In my lifetime, this argument was still being made, and effectively, albeit on a progressively smaller part of the population. Wrestling didn't used to be like it is now, and "kayfabe" was a much more serious thing as recently as ten or fifteen years ago. Wrestling was of course staged, but wrestlers up until recently defended wrestling's secrets vociferously - and sometimes physically.

One of the institutions wrestling loved was that of corner men for wrestlers, an obvious borrowing from the sport of boxing. Wrestling managers could:

• Do the talking for wrestlers who were uninspired talkers.
• Aid dastardly heels, while having a plausible excuse to be at ringside - something, believe it or not, bookers used to feel a need to explain.
• Be attractions in their own right, particularly if they were popular wrestlers past their prime or attractive women.

Oddly enough, I hear people lament the passing of managers more for the first reason than the other two.

I know wrestling is fake, but I do miss some of the trappings of plausibility wrestling used to employ. Rikishi accompanies Haku down to the ring for the latter's singles match. Why? He is only there to help cheat. They used to defend the "only the manager can be at ringside" concept, and it made a certain amount of sense.

The position of manager often kept ex-wrestlers active and contributing. Now, they pretty much have announcing and being the "commissioner" to do that. It's a shame. Some so-so wrestlers (and even non-wrestlers) have been good managers.

A lot of us have read the recent Bobby Heenan interviews. The guy was so good as a heel announcer, some forget how great a heel manager he was. He was part of a breed of cowardly managers who couldn't back up their talk except by cheating: Jimmy Hart, Slick, Mr. Fuji, Jim Cornette, and Paul E. Dangerously. Two non-wrestlers and three ex-wrestlers in the five.

Miss Elizabeth broke this mold by being Randy Savage's manager. One of the interesting facets about her was that while Savage went back and forth between being a heel and a face, Liz was always a face. Savage could abuse her and get instant heat, or defend her and get instant pops. She did wonders for him, which he really didn't need as good as he was, but her presence took every match to another level.

There have been other female managers since then, all less successful in some way. "Woman" (Nancy Sullivan) was very good for a short run in WCW back in the early 90's. Sensational Sherri (Martel) had her days. The most successful of all the lady managers was Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, before the ravages of drug addiction derailed her. She was, in many ways, the last manager of either sex who could be used to get almost anybody over.

For years, the kiss of absolute death in wrestling was to be stuck being a face manager. They distracted the ref more often than not at the worst times, and contributed nothing. The days of face managers were effectively ended when Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel in the Bob Backlund - Iron Sheik match.

I mentioned it earlier, but the question comes up periodically in wrestling discussions: what happened to the institution of managers in wrestling? Three or four things, I think. Namely:

1. Economy. Managers who can't or won't wrestle limit your show and are an extra person on the payroll who can't be used to fill-in as a worker. Why pay someone else to interfere in matches when you have plenty of wrestlers around to do it anyway?
2. Indifference to plausibility. I touched on this earlier. Bookers don't care anymore if people have a plausible reason to be at ringside, and fans don't seem to care much, either.
3. Valets. Managers for poor speaking wrestlers have been replaced with valets, which, while often-poor speakers themselves, can add sparkle to a lackluster wrestler in some capacity.

Yet, managers could yet make a comeback. Trish Stratus is a manager, but she has to wrestle, act and pose for lots of photographs to keep her job. (No, not that kind, get your mind out of the gutter.) The McMahons have all kind of been managers in the last few years. Someone with the right combination of charisma and speaking ability will come along and then managers will ride again.

Let's just hope the institution of beating up nonbelievers in wrestling doesn't come back with them.