"He thought that I was just that dumb" - Teddy Long on his disdain for former WWE Director of Talent Relations

Former WWE on-screen talent Teddy Long has opened up about his issues with the company's former Senior Director of Talent Relations, Mark Carrano.

Long was predominantly an on-screen authority figure during his time in the company. He is particularly famous for his runs as SmackDown General Manager.

In a recent interview with Wrestling Inc., Long revealed that he despises the former executive, with the primary reason being that he was not given a Legends Contract with WWE.

"Mark Carrano was the guy that was in charge of that stuff (decisions regarding Legends Contracts... I walked up to him, I said, ‘Carrano I just wanted to know, do I qualify, do I get a Legends deal?’ He looks at me and he says, ‘you don’t have one?’ He’s the guy that does this, he’s part of the Legends deal, he has to take this to Vince for Vince to approve it, he knows the whole deal about the Legends deal. He thought that I was just that dumb, that I didn’t know that he was the guy that was part of that, and that he was the guy that was keeping me from ever getting one," said Long. [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]

Carrano was fired from his post and from WWE in April 2021 after Mickie James claimed that she was given a trash bag to clear her belongings following her release. John Laurinaitis now occupies Carrano's former position.

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Teddy Long explains WWE's legends contract

Legends Contracts in WWE are generally offered to the popular superstars of yesterday in order to keep them onboard as ambassadors and participants in future WWE content.

In the same interview, Teddy Long explained how these Legends Contracts work and the company's reasons for giving them out:

“Once you get one of those deals they still give you a check every week whether they use you or not,” he said. “But the way that they got their money back is you didn’t get any royalties, they held all your royalty money and stuff, that way I guess that’s how they get their money back." said Teddy Long. [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]

It should be noted that if these legends are used on TV or at house shows, they are paid separately per appearance.

Many of the company's names from the past like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, and many others are on such deals.