In Memoriam

[kingzak13]

I am sure by now you have heard the news of the passing of William Moody/Paul Bearer. If not, you just have. His passing undoubtedly will be the biggest death for the wrestling world for 2013, and everyone wishes he hadn’t gone so soon, myself included in that group.

It is always sad when someone passes away, especially when they are in your favorites list. I know there is the IWC cliché of adding some points to someone’s score or claiming them to be their favorite. However in my case that is not true, for one reason.

“You can’t improve on the best”

If you’re just going to look at this from a technical stand point, then think about. The job of a manager is to get there superstar over, Paul Bearer got not just one superstar over, but two. And both of those superstars are still in action and incredibly over to this day. That is currently a total of 39 years of success for those two superstars all thanks to William Moody’s great managerial work.

And think about all the things we have thanks to those two stars being over, a whole plethora of incredible matches, some of the most comedic moments of the last year, and so much more.

Sure you can compare him to other great managers from the “Golden era” but think Paul Bearer added more to the character of The Undertaker than any other manager ever would, he gave him a voice, he gave him interest, and he did the same for Kane a few years later. Can you honestly say that these two would have had as good a career if they didn’t have Paul Bearer at their side?

My knowledge of wrestling history generally is pieced together by the WWE games, and various trips to Wikipedia, and I am going to be completely honest with you. I laughed a little bit when I first saw him as Undertakers manager, the pasty skin, the size, the really high voice. However he grew on me and I began to realize how he added to The Undertaker, he added a remotely scary voice and some more light on what happened to make The Undertaker.

Then he brought in Kane, something which I viewed at length on YouTube and played a fair amount of on WWE’13. The story between the three remains one of my favorites to this day, whether it is the original story or the feud from 2010 or any other part I missed, I have found myself entertained and that’s all that really matters, that the viewer is entertained.

There is almost no doubt that the WWE are going to pay tribute to Paul Bearer very soon, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he is added to the Hall of Fame class of this year.

Sure we have seen him die on TV so many times, but it feels strange knowing we are never going to see him walk through that curtain ever again, and it feel bad knowing we are never going to see Kane, Undertaker and Paul Bearer together as a happy, non-dysfunctional family ever on screen, a moment I feel needed to happen on WWE TV at some point before Kane and Taker hung up the boots and retired.

Right now my thoughts are not just with his family, but with his friends, and everyone else that has ever been affected by the greatness that is Paul Bearer.

But my main thought right now is just that I wish he was still here, just so everyone can say goodbye to the greatest manager the business may ever see.

All I have left are these nine words for William Moody.

Rest in Prosperity.
Rest in Power.
Rest in Peace.

[The Legend Killer]

Great post sir, he no doubt helped Kane and Taker both. I do think they would have had success even without him, but, he became a legacy of his own with him and Kane. His name is almost a part of them. It's like talking about Ted DiBiase, you don't talk about hi m without thinking of Virgil too. You don't talk about Andre the Giant without thinking of Bobby Heenan too. He's definitely one of those managers that will always be remembered. He's up there with the great managers. Your Bobby Heenan, Slick, Ms. Elizabeth, Virgil, etc. Just because some of them weren't wrestlers, or good wrestlers, they are still very well loved managers. Paul may very well be the Hulk Hogan of managers almost. He's a name that anyone would know that has ever watched WWE/F.

I do agree that it would have been nice to see him, Taker, and Kane all in the ring again, or to see him do some work with Taker when he retires, but, we'll never see it. I think we all know that at WrestleMania that he will be looking down at Taker and watching him defeat CM Punk though,. He is no doubt a Hall of Famer. I hate saying it, but, I doubt we'll see him in this class. I think it's too close to put him in there and have someone scheduled to say something. I have no doubt he'll be in there at some point, I just doubt it will be this year, I would be very surprised.