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Show me the money!" is a classic line uttered in the movie "Jerry Maguire" by the agent himself during a conversation with his client, Rod Tidwell. I bring up the movie because it brought to the forefront of sports the mystery that was the agent, someone whose work took place mostly behind the scenes before that movie. The use of agents should be more prevalent in wrestling today and especially in WWE to help prop up the façade that is the brand extension, even if they have done quite a bit of damage to that idea within the last several months leading up to WrestleMania.
The idea initially had hit me when MVP was talking to his agent and getting his contract negotiated before joining Smackdown. WWE pulled MVP's scenario right out of the NFL. Example: Jake Long, an offensive lineman from Michigan, was the first pick in the NFL draft last weekend. Long's agent worked out a contract before he was officially called the top pick in the draft. This year isn't the first time this has happened in the NFL. I thought using that idea was a great way to introduce MVP, even though the segments he was in weren't what I would call promos or even scripted vignettes, like what WWE used to introduce Kofi Kingston on ECW.
Agents could be used to help negotiate contracts to keep certain wrestlers on a show. They could add a bit of realism by announcing the length and price tag of a contract. Or if WWE didn't want to put a number on the contract, they could always say "undisclosed terms." Fans would be reassured that they'd be able to tune into a certain program and see their favorite wrestler on it. If they did announce the size of the contract, it would certainly help to establish a hierarchy to the shows. The announcers could also make a comparison as to who could be over or underpaid. It would also establish when there is an upset.
If one payroll was higher than another, they could help to establish a perceived imbalance like that of baseball. Raw could be like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, who throw money at their problems to help fix them. Smackdown could be more of a middle-of-the-road team in the spending department. ECW would have to be comparable to the Pittsburgh Pirates or Florida Marlins, who depend on bringing up young players from the minors to establish a competitive balance against the bigger spenders. In a scenario like this, someone like Tommy Dreamer who is supposed to be the "heart and soul" of ECW could sell out his favored brand because he got a bigger money offer from Smackdown when his contract is up. That example may not be the best since Dreamer isn't over enough with the fans, but you get the idea. The agents could help to drive these changes because they always want to get the most for their client.
Taking an example from the NFL again, Chad Johnson demanded to be traded out of Cincinnati before the NFL Draft and said that if he wasn't traded in that time frame, he would sit out any voluntary or mandatory practices held by the team. Doing this could make someone a heel as they could continually refuse to participate in matches until they got shipped out. The agents could convince their clients that moving to another show would be to their benefit because the general manager has been holding them back from getting title shots, even if their was no refusal to participate in matches. They could talk to agents from another show and help to engineer a trade that would obviously need approval from the respective general managers.
The agents wouldn't need to appear weekly on WWE programming. They could show up just once in a while or even be off-screen like MVP's agent, who has disappeared since MVP was signed to the "largest contract in Smackdown history." The way WWE pushes its website, they could use the agents to help post news about their client on the site. The announcers could even mention in short segments that you need to go to WWE.com to get updates contract negotiations. Many of the bigger stars, like John Cena, Triple H or Batista would have no need for an agent. They could negotiate for themselves much like Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals or Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles.
If agents were used on TV, they could be used much like a manager and establish a stable, or just have a single client that is their main source of income because of their higher status in the league. Larry Sweeney from Ring of Honor and Aaron Maguire (whose name bears resemblence to Jerry Maguire) from Pro Wrestling Ohio are prime examples of renaming managers as agents. "Super Agent" Sweeney has established his own stable. He did an outstanding job of trying to garner heat with the ROH crowd in Orlando by saying that he sold Matt Sydal up the river to WWE. The crowd ate it up and cheered his every word, but more times than not it would make the fans turn on said agent in WWE. Aaron Maguire has only one client, Cronus, who is perceived as the top heel in the PWO. They get paid by other wrestlers to take out someone's opposition. Aaron could easily steal a line from the NFL's resident bad boy agent Drew Rosenhaus by saying "He only has $12 million" when he and Cronus get paid to take out their next opponent.
This example could have easily applied to Armando Estrada and Umaga if WWE hadn't foolishly broken them up and wasted Estrada's talent on the microphone by placing him as the general manager of ECW. It wouldn't exactly be groundbreaking to have a heel who is paid to take out a face, but it could still easily be worked into storylines and give reasons for match ups on weekly programming rather than randomly throwing two opponents against each other.
Women could easily get into the mix as agents, too. Most women are used mainly for sex appeal (no offense meant to those who can wrestle) and could help use that appeal to lure clients away from other agents. There are numerous examples in the past of this type of woman, including but not limited to Miss Brooks in TNA, Stacy Kiebler as Miss Hancock in WCW, and even Terri Runnels in WWE when she held the Terri Invitational Tournament to obtain the services of an up-and-coming tag team. It would save use from having to watch Maria, Ashley and Candice Michelle botch move after move in the ring. They may be trying their hardest to learn the craft, but please save us from watching their development and let them do that in Florida Championship Wrestling. To earn their paycheck on the weekly shows, they could be used as agents in the meantime.
Many of these examples I am using portray the agent as a heel, but turning on your agent and flying solo would be an easy way to turn a wrestler face. I find it amusing that WWE is the league with the most options for the agent idea I am proposing, yet two smaller leagues are the ones utilizing the idea. Agents would be a great way to marry the managers of old with a touch of the present by renaming, repackaging and reutilizing them.
Kevin DiFrango is the creator of a weekly cartoon that appears only on the PWTorch.com VIP Forum. Keep an eye out for Dusty, Eric or Jeremy's articles and our Ask the Experience feature. If you feel like you have some ideas to stir into our pot, email me at difrango11@gmail.com
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