page_title: Manager (professional wrestling)
section_title: Nomenclature
hierarchical_section_title: Manager (professional wrestling) / Nomenclature
caption_attribution_description: English: Christian Cage and Tomko at TNA Impact tapings Orlando Florida Photo by Rob Beukema
context_page_description: In professional wrestling, a manager is a supporting character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. A physically attractive woman accompanying, or "seconding", a male wrestler to a match is sometimes referred to as a valet.
  Performers who assume this role may be non-wrestlers, occasional wrestlers, older wrestlers who have retired or are nearing retirement, or new wrestlers who are breaking into the business and need experience in front of the crowds. The wrestler who is paired with a manager may be referred to as his or her charge, client, or ward. A professional wrestling manager has nothing to do with their real-world counterpart or with a promotion's road agent.
context_section_description: Although managers and valets are terms used interchangeably for a woman who accompanies a wrestler to the ring, a major point of difference is that the former is usually depicted as a professional spokesperson who crafts and/or guides a wrestler's career, while the latter may serve as little more than eye candy and/or as a distraction to opposing wrestlers or referees with their sex appeal.
  The role of a valet is a significant part of professional wrestling history, at least within the context of North American industry. Historically, North American women wrestlers often received less attention or recognition compared to their male counterparts and often did not enjoy the same exposure compared to their Japanese or Mexican counterparts. As a result, the purpose of a valet role is to provide female talent more opportunities as well as visibility within the industry. It is thought that a valet, by virtue of her presence and/or the dynamics of her relationship with her associated wrestler, could contribute an element that amplifies their personas and get their act over. Many valets are not required to cut promos on their associated wrestler's behalf and generally have rather passive roles, since their physical appearance tend to be emphasized at the exclusion of all other traits; other valets may deviate from convention and assert a dominant role over their wrestlers, if their characters call for it.
  In spite of their limited wrestling ability, perceived or otherwise, valets are more likely to participate in the occasional wrestling match in comparison to managers, and are frequently booked in mixed tag team matches against rival valets and their associated wrestlers as part of storyline angles. There are also numerous examples of female performers in the wrestling industry who started off as valets and went on to be recognized as marquee competitors in their own right, such as Lita, Trish Stratus, and The Fabulous Moolah.
  Male supporting characters who fit the original definition of a valet are uncommon in professional wrestling; a recent example was Ricardo Rodriguez, who performed as Alberto Del Rio's on-screen attendant and personal ring announcer during his tenure in the WWE. A male performer who accompanies a prominent female wrestler to the ring could be considered a valet as well, though this is exceptionally rare.
  While they are not managers in the traditional sense, enforcers — full-time wrestlers who accompany another wrestler to the ring — also serve both in and out of storylines to further the interests of a wrestler in their care.  Larger but less charismatic wrestlers are conventionally booked in the role of an enforcer; this is done so that these wrestlers can get over with the crowd by sharing the charisma of the wrestler they accompany. A wrestler can also be the enforcer for an entire stable, traditionally serving as the biggest and strongest individual in the group (if not the entire promotion). In this scenario, the enforcer is utilized to "protect" the leader of the faction, and is often relegated to tag team matches to help them get over with the fans. Enforcers appear in storylines where wrestlers need to have their back watched by keeping outside interference from taking place in a match, to serve as outside interference themselves, or to further a storyline without actually recording a real match by defending their associates from ambushes outside the ring by other wrestlers. The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) had a unique gimmick where instead of a long term association with one wrestler, tag team or stable, they would be hired by different wrestlers each week to act as their bodyguards or to prevent outside interference.
  Perhaps the best-known example in professional wrestling history is Arn Anderson, whose career has been highlighted by his association with Ric Flair and various members of The Four Horsemen stable as "The Enforcer".
caption: Tomko (left) working as Christian's enforcer
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