Forgotten Wrestling Managers Of The 2000s: Where Are They Now?

Despite the names and faces changing, the art form of managing hasn’t changed at all since the heyday of every heel having a mouthpiece. Distract, deceive, pass knucks. Whatever you need to do to make sure your client gets the victory.

As WCW went the way of the dinosaurs and the Ruthless Aggression Era began to take center stage, the managerial pool featured all sorts of colorful characters helping get their wrestlers over. Some stayed in the business, but not all of these stars stayed around the business past the early aughts. Here’s what happened when the left the business.

10 Armando Alejandro Estrada

For several months, paired with Umaga, it seemed like Armando Alejandro Estrada was going to go far in WWE. Perhaps like the managers of old, amass a stable worthy of his mic work. But instead, once Umaga was separated from him, Estrada became the General Manager of ECW. Not long after this, he was used as an enhancement talent before getting future endeavored. After WWE, he tried to open up his own restaurant and had a few stints in other companies before retiring from the limelight.

9 Stacy Keibler

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then plenty of fans have super-fond hearts for the former Duchess Of Dudleyville, Stacy Keibler. The former Nitro Girl turned WWE Diva easily won over the wrestling fans during her run in the business.

She was able to work as a great manager for the likes of The Dudley Boyz and The Hurricane. While she might live the quiet life now, she did become the first WWE Superstar to be a part of Dancing with the Stars, and for a brief period of time, dated megastar, George Clooney.

8 Shaniqua

As the co-winner of Tough Enough 2, WWE were obligated to try and make Shaniqua a WWE Superstar. Despite being a collegiate athlete, she wasn’t doing that great in the ring and was transitioned to being a manager. She started leading The Basham Brothers and was a strong character. These dayy, she has a new career as a referee for college women’s basketball.

7 Ranjin Singh

Ranjin Singh And The Great Khali Cropped

When The Great Khali needed a translator, WWE brought in Dave Kapoor. Rebranding him Ranjin Singh, the manager, translator, and sometimes storyline brother of The Great Khali helped lead the giant to a Wordl Championship. After his four year run with The Punjabi Playboy, Singh retired to the backstage area where Kapoor has been one of the members of the creative team ever since.

6 Tony Atlas

During his heyday in the ring, there were seldom few men as strong as Tony Atlas. The strongman himself has admitted that he was given too much too soon and therefore his career never took off the way he thought it could have. But he was still able to claim tag team gold alongside Rocky Johnson.

In the 2000s, he returned to manage Mark Henry to the ECW Championship. He stayed with the company all the way through the Legends House series and has since been living the quiet life with his wife in Auburn, Maine.

5 Midajah

For the last few years of WCW, Midajah was always at the side of Scott Steiner. With her look and her own background in fitness, any promotion could have built a women’s division around her, much like WWE did with Trish Stratus. But she chose a quieter lifer after WCW closed its doors. Instead of becoming a WWE Diva, she opted to head back into fitness competitions and start her own company, Beauty by Midajah.

4 Rico

From real life hero cop to American Gladiator to WWE stylist and superstar, there was nothing Rico Constantino couldn’t handle. While his career in WWE isn’t as memorable as his skill level would have allowed, he will still be remembered for being John Cena’s OVW tag team partner, and of course, the manager of Billy and Chuck, who turned on them during their publicity wedding stunt in favor of 3 Minute Warning. He went back to his law enforcement roots after wrestling before health problems started plaguing him in 2016.

3 Dawn Marie

As the manager of The Impact Players in ECW, Dawn Marie was able to lead Lance Storm and Justin Credible to glory. In her WWE career, she is best known for being the temptress who married Al Wilson, despite daughter Torrie Wilson’s protests. She had a very acrimonious exit from WWE when she was released in 2005, claiming she was let go due to her pregnancy. After giving birth and settling her lawsuit with the company, she went on to become a nurse.

2 Joel Gertner

The maestro of malevolent limericks, Joel Gertner was the manager of the greatest ECW tag team of all time, The Dudley Boys. After ECW, Gertner continued to manage on the independent circuit and introduced TNA to the Rainbow Express.

He also took part in several of the big ECW reunion shows that both WWE and TNA had. Despite never getting a well-deserved run in the big time as a heat-seeking heel manager, Gertner has continuously stayed in the business, most recently hosting a Spotify podcast called the 69 Minute Eargasm.

1 Melina

Before becoming a formidable Divas and Women’s Champion, Melina had debuted as the manager of MNM. She has actually been a fixture on the independent circuit for years, having faced the likes of Thunder Rosa, ODB, and Velvet Sky. Nowadays, she is part of both NWA and Impact.