Professional wrestling authority figures

This is a list of authority figures, people who have (kayfabe) power, in selective professional wrestling promotions or brands within North America. Authority figures are responsible for making matches, providing rules and generally keeping the law and order both in and outside of the ring. The role can also vary over their disposition. A face authority figure would tend to give what the fans want and tends to favor fellow face wrestlers. Mick Foley is a popular example of these. Heel authority figures tend to run their shows out of their own self-interest. Vince McMahon is a popular example of these with his Mr. McMahon character.

World Wrestling Entertainment authority figures

Upon splitting the WWE into two separate brands, on-screen co-owners Vince McMahon and Ric Flair proceeded to draft WWE wrestlers into two separate rosters. Flair was given ownership of RAW, while McMahon controlled SmackDown. After McMahon regained control of the entire company, he removed Flair from having control of RAW, relinquished his own position, and appointed General Managers to take their places in controlling the various brands.

Presidents (CEO)

• Jack Tunney (September 1984 - July 12, 1995)
• Gorilla Monsoon (1995–1997) (Interim from July 1995 to March 1996 where he was made official president.)
• Roddy Piper (1996) (substitution for an injured Gorilla Monsoon.)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin (1999) (Appointed CEO by Linda McMahon, subsequently lost power in a ladder match at King of the Ring.)
• Linda McMahon (2000 - Current)

In real life, Linda McMahon has been on the board of directors for WWE since 1980, and appointed CEO in 1994 by husband Vince McMahon during the WWF Steroid Scandal.

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 Marshall - Lt. Commissioner - (August, 2000 - December 18, 2000)
• Debra Marshall (December 18 2000 - March 8, 2001).
• William Regal (March 8, 2001 - October 11, 2001)

RAW brand authorities

Owners

• Ric Flair (November 2001 - June 10, 2002)
• Vince McMahon (June 10, 2002 - Present)
  • Shane McMahon (March 17, 2006 - Present) - Appears often alongside his father and has authority to make matches and other rulings.

General managers

• Eric Bischoff (July 15, 2002 - December 5, 2005), (November 6, 2006)⁶
• Vince McMahon (interim general manager) (December 12, 2005 - May 29, 2006)³

Executive Assistant

• Jonathan Coachman (May 29, 2006 - Present) - has the powers of a GM, runs RAW whenever Vince or Shane McMahon are absent or choose to delegate authority.

Temporary/Honorary General managers

• Stone Cold Steve Austin (co-general manager) (April 28, 2003 - November 16, 2003), (December 29, 2003 - March 29, 2004 Self Proclaimed Sheriff with full GM Powers)
• Mick Foley (co-general manager) (December 1, 2003 - December 15, 2003)
• Theodore Long (January 5, 2004) ¹
• Jonathan Coachman - (GM, January 19, 2004) ¹
• Eugene (July 5, 2004) ¹
• Maven (November 15, 2004) ²
• Chris Benoit (November 22, 2004) ²
• Randy Orton (November 29, 2004) ²
• Chris Jericho (December 6, 2004) ²
• Spirit Squad (May 1, 2006) ⁴
• D-Generation X (October 2, 2006) ⁵
• Michael Peňa (April 9, 2007) ⁷

¹ They were made General Managers of RAW for one night only by Eric Bischoff.

² The four had a one-time-only opportunity at General Manager when their team won at Survivor Series 2004, while full-time General Manager Eric Bischoff was on vacation.

³ Mr. McMahon had been interim General Manager, taking over until the vacant position was filled. On May 29, 2006, Vince said he would not fill the position, instead making Jonathan Coachman his Executive Assistant, which carries the same powers of a GM.

⁴ Mr. McMahon made all five members of the Spirit Squad co-general managers for one night, due to their help in his match against Shawn Michaels at Backlash.

⁵ DX took over RAW for the night after they put Jonathan Coachman in a garbage bin and wheeled him away

⁶ Bischoff was granted GM powers for one night after the refereeing job he did at Cyber Sunday 2006, by Mr. McMahon.

⁷ The 11 year old Peňa was a guest of WWE via the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and was made Honorary GM for the day.

Miscellaneous authority figures

• Sean Morley (Chief of Staff) (November 25, 2002 - May 5, 2003)
• Stevie Richards (self-proclaimed "General Manager" of Heat) (July 13, 2003 - September 28, 2003)

SmackDown! brand authorities

File:Paul heyman 2.jpg

Paul Heyman, former SmackDown General Manager and former Representative of ECW

Owners

• Vince McMahon (March 18, 2002 - Present)

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 - Present)
  • Vickie Guerrero - Assistant GM (May 25, 2007 - Present)

Miscellaneous authority figures

• Palmer Canon (Network Representative on SmackDown!) (August 25, 2005 - April 20, 2006)

ECW brand authorities

Owner

• Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley (June 26, 2001 - November 18, 2001)--(kayfabe) Owned ECW during the Invasion
• Vince McMahon (June 7, 2006 - Present)

Representative

• Paul Heyman (June 7, 2006 - December 4, 2006)

Note: Upon Heyman's "release", Vince McMahon has appeared on ECW to run the brand himself, he now is also ECW Champion.

World Championship Wrestling authority figures

Eric Bischoff, former WCW CEO & on-screen President as well as former WWE RAW General Manager

Commissioners

• Kip Frey (Late 1991 - Early 1992)
• Bill Watts (Early 1992 - Early 1993)
• Nick Bockwinkel (1994 - 1996)
• J.J. Dillon (April 21, 1997 - 1999)
• Terry Funk (Early 2000)
• Kevin Nash (Mid 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 (Alliance Commissioner) (October 15, 2001 - November 18, 2001)

On-screen presidents

• Eric Bischoff (November 1996-December 28, 1998)
• Ric Flair (December 28, 1998-July 19, 1999; October 30, 2000-March 26, 2001)¹

On-screen owners

• Shane McMahon (March 26, 2001-November 19, 2001)

¹ Sting defeated Ric Flair for the presidency July 19, but didn't take the job because he just wanted Flair out of the position rather than wanting the power for himself.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling authority figures

Directors of Authority

The Director of Authority was the on-screen authority figure for the company.

• Erik Watts (July 23, 2003 - January 28, 2004)
• Don Callis (January 28, 2004 - Unknown)
• Jeff Jarrett (Unknown: Took over when Callis left TNA - 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 maintains a championship committee that was established in 2004 to help the Director of Authority book matches and keep contenders in proper order. They also served as guest judges for TNA iMPACT! when it was on Fox Sports Net, as all matches had a time limit and if the match went to time, the judge had to make the call as to who won, similar to 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 was never seen on-screen in TNA.
• Roddy Piper (replacement for Funk, March 2005 - ???)
• Larry Zbyszko (original member, November 2004 - October 2006)

TNA Management

Throughout late 2005 and early 2006, Larry Zbyszko made multiple references to an unknown group of people to which he answered. This group is known only as TNA Management, and had no face other than Zbyszko, who at times was with them and at other times was ordered by them against his own will.

At Lockdown, Management sent out a decree via the debuting Christy Hemme that a new face of TNA Management would be made present. At Sacrifice, referee Mark "Slick" Johnson informed Zbyszko that he would be debuting at Slammiversary. At Slammiversary, it was revealed to be Jim Cornette. Press releases after the event referred to Cornette as "Management Director", symbolizing a new authority title in the promotion.

Management Director

• Jim Cornette (July 16, 2006 - Present)