The Best Female Managers In Professional Wrestling Today

Guest post

The role of manager has always been one of the most important roles within the world of professional wrestling. In recent years, Paul Heyman has redefined the role, firstly as the advocate for the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar and in 2023 as the resident Wiseman for Roman Reigns. And without everyone's favorite bad guy by his side, there is no way The Tribal Chief’s record-breaking 1,000+ day reign as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion would have been half as impactful as it has been.

In modern times, women’s wrestling has taken on a life of its own courtesy of the likes of Mercedes Mone (formerly Sasha Banks), Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. Those three rose through the ranks together in NXT and went on to dominate in WWE, with the latter two-alongside Ronda Rousey - becoming the first women in history to headline Wrestlemania back in 2019. But in decades prior, women used to be solely used in a valet/manager role.

Throughout the 1980s, Miss Elizabeth was key to the success of one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage. Then in the 1990s, Sunny revolutionized the role of manager as she ushered in the diva era. At the turn of the century, Stephanie McMahon took Triple H to heights that no one could have ever imagined.

In 2023, there are plenty of women managers that are the best in the world at what they do. Here are three of the best of them.

Maria Kanellis
Maria Kanellis’ time in professional wrestling was a strange one. She won the original WWE Diva Search back in 2004 however, her career got underway when the world’s biggest wrestling promotion didn’t treat its female stars with much respect. As such, her career never really took off. That was until she became manager to her real-life husband Mike Bennett in Ring Of Honor back in 2011.

The pair naturally had immense chemistry due to their real-life relationship, and with Kanellis by his side, Bennett went on to become ROH World Television Championship. The now 41-year-old went on to become known as the “First Lady of ROH,” and the duo was regularly featured in prominent spots within the promotion. The pair then took their talents to Impact Wrestling before returning to WWE sporadically in 2017 and they now regularly feature in All Elite Wrestling.

Kanellis’ on-screen strategic decision-making skills may well come from the fact that the 41-year-old is known to take a keen interest in gambling. She notably referenced this on her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice, where she worked as a contestant attempting to garner favor with host and former US President Donald Trump.

According to insider sources, Kanellis is a big fan of gambling on real money blackjack, a popular online casino game that allows players to bet real money in the hopes of winning big. While some might see this as a risky or dangerous pastime, Kanellis has said that she enjoys the strategy and excitement of the game – all while exercising responsible gambling practices. And its strategy-based nature has clearly helped her hone her craft as a devious on-screen manager.

Rhea Ripley
Australian superstar Rhea Ripley is far from being just a manager. She is the current SmackDown Women’s Champion, a title she claimed when she defeated the aforementioned Charlotte Flair in a barnstorming match at WrestleMania in April inside Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. However, despite being one of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet today, ‘Mami’ is also one of the greatest managers around as well.

Ripley has been positioned as the enforcer of the Judgment Day faction and is regularly decimating her male counterparts when she’s supporting her stablemates Finn Balor and Damien Priest. Also, her on-screen relationship with Dominik Mysterio is one of the hottest plotlines in WWE today, and the pair are primed for greatness.

With Ripley by his side, Mysterio has become perhaps the most hated heel on WWE programming. Every week on Monday Night Raw he gets the loudest boos out of everyone on the entire roster and without ‘Mami’ by his side, it wouldn’t have been possible. The current SmackDown Women’s Champion is the reason why Mysterio betrayed his own father at Clash at the Castle last summer and aligned with the Judgement Day, and the faction has been on a roll ever since.

Scarlett Bordeaux
While the aforementioned Ripley pulls double duty as a talented wrestler and manager, Scarlett Bordeaux is a manager through and through, and boy is she good at her job. She is positioned as the manager of former NXT Champion Karrion Kross, and the pair are married in real life.

Thanks to his manager, Kross ran roughshod over NXT throughout 2020 and 2021, destroying a number of household names such as Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano. Bordeaux was inexplicably cut from the partnership when Kross debuted on the main roster in WWE and as such, he struggled immensely. However, the pair have reunited in the last year and Kross is once again being positioned as a top star. He has recently entered into a feud with AJ Styles, and the pair will surely be putting on some bangers in the not-so-distant future.