Has anyone embodied the entertainment potential of the General Manager on WWE TV, it’s Mr. Theodore Long. From having players go one on one with the Undertaker to booking everyone into tag team matches week after week, the antics of the fan-favorite authority figure are remembered long past the end of his tenure atop SmackDown.
Joining the Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast recently, Teddy recalled how his many catchphrases came to be, revealing that it was mostly a happy accident.
You know, let me tell you something about that. A lot of people thought that was something that I came up with, and I didn’t, and it didn’t happen like that. Vince McMahon… ya know, I learned his way and that’s why I was there so long. Because I learned what he liked and what he didn’t like. He came and told me one day, and he says when you introduce people like The Undertaker, and he named Triple H and other stars, he said you need to put emphasis on that, ya know what I mean? When I say, “The Undertaker,” he said make that mean something, and so that’s what I did. I just went out and started putting emphasis on The Undertaker, or you’ll go one on one, or a tag team match! That’s all I was doing, what he asked me to do. So, when I looked around, everybody loved it, so it became a catchphrase, so that’s just something that just happened.
Teddy also talked about how honored he was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, feeling that the honor was more for wrestlers than managers and other tertiary figures. He was also honored to be inducted by Ron Simmons and JBL, as they had rode together in the very early portions of his WWE career.
For more from Teddy, be sure to buckle up for the full episode of the podcast, available now.
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