Stephen A. Smith believes he could be a dastardly WWE heel manager.
Ric Flair joined Smith on “First Take” Tuesday morning to promote the upcoming documentary “Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair,” which debuts on Peacock on Monday, Dec. 26. “The Nature Boy” invited the ESPN host to WrestleMania, which takes place in the Los Angeles area at SoFi Stadium in April of 2023, and be a manager.
“Bobby ‘the Brain’ Heenan, Paul Heyman and these guys — I would love to be a bad guy manager,” Smith said. “I don’t want to be the goody-two-shoes guy. I want to be the bad manager. Think I could pull it off, Ric Flair? I think I could pull it off!”
The 73-year-old Flair said he was “sure” Smith, 55, could pull it off — but then Smith suggested a caveat that would be incongruent with the role.
“If they want me to be a bad guy manager, here’s the problem,” Smith said. “No one can touch me. I’m gonna have that as part of my contract. I’m too frail! I can’t let them touch me, man. I got a lot of life to look forward to. One of them big dudes … I can’t take anybody body-slamming me. It ain’t happening, Ric Flair. That’s my only thing.”
Paul Heyman is one of the legendary WWE managers that Stephen A. Smith said he could channel. Getty ImagesThe problem with that mindset is that the greatest heel managers, like Heenan and Heyman, whom Smith shouted out by name, took merciless beatings during their careers. This could happen in the form of causing a distraction that leads their wrestler gaining the upper hand, or it could be the comeuppance for a body of work of malfeasance — but the moment the good guy gets his hands on the evil manager is an integral part of the story arc.
Smith also praised the leadership of WWE co-CEO’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon, plus Triple H, the head of creative, and said he was looking forward to attending WrestleMania in-person next year.
