Why do we need General Managers in the WWE?

That's the Question that many people ask ourselves.

Well if you thought that having GM's is a good thing, think again.

PWI Magazine recently did an article explaining why we don't need General Managers in the WWE.

Check it out

Oh, and BTW, I read this when I was @ Wal-Mart Yesterday.

Here it is:

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
NO MORE GENERAL MANAGERS!

By Harry Burkett

Considering William Regal's crimes against WWE (and we’re not talking about his recent Wellness Policy violation), it was almost refreshing to see WWE Chairman Vince McMahon in the commissioner’s office on the May 26 edition of Raw. Because McMahon hadn’t interacted with Raw’s on-air talent in quite a while, he had no other agenda but to make Raw the best show possible.

And, for millions of Raw fans, it was quite satisfying to see Cryme Tyme clean out the remnants of Regal’s reign of terror, even the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that hung on the wall.

While Shad Gaspard and JTG were at it, they should have headed to that week’s Smackdown taping the following night and snatched Vickie Guerrero’s wheelchair. They also could have ventured to the next ECW taping and taken Theodore Long’s dual portraits of Martin Luther King Jr. and Vince McMahon.

Simply put, the Raw general manager, Smackdown general manager, and the ECW general manager have to go. Because these are on-air roles, these positions have become subject to politicization, cronyism, and abuse. The men and woman who have occupied these posts quickly become egomaniacal, drunk-with-power blowhards. Once a camera becomes fixed upon a Raw, Smackdown, or ECW GM, bizarre and dangerous things happen.

It’s like what happened when C-Span added cameras to the House and Senate … or when a camera made Judge Ito a household name during the O.J. Simpson trial.

So, what’s the solution? Easy! If there must be general managers, make them strictly behind-the-scenes positions. And we’re not talking about a Vince Russo/Ed Ferrara powers-that-be scenario. We don’t even want to see the backs of their heads! In a perfect world, we’d like to see the GM position eliminated completely.

Even Vince McMahon acts in the best interests of the product when he has been off-air for a while. The distance from the on-air soap opera helps McMahon regain perspective and really do what he terms as “best for business.”

For maybe the one person out there who thinks there’s an on-air role for GMs, consider the abuses of power committed by the most recent occupants of those positions:

William Regal. Obviously, Regal worked in a biased manner every week on Raw, so we’ll pick out the two most recent—and egregious—crimes. First, he conveniently slated himself for matches against little Hornswoggle and then the injured Finlay during the 2008 King of the Ring tournament on Raw. After picking up those two easy wins, to his credit, he went on to have an excellent match against C.M. Punk and scored a clean pinfall to become the KOTR. While that was impressive, it didn’t negate the fact that Punk had wrestled two tough matches—one against Matt Hardy and another against Intercontinental champ Chris Jericho—before the tournament final against Regal.

But perhaps what will live as Regal’s most notorious stunt was cutting off the video feed of a main-event match pitting then-Raw champion Randy Orton against Triple-H. The screen literally went dark, and Law & Order: SVU was the next thing viewers saw.

Vickie Guerrero. This lady’s qualifications as a general manager are … ? Vickie somehow manipulated her revered status as Eddie Guerrero’s grieving widow to become an on-air talent associated with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Chavo Guerrero Jr. In a rare act of kindness, Vince McMahon created a new post for her, that of assistant general manager of Smackdown, under the tutelage of then-GM Theodore Long. When Long suffered a heart attack during his wedding ceremony with Kristal Marshall, McMahon promoted Guerrero to the full-fledged general manager position. When Long returned to Smackdown a couple of months later, he was made assistant GM.

Guerrero’s infatuation with Edge has affected all of her decisions. She pays little attention to the mid-card and focuses all her attention on her new fiancé. Edge is obviously manipulating her, and it has worked perfectly for him. After giving Edge every possible advantage in his feud with then-Smackdown World champion The Undertaker, and seeing Edge come out on the losing end at WrestleMania 24, Guerrero simply stripped The Undertaker of the World title, supposedly because of his use of the gogoplata, a hold that she then deemed to be “too dangerous” for Smackdown.

Even Vince McMahon has never pulled a stunt that blatant. And, by the way, Vickie and Edge, La Familia is no McMahon-Helmsley faction.

Theodore Long. Smackdown’s former fan-friendly general manager boasts an interesting distinction: He was the longest-serving general manager in WWE history, holding the Smackdown post for three years before his fateful heart attack. As assistant GM, he was keeping an eye on Guerrero for the WWE Board of Directors.

So, was Long a good influence as Smackdown GM before being shifted to ECW? No, not really. He completely ignored his responsibilities while courting Marshall, resulting in the most ill-advised Smackdown wedding since Billy almost married Chuck. Long has a checkered past, too. As a referee, he used a deliberately fast count to help Mike Rotundo and Steve Williams steal the NWA World tag team title from The Road Warriors back in 1988. And, don’t forget, ol’ “Peanut Head” managed The Undertaker when he was known as “Mean” Mark Callous back in the NWA. That would explain why he was so supportive of ’Taker in his feud with Edge.

Armando Alejandro Estrada. He was nothing more than the conniving, untrustworthy manager of Umaga on Raw before Vince McMahon offered him the post of ECW GM. As booker of ECW, Paul Heyman had adopted an on-air role as the unofficial GM and as the manager of then-ECW champ The Big Show. After Heyman had a blow-up with McMahon behind the scenes, there was a refreshing period of ECW with no general manager. ECW took on a more competitive feel, there was the rise of C.M. Punk, and wrestlers were no longer viewed as mere pawns.

That changed when Estrada entered the scene. One of his first acts was to forge a talent-sharing agreement with Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero, thereby diluting what was left of ECW’s identity. His hiring may come to symbolize the beginning of ECW’s end. More recently, he tried to satisfy a macho dream of being a real wrestler by challenging Colin Delaney with an ECW contract at stake. Estrada appeared to be physically fit, but Delaney scored the shocking pinfall to secure a spot on the roster. Shouldn’t the ECW general manager be concerned with more than the plight of a guy who has never won a singles match? Of course he should. Maybe that’s why Vince ousted Estrada as ECW GM and replaced him with Long.

The solution. Fire them all, Vince! You recently claimed that Raw’s ratings plummeted every time William Regal took the stage. No one wants to tolerate the conflicts of interest, the egomaniacal tirades, or the power trips. Let the wrestlers have control of their own destinies. Don’t allow them to become the chess pieces of dim-witted, spotlight-stealing bureaucrats. Now that Regal is gone, say goodbye to Vickie, Teddy, and Armando. Keep them away from the mike … and that goes for you too, Vince!

credit: pwi-online.com