In 29 years in the professional wrestling industry, Teddy Long has probably forgotten more about pro wrestling than most superstars could hope to ever learn. Long got his start in wrestling at the age of 37. A man has already lived a lot of life by 37, so, the rigors of road travel endemic to pro wrestling probably are a lot to handle, and likely allowed him to peaceably part ways with WWE. But gosh, Teddy Long was great in his World Wrestling Entertainment run. From getting us to be "down with the Brown," "Back the Mack" and "Holla Holla Holla," as a heel or babyface he was always surprisingly more than effective. Though nobody reading this article likely realizes it at this moment, everyone will have a moment in the next 12 months when watching WWE television when they're going to miss Theodore Long. There will be a heel getting over on Smackdown that you're going to wish could face "Theeeee Undahhhtakuhhh," and, among many things, there's sadly no longer a general manager for a random diva to fall madly in love with for no apparent reason. The greatest boons to the wrestling business aren't the wrestlers who consistently have "five-star matches" or have superhuman physiques. No, the people who are the most important are those who make the best sense out of pro wrestling's most nonsensical of moments. In that regard, Teddy was one of the best and will be sorely missed.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
