10 Things Fans Should Know About WWE Manager Harvey Wippleman

In pro wrestling, not every manager needs to be a master strategist who leads his clients to victories. Some of them can simply be annoying twerps that fans want to see get beaten up. One such heel manager is Harvey Wippleman, who was a regular on-screen character in WWE from 1991 to 2001.

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Vaguely inspired by Pee Wee Herman, the scrawny, diminutive, cigar-chomping Wippleman made his clients look gigantic by comparison, including Sid Justice, Big Bully Busick, The Warlord, and Bertha Faye. Modern fans may not know much about Harvey Wippleman, so let’s take a look at his career and what fans should know about him, including his surprising origins.

10 Started Out Working In A Circus

Unlike many who enter the industry, Harvey Wippleman was not a man who idolized pro wrestling growing up and found a way into the sport he loved so much. Rather, Bruno Lauer got his start as a teenager who wasn’t a particular fan of wrestling. Instead, he found himself working as part of the ring crew for a wrestling show that was running at a carnival, and got into the show for free in exchange for his efforts. Soon enough, he would end up touring with the carnival, learning the ins and outs of pro wrestling.

9 Became Downtown Bruno In Memphis

While touring with the carnival gave him a solid foundation to start on and an incredibly goofy ring name in Dr. Leonard Spazzinsky, it was in the Memphis wrestling territory that the future Harvey Wippleman got his first major exposure. Adopting the name Downtown Bruno — inspired by Tim Reid’s character “Downtown” Brown of the TV show Simon & Simon — Lauer proved to be a ridiculously successful act as the manager for the various monster heels in the territory. Moreover, he worked with Memphis’ top star, Jerry “The King” Lawler, whom Downtown Bruno credits for much of his success in pro wrestling, most recently in a Memphis Hall of Fame speech.

8 Managed Sid Vicious

During his time in Memphis, Downtown Bruno forged another crucial relationship when he came to manage Sid Eudy, otherwise known as Sycho Sid, Sid Justice, and most commonly Sid Vicious. In Memphis, however, Sid worked under a mask as the monster heel Lord Humongous.

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Eventually Sid would end up in WWE in 1991 as Sid Justice, and ended up bringing Bruno into the fold as well. Repackaged as Harvey Wippleman, he would initially manage Big Bully Busick before linking up with Sid following his heel turn.

7 Help Put An End To Hulkamania In WWE

Sid Justice’s heel turn happened after an altercation with Hulk Hogan that happened at the 1992 Royal Rumble, after which Justice gained Harvey Wippleman as a manager. This led to their infamous WrestleMania 8 match that accidentally ended in a DQ finish, with Sid departing WWE about a month later, but Wippleman wasn’t done with Hogan. At King of the Ring 1993, when Hogan defended the WWE Title against Yokozuna. Wippleman posed as a photographer, blinding the Hulkster with an exploding bulb to help Yokozuna get the win in what was Hulk Hogan’s final televised match for the company (before returning in the 2000s).

6 Feuded With The Undertaker Via His Clients

Hulk Hogan wasn’t the only wrestler Harvey Wippleman had beef with. He also went after the Undertaker, enlisting a variety of clients to put away the Dead Man. After losing Sid as a client, Wippleman started working with Kamala, who ‘Taker put away in a Coffin Match at the 1992 Survivor Series pay-per-view. Following that, Wippleman introduced Giant Gonzalez, who had a reviled match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 9 before he beat Gonzalez at SummerSlam. Then there’s Mr. Hughes, who at least successfully stole Undertaker’s urn at one point.

5 Feuded With Howard Finkel

Despite the above, Harvey Wippleman didn’t just punch above his weight class, so to speak. He also had a feud going with WWE’s legendary ring announcer, Howard Finkel. When announcing Wippleman’s name, Finkel always put a weird emphasis on “man,” drawing the manager’s ire.

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After a physical altercation at WrestleMania 10, the two clashed in several “Tuxedo matches” at house shows until their first televised effort on an early January 1995 episode of Raw, which Harvey Wippleman lost..

4 Kayfabe Relationship With Bertha Faye

In 1995, Harvey Wippleman obtained what would basically be his final major client in Bertha Faye, otherwise known as Rhonda Singh or Monster Ripper, a three-time champion in the legendary promotion All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling. In WWE, she was more of a comedic character, with Wippleman as her on-screen boyfriend, but she still managed to dethrone Alundra Blayze for the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. Her reign would 57 days until Blayze won it back, after which both Faye and Wippleman quietly disappeared from WWE television.

3 Became A Referee

Months after disappearing from television, Harvey Wippleman resurfaced on episodes of Superstars, studying referees and reporting back what he saw to on-screen authority figure Gorilla Monsoon, earning a gig as a WWE referee as a reward. Wippleman spent about a year working as a referee before once again disappearing from TV, though he’d once again return in 1999 not only to officiate some matches, but also as a “scab” during a referee strike storyline in the fall.

2 Won The WWE Women’s Championship

In early 2000, Harvey Wippleman resurfaced in WWE yet again, this time dressed in drag as a female competitor named “Hervina” to compete for the WWE Women’s Championship on Raw. The bout had a unique/offensive stipulation of being a Lumberjill Snow Bunny match, a play on the Lumberjack match, except the Lumberjills were tasked with keeping wrestlers from leaving a pool full of snow. “Hervina” emerged victorious, dethroning The Kat to become the Women’s Championship despite being a man. Wippleman’s reign was thankfully brief, as Jacqueline quickly won the belt from him at the following day’s SmackDown taping.

1 Works Backstage In WWE

While Harvey Wippleman’s on-screen contributions began to diminish over the course of the late 1990s, he still continued to be of use in a backstage capacity. Before long, Wippleman took on a role that WWE itself — in a “Where Are They Now?” article on the official website — described as a “concierge.” Basically, Wippleman’s task was to make things happen when they needed to happen, like procuring props for a certain character or match, or picking up an item that a wrestler left in a hotel room, a gig that he’s praised above any of his on-screen work.