The Anonymous GM

June 21, 2010 saw the debut of an interesting, original concept on WWE Raw.

That is, the anonymous Raw general manager.

The next day, speculation exploded among fans. Questions rose, ranging from why is the WWE doing this to how long will it last?

The biggest question on the fans' minds, however, was obvious.

Who was this new GM?

Countless names were thrown out, as yet another mystery seemed underway.

Michael Cole, who for some inexplicable reason was being turned heel, seemed the likeliest option. His character was all of a sudden on an arrogant ego trip, and considering the manner in which the GM was messing with the Raw superstars, it seemed like a good fit.

The Rock had been another possibility. That is, before his much-hyped return, at a time when questions as to whether he would ever come back were still unanswered.

Stone Cold Steve Austin was also mentioned, but much like The Rock, Austin had moved on. There wasn't a great likelihood that he would return for such a role.

Part of the GM’s gimmick was to use former, big-time superstars' catchphrases on the air, in order to get fans believing that it could be one of these former stars.

Jim Ross, perhaps even Vince McMahon himself or one of his children were all potential candidates.

Others mentioned as possibly being a good fit had been Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Donald Trump, Dennis Rodman, Jackie Chan, the Easter Bunny, Elvis Presley, the Keebler Elf and the kid flipping burgers at McDonald’s.

You could say the speculation got a little crazy.

Why the silly undertones, you ask?

Simple.

This whole angle is a joke.

Think about it—it’s been nearly a year. One full year. That's almost 12 months of the same, tired old email sound, Michael Cole “reading” the latest crazy idea from a computer and fans all over the world waiting for something to happen.

Something, anything—a clue, a plausible direction, some sort of door to be opened to lead us to a satisfying solution to the mystery.

Instead, we get nothing.

Don’t misunderstand me, here. I am not above waiting in suspense. I, for one, hate a storyline that ends prematurely, or one that leaves me asking more questions instead of getting any real answers.

Speaking of which, who was behind the Nexus faction?

Following a year of nothing, one same old spot after the other, I find myself completely over this supposed storyline.

To me, whatever suspense was built, is since dead and buried.

Wait—dead and buried? The Undertaker is the GM!

Seems the guessing game will never end.

We were all supposed to care about this angle. It had the potential to be something big, and I believe we all sensed it. For me, it doesn’t even matter anymore.

I understand, as always, the way the WWE creative team sees these things is not the same way we do.

For all we know, there has been a plan in place since before this began, for who is going to fill this role and we are all oblivious to it.

Or perhaps there is no one in mind. Perhaps the company is just leaving the door open for a future date, once the time is right.

It can be considered a storyline option, to be used on a rainy day at the moment the mood strikes them. Maybe it’s just a fun little angle for them.

The fact is, I’m over it—at this point, Dixie Carter could be revealed as the GM, and I could not care less.

No need to stress, however. I am confident that I will sleep well tonight. I am not, as we speak, speaking to a therapist about this issue. Tomorrow, I will once again wake up a pro wrestling fan.

However, let’s just say I'm disappointed. I hoped this could be something cool, so it's a little frustrating that it's not turned out like that.

In any event, I'll continue watching, hoping against hope that one day the mystery of the anonymous Raw General Manager will be solved.

My money’s on Elvis. Thank you very much.

_{taken from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/699529-wwe-the-endless-mystery-of-the-anonymous-raw-general-manager}

calm down dear, its just a commercial lol. anyways yeah i agree its just boring now

I've always believed that there is no-one behind the GM. It's just a way of having creative make matches. The emails are terrible though and over the months have become very repetitive, so much so that you can tell that the same person backstage has written them all.

Probably just a angle to get Michael Cole some heat. it certainly worked.

Phil there is no emails mate, they just read from the script that is on the kewboard of the laptop

I honestly think they came up with the Anonymous GM idea simply to fill in that role as they had nobody they could put in that role. I think as time went on, nobody was a big enough name to reveal who it was, and no matter who it was, it would always be an anti-climax or at the very list of a load of plot-holes to fill in.

I think they should either have Cole take the GM fulltime or just keep the Anonymous GM going, letting it eventually just fade out as just announcements without the big deal of the e-mail etc. Just the commentators saying; the GM has order that Cena should face Orton again.

To be honest, I think its just as repetetive, but more entertaining, than Teddy Long coming out and saying "Playa, I'm going to give the face whatever match he wants"

If they are waiting for a big name to be the GM - I'm happier to wait than deal with an anticlimax

It should have been Cole and it should have been linked to Nexus with a massive heel turn along the way from HHH/Cena or at the very least have Miz at the center of it

I think it was going to be savage, I remember reading an interview a while back with his brother lanny (the genius) who said something like in the next couple of months your going to see something huge from the macho man

I would not be surprised if this goes on for another year, and it turns out to be a small time celeb to get bums on seats for the next Wrestlemania.

There are a couple of choices I would LIKE to see but don't think it would happen. Maybe Batista or Shane 'O Mac. The problem derives that the angle has been done to death so there isn't any credible person that could be revealed and then for the fan to go "yeah of course, it all makes sense now".

I think there was someone in mind to be the GM and the brains behind Nexus, but they scrapped it for some reason. Presumably either because they lost faith in Barrett/Nexus or the mystery GM decided against filling the role.

To that end, I'd suspect it was either Michaels or Triple H. Nobody else could get away with screwing up their storylines like that. My money's on Michaels given the early clues. Remember last summer there was also talk of Vince trying (and failing) to get Michaels to make a comeback, which led to rumours the two had fallen out.

I think they decided to keep the Anonymous GM as a character on the show who is there to explain gaps in logic, but whose identity is no longer a storyline in itself.

It's not like they spend every week teasing it like they once did.

It could only be a McMahon family member now anybody else completely defies all logic

The have cut so many ties with possible people it could be as they have had the Raw GM screw pretty much the entire roster.

AberdeenSteve wrote:The have cut so many ties with possible people it could be as they have had the Raw GM screw pretty much the entire roster.

Yeah, it's definitely gone too far to make sense now, which is another reason I think they've put the actual identity of the GM on the backburner.

Morning Folks,
I watch both WWE and TNA, and like a lot of recent storylines with TNA, they start to run a story, then just run out of ideas. Poor writing. Stories just end without a satisfactory ending. I think this will go the same way. Eventually, we will tune in, Cole will be back on the desk, Regal or as such will come out, take charge, and we will all be expected to accept it. All part of the entertainment

Someone said above, rightly that there is no emails, just a script on a screen. So that would be a good reason to let Cole have it, as then he could say he was writing them all along.

Only problem with that is both Lawler and Matthews, as well as the Rock have read the emails.

TBH I don't care anymore. You can always guess when the email alert will about to go off. It is annoying now.

Totally agree, it's gone on far too long it's stupid now.
I think they're waiting for Batista to return to then reveal him as the GM.