Wrestling Needs More Focus on Subordinate Roles

It seems that now, more than ever, WWE wrestlers are making a case for why they should be on top. Those at the bottom of the food chain have been scratching and clawing to get any sort of recognition, whether it be through social media or the limited amount of television time they get.

The fans play a role in this too. They get behind certain competitors and make cases for why they deserve more TV time, a bigger push, a shot at a championship, or something of the sort.

It seems that some fans today think every person employed by the WWE should be at the top of the company.

Now, if that’s true, who will play the subordinate roles? Who will do the jobs? Who will manage the wrestlers, willingly yielding the spotlight and only stepping in when it serves the best interest of the managed wrestler?

There’s a man who goes by the name Wicked Nemesis who manages wrestlers on the independent scene. He is one of the smartest people in the wrestling business I have ever come across and he has taught me a lot. As a manager, his focus is to do whatever he can to get over the wrestlers he manages. Anything else is just the proverbial icing on the cake.

He also stresses the importance of the role of the jobber. And it is just that: a role. This role is just as vital as the role of the heavyweight champion. The role of a jobber that can bump and sell well for the more top-tier wrestlers is sorely overlooked nowadays.

Take, for example, Drew McIntyre.

Not too long ago, he was pegged as a future world champion by none other than Vince McMahon. He has been Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion, but has been relegated to the bottom of the food chain for some time now.

McIntyre is a decent sized guy who looks intimidating in the ring. He also sells pretty well, making him a decent candidate for a jobber. Sure, he could be groomed into a champion but why fix what isn’t broken? He plays that role well and should be proud of that.

As many may recall, Koko B. Ware’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 raised a lot of eyebrows.

Throughout his entire career in the WWF, Ware was almost exclusively a jobber to the stars. I didn’t question it because I believed Ware deserved a spot in the Hall of Fame simply because he was good at what he did. After all, he was trusted to be the one to take and sell the Undertaker’s first Tombstone Piledriver.

Managers and jobbers are but two roles that are overlooked in wrestling today.

I’m not saying that wrestlers should abandon championship dreams, but rather they should play to their particular skill set. Jobbers like Ware, in addition to many managers, have been rewarded for their contributions in the form of Hall of Fame inductions.

Wrestling, like any compelling television program, needs to have someone in every role. Especially in the WWE, wrestlers should take what their given and run with it.

Only good things can come from doing one’s job well.