Authority figures are regularly used in professional wrestling around the world, as they can be an easy anchor point for stories. They can make matches and work as a babyface or heel to tell effective stories, and typically those in this role must be great conversationalists.
The likes of Vince McMahon in WWE, Eric Bischoff and William Regal have thrived in the role of authority figure, and a big reason for that is their skill on the microphone. However, not everyone who has worked as an authority figure has the gift of gab, and that is something that has often prevented many from succeeding.
10 Juan Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis spent most of his time working for WWE behind the scenes, being an unknown face to most wrestling fans. However, he was eventually used as an authority figure on screen in a role that was absolutely hated by audiences.
Laurinaitis had no problem getting through promotions, but the problem was that she had a distinct lack of charisma. Laurinaitis never seemed to change his tune and that led to his promos often boring fans, which wasn’t ideal considering the amount of time he had on television at the time.
9 tony khan
Tony Khan isn’t often booked as an on-screen talent, but he is AEW’s authority figure. He does most of the booking for him via social media or just-announced matches, but he occasionally needs to appear inside the ring or in backstage segments to address things.
Unfortunately, Khan is not a good conversationalist, and that gets him into trouble. Khan has an excited and nervous energy, and that leads him to speed up his speech, which can make him difficult to understand, which is not ideal when handing out a promotion.
8 jack tuney
Jack Tunney is someone who proved effective in his role as an authority figure in terms of delivering the necessary news and being someone the fans could take seriously. However, his role was very dry compared to the others and the way he spoke was part of that.
He wasn’t someone who brought tons of charisma to his performances, but unlike many others, he was able to make that work for him as part of his overall character.
7 jeremy piven
WWE’s celebrity guest host era was a difficult period for Monday Night Raw, leading to many terrible segments taking place. They were assigned the role of authority figures for the night, but were each given different levels of responsibility.
Some just had backstage segments and funny skits, but Jeremy Piven was thrust into a role of real authority where he had to make big announcements. Unfortunately, despite his legitimate acting skills, he didn’t make for a good promotion in this environment.
6 Debra
Debra had a brief stint as a WWE commissioner, and she certainly put a lot of effort into trying to be effective in this role. She did well in the backstage segments, but when it came to editing promos, she wasn’t one of her biggest strengths.
There were a lot of better talkers in WWE at the time, and that’s something that would have been better suited to this specific role if they had been allowed to take it on.
5 holy johnny
Johnny Saint is a legend of the professional wrestling business, but he was very much someone whose strength came from what he could do inside the ring. He was technically fantastic and brought out the best in anyone, but the entertainment side of the business wasn’t something he had to focus on during his heyday.
When he took over as general manager of NXT UK, it became clear that he wasn’t the best fit. While he did his best and wasn’t the worst talker ever, he also wasn’t one to push things and get people excited.
4 Erik Watts
Erik Watts was often given opportunities due to his family connection in the business, and that allowed him to cast a spell as an authority figure in TNA. However, he was never convincing in the role and a big problem was his promotions, which weren’t brilliant.
While he was confident as a speaker, his promos were often loud and over the top for the sake of it, without conveying the emotions necessary for the role.
3 Brooke Hogan
Brooke Hogan took on an authority role due to her connection to the wrestling business through her father, and that led to her getting a lot of television time during her time with TNA. However, she was never particularly gifted in this role as she was not a natural conversationalist.
Brooke was able to become the Executive of TNA’s Knockouts division for a brief period, and that led to her having to cut many promotions. Unfortunately, she did not work well in this position, and that was clear, so most people have completely forgotten about it.
2 Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon brought a different level of respect from the wrestling world because of her name and who she was, and was incredibly entertaining in her roles at times. However, cutting promotions wasn’t Linda’s strong suit, and that wasn’t ideal for being an authority figure.
Her delivery when it came to promotions was often quite dry and stuck in a tone that prevented her from being enjoyable to see in this role. It wasn’t something Linda was right for, and that’s why she wasn’t in that role for very long.
1 mike adamle
Mike Adamle was someone who was never quite suited to being cast in an authority figure role, simply not providing the commanding presence needed for it. On the mic, in a live environment, Adamle struggled tremendously and that prevented him from being effective in this venue.
He would mumble in his promos and often misspell his words or be unclear about what he was saying. That’s something that led fans to lean on him, making the situation worse for him, and ultimately the reason why his time in this venue was short-lived.