Teddy Long Says Being A WWE GM Is Like Being A World Champion
Over his many decades in wrestling, Teddy Long has worn many hats. Whether he was a ringside attendant, a referee, a manager, or a general manager, Teddy always gave it his all when put on screen.
In a new interview with Hannibal, Teddy Long says that if he had to pick between all of his different positions in wrestling, he prefers being a general manager the most.
“Well, I prefer being the GM, because, with the GM [role], I had to not only get that role, you know, entertain the people — it helped me. I learned a lot because you had to learn a lot when you walked out on the TV and you stayed out there as much as I did. You had to learn how to keep that audience, you know? How to keep people where they’re not tired of looking at you or not tired of seeing you either. When they do see you, they’re ready to see you.”
Long continued, “So being with Vince and following his orders — he knew when to put me out there and when not to put me out there. So, I learned all that too, and that’s the stuff that I can share with these guys that I’m working with. I know when it’s too much and I know when it’s not enough. So you have a lot of stuff you have to learn. So, like I said, I really enjoyed being a General Manager because you had the top of the line. That’s just like winning a title, just like being the world champion. So, you know, you learn if you don’t learn it.”
Teddy Long was the WWE SmackDown General Manager from 2004 until 2012, with very few pauses in between. In that time, he made his announcements of main event tag team matches and forcing Superstars to go one-on-one against The Undertaker into famed and beloved memes on the internet. So much so, that when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, he referenced those very announcements in his Hall of Fame speech.
You can check out the full interview from Hannibal above. Should you use any portion of the quotes above, transcription credit should go to Robert DeFelice for WrestleZone.