Teddy Long made a surprise comeback to Monday Night Raw this week, and while people primarily recognize him as the ex-General Manager of Smackdown who had a penchant for announcing tag team matches, not too much is known about his exploits in the industry before that.
Now almost 70 years old, Teddy Long has spent a long time in the industry, working his way up to a prominent role in television programming after spending his early days running odd jobs for pro-wrestlers of lore such as Abdullah the Butcher and Tommy Rich.
On that note, here are 5 things that you need to know about the returning Theodore ‘Teddy’ Long.
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#1 Chauffeured around Ric Flair for a day
When Teddy Long was managing the team of Butch Reed and Ron Simmons, known as Doom, they were involved in a feud against the legendary stable of the Four Horsemen, led by none other than the Dirtiest Player in the Game, Ric Flair.
And so when Flair pinned Butch Reed at Clash of Champions XIII, according to the stipulation of the match, Teddy Long who was managing Reed had to chauffeur around Ric Flair in his Limousine for a day.
Long would begrudgingly acquiesce, but would gather a measure of payback when he left Flair stranded in town without ever getting around to picking up the remaining Horsemen.
#2 Was a heel referee at NWA
We see many performers turn babyface or heel as per the hour of the day in pro-wrestling, but this categorization is generally confined to wrestlers, managers or even general managers that run the show.
But it is indeed rare to have referees, men that are supposed to be impartial and unbiased in their job, take sides and assume the role of either a babyface or a heel.
Of course, one may remember the role that Earl Hebner played in the match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart during the notorious Montreal Screwjob, but that still counts as an exception and not the norm.
Teddy Long however, was a full blown heel when he served as a referee at the NWA, and used to perform fast counts for heel wrestlers against other babyfaces, even going as far as to award the NWA Tag Team Championships to the Varsity Club at Clash of Champions IV, after accepting a bribe.
Needless to say, he was out of a job shortly thereafter.
#3 Dusty Rhodes gave him his first job
Dusty Rhodes was a universally respected figure in the pro-wrestling fraternity, and also recognized as having possessed a brilliant mind for the business. Back in the day when he was the booker at Jim Crockett’s NWA, Teddy Long had the job of serving tea to the people involved in the production meeting that would take place every morning before the TV tapings would commence.
And Dusty Rhodes would ask Long to stay on in those meetings and pay attention to what was going on.
Perhaps Teddy didn’t realise the significance of what was happening then, but in time to come, he understood that the insights he picked up about the industry by listening in to those meetings did end up serving him astutely in his career; a career that would see Long fulfil roles ranging from being a simple referee to the general manager of an entire show.
His experience in the industry may have turned out to be extensive, but everything began with Dusty Rhodes giving him a chance.
#4 Has done commentary for WCW
Amongst the multitude of hats that Teddy Long donned in the pro-wrestling industry, perhaps the one that made use of the gift of gab that he possessed in the best manner possible was his role as a colour commentator for the WCW in the late ‘90s.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the self-styled ‘Godfather of Wrestling’, when he was in WCW, also took it upon himself to assume commentary duties given that no job has been out of reach or no role too outlandish for the talented Long.
In fact, what is a surprise is that the WWE didn’t tap into the entertainment that he provides on the microphone by accommodating him behind the commentator’s desk once they decided his days of running Smackdown were over.
Considering how gaffe-prone the current commentary team is, wouldn’t he surely have been an upgrade anyway?
#5 Has managed The Undertaker in WCW
Everyone knows that the Undertaker is one wrestler that stayed faithful to the WWE, even when they were getting battered by the WCW for 84 consecutive weeks in TV ratings. But it wasn’t that the Undertaker hadn’t sampled the grass on the other side.
The Undertaker did wrestle for the WCW as Mean Mark Callous before his WWE dream run began, and he initially appeared in the promotion as part of a stable populated by imposing – and ridiculously tall – physical specimens known as the Skyscrapers.
And you guessed it!
Their manager was none other than Teddy Long.
#6 Dislikes the New Day
Yes, you read it right.
Theodore Long dislikes the New Day.
That is not to imply that he doesn’t set much stock by the performers in the stable though. Far from it.
While he does think that Big E is the most talented member of the group, perhaps borrowing off his experience from managing tag teams like Doom and Skyscrapers that overtly displayed darker character tones, he doesn’t exactly feel that a man possessing the physical gifts of Big E should be used in such comedic light.
While everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, it comes as quite the surprise that Teddy Long doesn’t like the New Day given that booking them as an entertaining, light-hearted and frolicky tag team is one of the few things that the WWE is doing right, off late.