Teddy Long Joins WWE Hall Of Fame Class 2017
Holla holla holla, let me induct ya, playa!
WWE has announced that Teddy Long will become the latest member of 2017's Hall Of Fame inductees.
Following the other confirmed announcements of Kurt Angle and The Rock n' Roll Express, Long heads into the Hall of Fame after a respectable thirty-plus year career in which he made his name as a jack of all trades.
Most fans, especially those in the younger demographic, most closely associate Teddy with his time as General Manager of SmackDown. His catchphrase of "Let me holla at ya, playa", punishing wrestlers by making them go "one on one with The Undertaker!" and his love for putting guys in impromptu tag team matches were a staple of a long era of WWE's blue brand.
Prior to that, Long got his start back in the early 1980s where he did any job asked of him all throughout the southern United States territory scene before landing a spot on the ring crew for the popular Jim Crockett Promotions, a position that eventually earned him a role as a referee for World Championship Wrestling.
Teddy's charisma led to some of the wrestlers lobbying on his behalf for him to be given an increased role with the promotion, and thus he transitioned into manager and mouthpiece for such wrestlers as Norman The Lunatic, Johnny B. Badd, Ice Train, 2 Cold Scorpio, One Man Gang and the tag team of Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) whom he guided to the WCW world tag team championship.
Long joined WWE in 1998 where he spent the next four years once again donning the black and white stripes of a referee before working his way back into a managerial position. Eventually he transitioned into the fondly-remembered General Manager stint, which he performed on and off for the better part of eight years, before his release as part of a talent purge in June, 2014.
Teddy Long still makes sporadic appearances with WWE to this day and he's someone the fans, wrestlers and office all hold in high regard, so his induction into the Hall of Fame is a nice honor for a man who has given so much to the business.