes out to announce...a tag match, playa!

How many times have fans seen this scenario played out? 50? 100? And that's a conservative estimate. Gee, it's almost like Long sits eagerly backstage, just waiting for heels and faces to start fighting so he can storm out and make a tag match.

But that's not all he knows how to do. No, he can also force scared mid-card heels to go one-on-one with The Undertaker! Or, in the event Taker is off on hiatus, one-on-one with Randy Orton!

Although with both Orton and Undertaker out right now, it looks like Sheamus has now stepped into that role, judging by recent episodes of WWE's No. 2 show.

Um...I wonder if these guys mind constantly get putting in impromptu matches just because Long can't figure out anything else to do on his show?

Needless to say, while he has his strengths as a performer, Long's repetitiveness has even become a running joke in wrestling. Holla, Holla!

Tiffany

When she was appointed to the role of ECW general manager in 2009, former Diva Search contestant Taryn "Tiffany" Terrell was thrust into a high profile long before she was ready.

An embarrassingly bad actress and talker, Terrell was so awful, even by wrestling standards, she managed to take down the entire show (which until her emergence as GM, had been a quality, well-paced wrestling program) a peg or two.

With her wooden delivery and annoying habit of enunciating every single word she said, Tiffany was totally unfit for a role which required her to, you know, talk a whole lot. Check out this interview she did with interviewer Courteny Taylor, which might very well be the worst acting in wrestling, ever. Seriously, the acting in a children's nativity play looks Oscar-worthy compared to this. 

Not to mention, from a kayfabe point of view, Tiffany was a stunningly incompetent GM. Like the time she made an agreement with Teddy Long to trade in seven of ECW's top stars for three SD mid-carders. D'oh!

Even ECW's William Regal once noted that the former Playboy model had set women in management back about 20 years through her sheer stupidity and lack of a clue. Her kinky entrance theme (which featured someone singing about how "insatiable" for male affection Tiffany was) didn't exactly help her "serious, sophisticated businesswoman" act, either.

Steve Austin

OK, so WWE icon Steven Austin is a good talker, was over with the crowd and was usually pretty decent during his stint as Raw co-general manager from 2003-2004 (he shared the job with archenemy Eric Bischoff).

So why does he make this list then? Well, answer this question: Why exactly does a rebellious, anti-authorty babyface who was famous for constantly raging against the powerful corporation he worked for, like Austin was,  then suddenly turn around and accept a job upholding and enforcing said corporation's rules and guidelines?

Linda McMahon

While she hasn't been seen on WWE television in recent years due to her political aspirations, Vince McMahon's wife, Linda, was a fairly prominent on-screen character on Raw and Smackdown from 1998-2006, as she meddled in her wayward husband's affairs and attempted to keep him in line during his feuds with Austin, Mick Foley and others.

Considering Vince's tendencies to insert all his family members into storylines on Raw and Smackdown (Vince's offspring, Shane and Stephanie, have been all over television at certain points in the last 12 years), this shouldn't have been a surprise.

Regrettably though, the McMahon family matriarch is a terrible on-screen performer who comes off as forced, awkward and unnatural on-screen, something she has even acknowledged herself in interviews several times over the years.

Indeed, Linda's wooden delivery, her blank facial expressions and inability to take any bumps whatsoever (check out her atrocious selling of the Stone Cold Stunner) meant she was easily one of the least convincing authority figures in wrestling history.

Indeed, it seems her best acting performance came in an early 2001 storyline with her husband and Canadian diva Trish Stratus. Per the storyline, Vince had left his long-suffering wife for the blonde bombshell, leading Linda to have a nervous breakdown and fall into a catatonic state. A wheelchair-bound Linda was often dragged out on episodes of Raw and Smackdown so Vince could flaunt his passionate affair in front of her. 

Sitting blank-faced and staring into space, it was one of the few times Mrs. McMahon has been truly convincing on camera.

Mike Adamle

A newcomer to wrestling when he was hired by WWE to be an announcer in 2008, former NFL player Mike Adamle became something of a joke in the organization due to his lack of knowledge about wrestling and propensity to botch names and lines ("Jeff Harvey" at the Royal Rumble being the most egregious example).

Things didn't get much better when Adamle was appointed to the role of Raw general manager in July of 2008 to the shock of many.  His (terrible) promos tended to be greeted by either snickers or silence by the fans in the arena, and it was blindingly clear the wrestlers didn't take him particularly seriously, either, on or off-screen. Ultimately, few were bothered when he quit the organization in October to pursue other options.

Despite his cringe-worthy promo work, it is unfair to place the blame of Adamle's disastrous run solely on his shoulders. After being thrust into such a high-prfile position by WWE with little or no knowledge of the business, he was probably doomed to fail. 

Jeremy Piven and Dr. Ken Jeong

OK, so Hollywood star Jeremy Piven was only a guest host for one show (the August 3 Raw), but he, along with his unfunny, irritating friend, Dr. Ken, warrants a mention in this piece simply because of how truly hideous they were as temporary authority figures.

Showing up to plug their latest movie, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (a giant flop in the cinemas; by the way, presumably their obnoxious appearances here didn't help in trying to draw in an audience), the pair spent the evening interacting on-screen with main-eventers like John Cena and The Miz, as well as mingling backstage with everyone else with disastrous consequences.

Indeed, that entire episode of Raw has long been regarded as one of the worst Raws of all time, mainly due to the Ken's lame, half-hearted attempts at "comedy," and the fact that it was achingly clear to everyone that Piven was uncaring and indifferent about the product and knew virtually nothing about wrestling.

In fact, Piven's famous "Summerfest" botch (he meant the SummSlam pay-per-view, of course) in the opening skit with Miz and Cena has now become of one of the all-time great wrestling jokes.

Come on guys, no one expects you guys to be experts or anything, but a bit of research into the show you're hosting isn't exactly an outrageous demand.