WWE legend Teddy Long pays tribute to Kevin Sullivan (Exclusive)

Teddy Long worked closely with Kevin Sullivan during his early days in the wrestling business. The WWE Hall of Famer recently shared stories about his long-time friend following the sad news of his passing at the age of 75.

Sullivan was known to have one of the most creative minds in wrestling. After debuting in 1970, he made his name as an in-ring competitor before becoming a booker behind the scenes in WCW.

Teddy Long was a WCW referee and on-screen personality before joining WWE in 1998. On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine, the 76-year-old spoke about Sullivan's role in booking storylines for the legendary nWo faction in WCW. He also revealed he traveled with both Sullivan and Sullivan's ex-wife Nancy Benoit:

"I broke in under Kevin and used to ride with Kevin and Nancy, God rest her soul, his ex-wife," Long said. "I trained right under him back in the day when the nWo started. Kevin was booking that. A lot of guys don't know, I can say it now, but every night that Kevin booked that, I was right there in the room with him, so that's why I got so much learning and so much experience from being right there." [0:32 – 0:58]

Watch the video above to hear legendary reporter Bill Apter and host Mac Davis tell more stories with Teddy Long about Kevin Sullivan's career.

---

Teddy Long learned from several WCW stars

In 2007, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit killed his son Daniel and wife Nancy in a double murder and suicide. A decade earlier, Chris and Nancy began their relationship after Kevin Sullivan booked his then-wife in a romance storyline with Benoit.

Teddy Long worked for WCW when Nancy (aka Woman) left Kevin Sullivan and began dating Chris Benoit. He added that Benoit, Sullivan, and Eddie Gilbert taught him a lot about the wrestling industry:

"After I got involved with Kevin, Kevin would ask me, 'What do you think?' and I would say little things," Long continued. "I remember one time I said something to Chris Benoit, we would talk, and God rest his soul, and I just gave him an idea, I didn't mean nothing, and Chris just turned right around, 'God, Teddy, that's great.' Just being able to learn under the learning tree of Kevin Sullivan, that's another guy too, Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert, those two guys, man, they certainly gave me a lot of knowledge. And, like I said, a lot of people never knew I was that close to either one of them." [1:00 – 1:32]

Sullivan was widely viewed as one of the top bad guys of his generation. He feuded with several major stars throughout his career, including Hulk Hogan in WCW in the mid-1990s.

---

Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.