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==Ring of Honor authority figures==
==Ring of Honor authority figures==
{{See also|Ring of Honor}}
{{See also|Ring of Honor}}

==IWA authority figures==
*[[Savio Vega]], General Manager (2001 - 2006)
*[[Orlando Toledo]], General Manager {2006 - ?)


*[[Ric Flair]] - ''ROH Ambassador'' (April 5, 2009 - May 30, 2009)
*[[Ric Flair]] - ''ROH Ambassador'' (April 5, 2009 - May 30, 2009)

Revision as of 02:15, 20 May 2013

This list brings together authority figures — people who hold on-screen power — in professional wrestling promotions or brands within North America. The North American wrestling industry portrays authority figures as responsible for making matches, providing rules and generally keeping law and order both in and outside of the ring. The role can vary according to disposition. A face authority figure tends to give what the fans want and favors fellow face-wrestlers: note for example Theodore Long. Heel authority figures tend to run their shows out of their own self-interest: Vince McMahon's Mr. McMahon gimmick exemplifies this type.

WWE authority figures

In the past, WWE's authority figure was presented by the President, who had booking power and controlled all wrestlers. However, in 1997, the President was replaced by the Commissioner, with Sgt. Slaughter serving as the first WWE (or WWF at that time) Commissioner. During the Attitude Era of WWE, not only the Commissioner, but Vince McMahon had booking power as well through his Chairman position under his evil character "Mr. McMahon". McMahon usually used his power in order to haze his (kayfabe) nemesis, Stone Cold Steve Austin. When Shawn Michaels was Commissioner, he was able to overrule McMahon, but he only sporadically exercised his booking power, and was working with an "Iron-Clad" contract where he couldn't be fired. When Mick Foley acquired the position, he took full reign until he was fired from the position.

Upon splitting the WWE into two separate brands in the WWE Brand Extension of 2002, on-screen co-owners Vince McMahon and Ric Flair proceeded to draft WWE wrestlers into two separate rosters. Flair took ownership of Raw, while McMahon controlled SmackDown. After McMahon regained control of the entire company, he removed Flair from control of Raw, relinquished his own position, and appointed separate general managers to control the different brands.

On July 18, 2011, Triple H came to Raw and told Vince McMahon that the Board of Directors (kayfabe) revoked his "day-to-day operation power" and named him to manage it instead.[1] After that, Triple H became the WWE's Chief Operating Officer who had the booking power in WWE on both Raw and SmackDown brands until the Board stripped him of his power, and named John Laurinaitis the Interim Raw General Manager.

1 Kayfabe-appointed CEO by Linda McMahon; subsequently lost power in a Ladder match at King of the Ring.

2 Linda McMahon gained control after her husband Vince McMahon was barred from appearing on WWF television after Fully Loaded. In real life, Linda McMahon served on the board of directors for WWE from 1980; Vince McMahon appointed her to the position of CEO in 1994 during the WWF steroid scandal.

President

1 Theodore Long announced that Triple H had given him the power to book Raw when necessary. This arrangement ended when John Laurinaitis became Interim Raw General Manager.[2]

Commissioners

  • Sgt. Slaughter (August 4, 1997 - November 23, 1998)
  • Shawn Michaels (November 23, 1998 - June 26, 2000)
  • Mick Foley (June 26, 2000 - December 18, 2000; October 11, 2001 - November 19, 2001)
    • Debra - Lt. Commissioner - (October 30, 2000 - March 5, 2001)
  • William Regal (March 8, 2001 - October 11, 2001)

Raw authorities

Owners

1 Shane McMahon made occasional appearances all throughout this time and had booking power.

General Managers

  • Eric Bischoff (July 16, 2002 - February 10, 2003)1, (February 10, 2003 - December 5, 2005)
    • Chief Morley - Chief of Staff (November 25, 2002 - February 10, 2003), (February 17, 2003 - May 5, 2003)
    • Steve Austin - Sheriff (December 29, 2003 - April 17, 2004)
  • Steve Austin (April 29, 2003 - November 16, 2003) 2
  • Mick Foley (December 1, 2003 - December 15, 2003) 2
  • Vince McMahon - Interim General Manager (December 12, 2005 - June 11, 2007)
  • Jonathan Coachman - Acting/Interim General Manager (June 11, 2007 - August 6, 2007), (September 3, 2007 - October 1, 2007)
  • William Regal (August 6, 2007 - May 19, 2008)
  • Mike Adamle (July 28, 2008 - November 3, 2008)
  • Shane McMahon (November 3, 2008 - November 24, 2008)
  • Stephanie McMahon (November 24, 2008 - April 6, 2009)
  • Vickie Guerrero - Managing Supervisor (April 6, 2009 - June 8, 2009) 3, (May 10, 2010), (October 22, 2012 - present) 6
    • Brad Maddox - Assistant to the Managing Supervisor (February 18, 2013 - present)
  • Bret Hart (May 24, 2010 - June 21, 2010)
  • Anonymous General Manager (Hornswoggle) (June 21, 2010 - October 2, 2011) 4
    • Michael Cole - Spokesman to the Anonymous General Manager (June 21, 2010 - October 2, 2011)
  • John Laurinaitis (October 10, 2011 - June 17, 2012) 5
    • David Otunga - Legal Counsel (October 10, 2011 - June 17, 2012)
    • Theodore Long - Assistant to the General Manager (April 3, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
    • Eve Torres - Executive Administrator (April 23, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
  • AJ Lee (July 23, 2012 - October 22, 2012) [3]

1 Bischoff was briefly fired from the General Manager position on February 10, 2003. He would be rehired by Vince McMahon later that night.

2 Austin and Foley served as Co-General Managers with Bischoff during their respective tenures in 2003.

3 On February 23, 2009, the Board of Directors named Vickie Guerrero Interim General Manager when Stephanie McMahon took a leave of absence. She became permanent General Manager on April 6, 2009.

4 From July 18, 2011 when Triple H became the WWE's Chief Operating Officer, the Anonymous General Manager had not appeared and used any booking power on Raw, but the General Manager's podium still appeared on Raw every week until Hell in a Cell on October 2, 2011. However, on July 9, 2012, it was finally revealed that Hornswoggle was the anonymous Raw General Manager.

5 On October 10, 2011, Vince McMahon returned to Raw and announced that Triple H was relieved of his booking duties by the Board of Directors and that John Laurainatis was the interim General Manager. He became permanent General Manager on April 1, 2012.

6 Guerrero was given the title of Managing Supervisor by the Board of Directors when she regained control of Raw on October 22, 2012.

SmackDown authorities

Owners

General Managers

  • Stephanie McMahon (July 18, 2002 - October 19, 2003)
  • Paul Heyman (October 23, 2003 - March 22, 2004)
  • Kurt Angle (March 25, 2004 - July 22, 2004)
  • Theodore Long (July 29, 2004 - September 21, 2007)
    • Palmer Canon - Network Executive (August 25, 2005 - April 27, 2006)
    • Vickie Guerrero - Assistant General Manager (May 18, 2007 - September 21, 2007)
  • Vickie Guerrero (September 28, 2007 - April 6, 2009)
    • Theodore Long - Assistant General Manager (November 30, 2007 - May 16, 2008)
  • Theodore Long (April 7, 2009 - April 1, 2012)
    • Vickie Guerrero - Official Consultant (November 20, 2009 - February 25, 2011)
    • Zack Ryder - Assistant to the General Manager (July 29, 2011 – January 6, 2012)
    • Santino Marella - Assistant to the General Manager (January 6, 2012 - April 1, 2012)
  • John Laurinaitis (April 1, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
    • David Otunga - Legal Counsel (April 1, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
    • Theodore Long - Assistant to the General Manager (April 3, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
    • Eve Torres - Executive Administrator (April 23, 2012 - June 17, 2012)
  • Booker T (July 31, 2012 - present)
    • Theodore Long - Senior Advisor to the General Manager (July 31, 2012-present)
    • Eve Torres - Assistant to the General Manager (August 17, 2012 - January 14, 2013)

Saturday Morning Slam Authority Figures

Owners

General Manager

NXT Authority Figures

Host

  • Matt Striker (February 23, 2010 - June 13, 2012)
    • Ashley Valence - Co-Host (June 22, 2010– August 31, 2010)
    • Maryse - Co-Host (March 8, 2011– August 24, 2011)

Match Coordinator

General Manager/Commissioner

  • Dusty Rhodes - General Manager & Commissioner (June 20, 2012 - present)

ECW brand authorities

Owners

General Managers

  • Paul Heyman (under the title of ECW Representative) (June 13, 2006 - December 4, 2006)
  • Armando Estrada (August 14, 2007 - June 3, 2008)
  • Theodore Long (June 3, 2008 - April 7, 2009)
    • Tiffany - Assistant General Manager (June 10, 2008 - April 7, 2009)
  • Tiffany (June 30, 2009 - February 16, 2010) 1

1 On April 7, 2009, the Board of Directors named Tiffany Interim General Manager when Theodore Long announced his return to SmackDown as General Manager following Vickie Guerrero's appointment as General Manager of Raw. She became permanent General Manager on June 30, 2009.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling authority figures

Directors of Authority

The Director of Authority operated as the on-screen authority-figure for the company

NWA Championship Committee

TNA Wrestling also maintains a championship committee — established in 2004 to help the Director of Authority to book matches and to keep contenders in proper order. The committee members also served as guest judges for TNA Impact! when broadcast by Fox Sports Net, as all matches had a time limit and if the match went to time, a judge had to make the call as to who had won (somewhat as in boxing).

The committee consisted of:

  • Dusty Rhodes (founder, original member, November 2004 - June 2005)
  • Harley Race (original member, November 2004 - ???)
  • Terry Funk (original member, November 2004 - March 2005)
    • Funk never appeared on-screen in TNA
  • Roddy Piper (replacement for Funk, March 2005 - ???)
  • Larry Zbyszko (original member, November 2004 - 2006)

Management Director

President

  • Dixie Carter (April 19, 2009 - October 14, 2010), (November 25, 2010 - March 3, 2011), (October 16, 2011 - Present) 1
    • Mick Foley - Executive Shareholder (October 23, 2008 - January 4, 2010)
    • Hulk Hogan - Managing Partner (January 4, 2010 - October 14, 2010)
  • Hulk Hogan - (October 14, 2010 - November 25, 2010), (March 3, 2011 – October 16, 2011)2
    • Mick Foley - Network Consultant (May 3, 2011 - June 2, 2011)

1 Dixie Carter has been legitimately TNA President since 2003 after Panda Energy International became majority shareholder of TNA. However, she began to have an on-screen role in 2009.

2Hulk Hogan was (storyline) President from October 2010 to October 2011 after Carter unkowingly signed her power away to him in a contract. Carter was re-established as on-screen President following Sting defeating Hogan at Bound For Glory.

Executive Producer

General Manager

  • Sting (October 20, 2011 - March 22, 2012)
  • Hulk Hogan (March 29, 2012 - present)

Knockouts Division

  • Traci Brooks - Commissioner (August 28, 2008 - January 2009)
  • Ms. Tessmacher - Commissioner (September 20, 2010 - October 14, 2010)
  • Karen Jarrett - Executive VP (September 1, 2011 - December 15, 2011)
    • Traci Brooks - Executive Assistant (September 1, 2011 – December 15, 2011)
  • Brooke Hogan - KO Division Executive (May 31, 2012 - present)
Xplosion Commissioner

Ring of Honor authority figures

IWA authority figures

  • Ric Flair - ROH Ambassador (April 5, 2009 - May 30, 2009)
  • Jim Cornette - Executive Producer (December 5, 2009 - October 13, 2012)
  • Nigel McGuinness - Commissioner (November 3, 2012 - present)

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-07-18/mcmahon-relieved-of-duties "Game" changer for McMahon
  2. ^ http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/wwe-news/wwe-raw-results-9-5-2011.php Theodore Long came out to announce the 8 man tag team match on that night, and also his booking power.
  3. ^ "The Raw General Managers Timeline". Retrieved 2013-02-05.