What Valets Do In Professional Wrestling

Though they're no longer common today, valets used to play an important role in pro wrestling. Distinct from a manager, a valet is most often a female who accompanies a male wrestler to the ring and during promos. Stereotypically, the main difference is that a manager usually has a more active hand in their client's career and will tell them what to do, with Paul Heyman as a strong example. Meanwhile, valets were meant to be visually attractive and often little more than that.

In kayfabe, the idea of a valet is similar to a boxer's entourage, with the women serving as moral support for the in-ring competitors. However, the true reason for their inclusion was the message it sent. The promotion using the valet was giving the audience an attractive woman to leer at, while also introducing another character they could use to gain sympathy or build heat.

There have been countless instances of valets getting involved in matches, whether by causing a distraction or helping their client cheat in some other way. Additionally, promotions could construct an angle that put a valet in danger only for a babyface to step in and save the day, but simply having a conventionally attractive woman at a wrestler's side was often all that was needed to get over with a live crowd.

Unlike managers, who frequently cut promos on behalf of the wrestlers they represent, valets were silent more often than not. There were valets who broke the mold by playing a more active onscreen role, though, and some even became impressive wrestlers in their own right.

Through the territory system, professional wrestling spread widely throughout the United States in the first half of the 20th century. As it did, valets were established as one of the industry's most recognizable tropes. Two of the biggest-name valets also had long and fruitful in-ring careers: Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah, though the latter performer has become a controversial figure in recent years after stories have emerged regarding her treatment of other women in the industry.

As the industry grew and became more visible with the rise of wrestling on TV, so did the place of valets. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, women such as Miss Elizabeth and "Sensational" Sherri Martel became household names because of their involvement in beloved storylines.

In the second half of the 1990s, both WWE and WCW began catering to a more mature audience, and valets continued to play a significant role on TV. However, they became even more sexualized, with Sunny and Sable both serving as prominent examples of the characters WWE was pushing at the time.

Soon, performers like Trish Stratus, Lita, and Jacqueline entered the company, signaling a slow change in the way women were presented in wrestling. Over the last 20 years, traditional valets have largely been phased out as women have taken on more active in-ring roles.