Professional wrestling authority figures

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, e.g. Theodore Long, tends to give what the fans want and favors fellow face-wrestlers. Heel authority figures tend to run their shows out of their own self-interest: Eric Bischoff exemplifies this type.

WWE authority figures

From its founding in 1963 to 1997, WWE/WWF looked to a President as an authority figure: the President had booking power and controlled all wrestlers. However, in 1997, the Commissioner replaced the President, with Sgt. Slaughter serving as the first WWF Commissioner. During the Attitude Era (1997-2002), not only the Commissioner, but also Vince McMahon (through his position as WWF Chairman under his evil character "Mr. McMahon") had booking power. McMahon usually used his power in order to haze his kayfabe nemesis, Stone Cold Steve Austin. When Shawn Michaels served as Commissioner, he could overrule McMahon, but he exercised his booking power only sporadically, 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 General Manager of Raw.

Presidents and Commissioners

• Willie Gilzenberg, WWF President (1963 – November 15, 1978)
• Hisashi Shinma, WWF President (1978–1984)
• Jack Tunney, WWF President (September 1984 – July 12, 1995)
• Gorilla Monsoon, WWF President (July 12, 1995 – August 3, 1997; Interim President July 12, 1995 to March 31, 1996)
• Roddy Piper, WWF Interim President 1996 (substitution for an injured Gorilla Monsoon)
• Sgt. Slaughter, WWF Commissioner (August 4, 1997 – November 23, 1998)
• Shawn Michaels, WWF Commissioner (November 23, 1998 – May 15, 2000)
• Mick Foley, WWF Commissioner¹ (June 26, 2000 – December 18, 2000)
  • Debra, Lt. Commissioner (October 30, 2000 – March 5, 2001)
• Mick Foley, WWF Commissioner¹ (October 11, 2001 – November 19, 2001)
• William Regal, WWF Commissioner (March 8, 2001 – October 11, 2001)

¹ While Mick Foley was Commissioner in 2000, he was the ultimate on-screen authority, overriding everyone else.

Corporate offices

From 1996 onwards, The corporate roles of Vince McMahon and his wife Linda were gradually acknowledged in WWF programmes and were subsequently included in storylines. The following list gives the development of corporate offices as portrayed in storylines and should not be confused with their counterparts in the actual structure in WWE, Inc. and its predecessors.

• Vince McMahon, Titan Sports/WWF/WWE, Inc. Chairman of the Board (since 1980, first acknowledged in 1996)
• Linda McMahon, WWF, Inc. Chief Executive Officer (1994 – June 7, 1999)¹
• Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chief Executive Officer (June 7, 1999 – June 27, 1999)²
• Vince McMahon, Chief Executive Officer (June 27, 1999 - September 16, 2009)
• Linda McMahon, Chief Executive Officer (September 2, 1999 – September 16, 2009)³
• Vince McMahon, Chief Executive Officer (September 16, 2009 – present)⁴
• Triple H, Chief Operating Officer (July 18, 2011 – present)
  • Theodore Long, Assistant to the COO (September 5 – October 10, 2011)⁵
  • Kane, Director of Operations (October 28, 2013 – April 15, 2014; August 11 – October 25, 2015)

¹ In real life, Linda McMahon served on the board of directors for the WWF's parent company from 1980; Vince McMahon appointed her to the position of CEO in 1994 during the WWF steroid scandal.

² Kayfabe-appointed CEO by Linda McMahon; subsequently lost his position back to Mr. McMahon in a ladder match at King of the Ring.

³Linda McMahon gained control after her husband Vince McMahon was barred from appearing on WWF television after Fully Loaded.

⁴ Triple H relieved Vince McMahon from his operative duties and became Chief Operating Officer (COO). Vince McMahon however remained Chairman and occasionally appeared as such on WWE programmes.

⁵ Theodore Long announced that Triple H had given him the power to book Raw when necessary. This arrangement ended when John Laurinaitis became Interim General Manager of Raw.^[2]

Raw authorities

Founder

• Vince McMahon

Owner

• Ric Flair (March 18, 2002 – June 10, 2002)
• Vince McMahon (June 10, 2002 – June 15, 2009), (June 22, 2009 – present)
• Donald Trump (June 15, 2009 – June 22, 2009)

General Manager (GM)

• Eric Bischoff (July 15, 2002 – February 10, 2003)¹, (February 10, 2003 – December 5, 2005), (November 6, 2006)
  • 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 – Executive Assistant (May 29, 2006 – 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)
  • Jonathan Coachman – Executive Assistant (August 6, 2007 – January 4, 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 (April 6, 2009 – June 8, 2009)³
• Vickie Guerrero (May 10, 2010)
• Bret Hart (May 24, 2010 – June 21, 2010)
• Anonymous General Manager (Revealed to be Hornswoggle on the July 9, 2012 episode of Raw) (June 21, 2010 – July 18, 2011)⁴
  • Michael Cole – Spokesman for the Anonymous General Manager (June 21, 2010 – July 18, 2011)
• Triple H (Hired as COO on July 18, 2011; Given position as Raw GM along with the job as COO) (July 25, 2011 - October 10, 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]
• Vickie Guerrero – Managing Supervisor (October 22, 2012 – July 8, 2013)⁶
  • Brad Maddox – Assistant to the Managing Supervisor (February 18, 2013 – July 8, 2013)
• Brad Maddox (July 8, 2013 – May 26, 2014)
• Daniel Bryan Interim Raw General Manager (November 24, 2014)
• Anonymous Raw General Manager Interim Raw General Manager (December 1, 2014)⁷
• Shane McMahon (April 4, 2016 – Present)

Notes

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 GM on April 6, 2009.

⁴ From July 18, 2011 when Triple H became the WWE's COO, the Anonymous Raw General Manager had not appeared and used any booking power on Raw, but the podium still appeared on Raw every week until Hell in a Cell on October 2, 2011. On July 9, 2012, Santino Marella claimed the Anonymous Raw GM was under the ring, and found Hornswoggle there, leading some to believe that Hornswoggle was the Anonymous Raw GM that night (or possibly all along). However, WWE never verified this, with staffers still thinking it could be others, including women. The Anonymous Raw General Manager returned the December 1, 2014 to host a Cyber Monday.^[4]

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 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.

⁷ At the end of the November 24, 2014 episode of Raw, it was announced that there was a new general manager for the next week who has preferred to remain anonymous. Rumors have been spread about the gender of the Anonymous Raw GM while another rumor suggests that it may be Hornswoggle again.^[4]

SmackDown authorities

Founder

• Vince McMahon

Owner

• Vince McMahon (March 18, 2002 – Present )
  • Stacy Keibler – Personal assistant (April 11, 2002 – August 12, 2002)
  • Dawn Marie – Legal assistant (May 30, 2002 – September 26, 2002)

General Manager (GM)

• 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 – July 19, 2013)
  • Theodore Long – Senior Advisor to the General Manager (July 31, 2012 – July 19, 2013)
  • Eve Torres – Assistant to the General Manager (August 17, 2012 – January 14, 2013)
• Vickie Guerrero – (July 19, 2013 – June 23, 2014)

Saturday Morning Slam authority figures

Owner

• Vince McMahon (August 25, 2012 – May 11, 2013)

General Manager (GM)

• Mick Foley (March 16, 2013 – May 11, 2013)

NXT authority figures

Founder

• Triple H

Chief Operating Officer

Vince McMahon (2010-2011) Triple H (2011-Present)

Owner

Triple H (February 29, 2012 – Present)

Co-owner

Vince McMahon(February 29, 2012 – Present)

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

• William Regal (February 29, 2012 – June 13, 2012)

General Manager (GM)

• Dusty Rhodes (June 20, 2012 – September 12, 2013)
• John "Bradshaw" Layfield (September 12, 2013 – August 28, 2014)
• William Regal (August 28, 2014 – present)

ECW brand authorities

Founder

• Vince McMahon
• Paul Heyman

Owner

• Vince McMahon (June 7, 2006 – February 16, 2010)
• Paul Heyman (2005-2006)

Co owner

• Paul Heyman (2006)

General Manager (GM)

• 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

Director of Authority

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

• Erik Watts (July 23, 2003 – January 28, 2004)
• Don Callis (January 28, 2004 – February 4, 2004)
• Jeff Jarrett (February 11, 2004 – February 18, 2004)
• Vince Russo (February 18, 2004 – November 7, 2004)
• Dusty Rhodes (November 7, 2004 – June 17, 2005)

NWA Championship Committee

TNA Wrestling also maintained 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). by June 2005 the committee was dropped and only Larry Zbyszko made appearances for the company.

The committee consisted of:

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

Management Director

• Jim Cornette (July 16, 2006 – May 21, 2009)
  • Matt Morgan – Bodyguard/Enforcer (August 9, 2007 – April 10, 2008)

President

• Jerry Jarrett (2002-2004)
• Jeff Jarrett (2004-2009)
• Dixie Carter (April 19, 2009 – October 14, 2010), (November 25, 2010 – March 3, 2011), (October 16, 2011 – Present) ¹
  • Hulk Hogan – Managing Partner (January 4, 2010 – October 14, 2010)
  • Rockstar Spud – Chief of Staff (November 22, 2013 – March 9, 2014)
• 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, Jerry Jarrett continued to appear till 2003 as President and Jeff Jarett was recognised on screen from 2004 till 2009 when Dixie began to have the on-screen role.

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.

Vice President

• Jeff Jarrett (2002-2003)
• Panda Energy (2003-Present)

On Screen Executive

• Mick Foley (October 23, 2008 – January 4, 2010)
• Billy Corgan (2016 – Present)

General Manager (GM)

• Sting (October 20, 2011 – March 22, 2012)
• Hulk Hogan (March 29, 2012 – October 3, 2013)
• Bully Ray (July 15, 2015 – August 5, 2015)
• Jeff Jarrett (August 12, 2015 - September 16, 2015)

TNA Investor

• MVP (January 30, 2014) ¹

¹MVP was also the Director of Wrestling Operations but lost his position on June 26, 2014. The investor storyline was dropped after that.

Director of Wrestling Operations

• MVP (March 9, 2014 – June 26, 2014) ¹
• Kurt Angle (June 26, 2014 – January 7, 2015) ²

¹As a result of the outcome of the Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown, MVP partly took control of TNA as the (storyline) Director of Wrestling Operations.

²As a result of a decision made by TNA's board of directors, on June 20, 2014 (but aired on June 26, 2014 edition of Impact Wrestling), MVP was stripped of his executive title, with Kurt Angle announced as MVP's replacement as the Executive Director of Wrestling Operations.

Knockouts Division Commissioner

• Traci Brooks (August 28, 2008 – January 2009)
• Ms. Tessmacher (September 20, 2010 – October 14, 2010)
• Karen Jarrett – Executive Vice President (September 1, 2011 – December 15, 2011)
  • Traci Brooks – Executive Assistant (September 1, 2011 – December 15, 2011)
• Brooke Hogan – Knockouts Vice President (May 31, 2012 – August 16, 2013)
• Maria Kanellis - Leader of the Knockouts (April 19, 2016 – Present )

Xplosion Commissioner

• Desmond Wolfe (May 16, 2011 – June 16, 2011)

Executive Producer

• Eric Bischoff (January 4, 2010 – October 16, 2011)
  • Ms. Tessmacher – Executive Assistant (April 28, 2010 – September 20, 2010)

Representative of the TNA Board of Directors

• Earl Sullivan Armstrong – (June 26, 2014) ¹

¹Made the announcement on the June 26, 2014 edition of Impact Wrestling that MVP was stripped of his title as Director of Wrestling Operations, then later on announced Kurt Angle as MVP's replacement as Executive Director of Wrestling Operations.

Ring of Honor authority figures

• Jim Cornette – Commissioner (October 2, 2005 – November 4, 2006)
• Ric Flair – ROH Ambassador (April 5, 2009 – May 30, 2009)
• Jim Cornette – Executive Producer (September 26, 2009 – October 13, 2012)
• Nigel McGuinness – Match-coordinator (November 3, 2012 – present)

IWA authority figures

• Savio Vega, General Manager (2001–2006)
• Orlando Toledo, General Manager (2006 – ?)
• Joe Bravo, General Manager (c. 2010)

World Championship Wrestling authority figures

Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions and launched World Championship Wrestling in 1988. The company went through a series of Vice Presidents and bookers, ranging from those with little wrestling experience to those entrenched in the old territorial methods of promotion, until Eric Bischoff took control in 1994. His tenure saw the creation of WCW Monday Nitro, the start of the Monday Night Wars, and the formation of the New World Order. Declining ratings saw Bischoff ousted in 1999, and former WWF writer Vince Russo was hired in an attempt to salvage the company. WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, however the company was featured prominently on WWF television as part of the Invasion storyline for the remainder of the year.

Owner

• Ted Turner (October 11, 1988 – March 23, 2001)
  • Harvey Schiller – Vice President of Turner Sports
• Shane McMahon (March 23, 2001 - November 18, 2001)¹
• Vince McMahon (November, 2001 – Present)

¹ Shane McMahon owned WCW as part of the Invasion storyline with the rights actually owned by WWE most notably Vince McMahon .

Executive Vice President

• Jim Herd (1989 - 1992)
• Kip Allen Frey (1992)
• Bill Watts (1992 - 1993)
• Eric Bischoff (1994 - 1997)
• Bill Busch (1999 - 2001)

President

• Eric Bischoff (1997 - September 1999)
• Ric Flair (December 28, 1998 - July 19, 1999)¹
  • Charles Robinson – Vice President
• Sting (July 19, 1999 - August 1999)²

¹ Flair became on-screen president after defeating Eric Bischoff in a match on Nitro.

² Sting became on-screen president after defeating Ric Flair in a match on Nitro, then several weeks later gave up the position for WCW to name a new president.

Commissioner

• Nick Bockwinkel (January 27, 1994 - June 18, 1995)
• J.J. Dillon (April 21, 1997 - October 25, 1999)
• Roddy Piper (September 8, 1997 - 2000)
• Terry Funk (January 3, 2000 - January 16, 2000)
• Kevin Nash (January 16, 2000 - April 10, 2000)
  • Jeff Jarrett - Acting/Interim Commissioner (January 31, 2000 - February 9, 2000)
• Ernest Miller (May 31, 2000 - October 29, 2000), (January 14, 2001 - February 12, 2001), (February 18, 2001 - February 26, 2001)
• Mike Sanders (October 29, 2000 - January 14, 2001)
• Lance Storm (February 12, 2001 - February 18, 2001)
• William Regal (October 15, 2001 - November 18, 2001)¹

¹Regal served as commissioner during the Invasion storyline.

Miscellaneous figures

• Vince Russo (October 5, 1999 - January 1, 2000), (April 10, 2000 - October 2000)¹
  • Ed Ferrara¹
• Eric Bischoff (April 10, 2000 - July 9, 2000)

¹ Upon arriving in WCW, Russo and Ferrara introduced "The Powers That Be", a mysterious on-screen presence that controlled the company.

Extreme Championship Wrestling authority figures

• Tod Gordon – Owner (1992 – 1996)
• Paul Heyman – Owner (1996 - 2001)
  • Cyrus - Network representative (1999 - 2001)
• Stephanie McMahon – Owner (July 9, 2001 – November 18, 2001)¹
• Vince McMahon – Owner (November 18, 2001 – present)

¹ Stephanie McMahon owned ECW as part of the Invasion storyline with the rights actually owned by WWE most notably Vince McMahon.

See also

• List of professional wrestlers
• List of professional wrestling promoters

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.
4. Benigno, Anthony (December 1, 2014). "The Anonymous Raw General Manager returned". Retrieved December 2, 2014. The familiar “da ding” of the Anonymous Raw General Manager certainly didn’t inspire confidence in a fair shake for the WWE Universe when Daniel Bryan’s tenure running Raw came to an end last week. The sinister laptop wasted no time in stirring up trouble when he (she? Hornswoggle?) took over the reins of the red brand.