10 Backstage Stories About Theodore Long Fans Should Know

Theodore Long has had a great career in the wrestling business, and he is one of the most beloved people in the industry by fans, while also being well respected by his peers. He is someone who has taken on a wide variety of roles throughout his years, from being a referee to managing talent or being the General Manager of SmackDown.

Along the way, Long has worked with countless major names in the industry, and he has plenty of stories from those experiences. While fans know a lot about Long as on-screen talent, there are also plenty of backstage stories that people don't know about him.

10 Taken To Wrestler's Court

Stories about wrestler's court are always interesting to hear as it gives a great glimpse at the inner workings of the talent behind the scenes, revealing how they treat each other and the mistakes that they make. Anyone who is taken to the self-ruled 'court' is in trouble with the locker room in WWE, and Teddy Long has found himself in that spot previously.

Long was taken to wrestler's court because he was selling viagra to the roster, and he ended up having to rely upon Mae Young to be his lawyer in this situation as Long desperately tried to push for his innocence.

9 Introducing The Undertaker

Something that Teddy Long was well-known for was his introductions of The Undertaker, with the former SmackDown General Manager making the announcement in a unique way. It helped to make the Phenom seem like an even bigger star, and that is something that he learned from Vince McMahon.

During one backstage interaction, the WWE Chairman was talking to somebody else about the importance of introducing his wrestlers like stars. Long overheard it all and decided to implement that advice in the way that he would say The Undertaker's name.

8 Being Told About A Lack Of Action Figure

Action figures are important in professional wrestling, with many fans collecting them they are a huge money maker for the company, with the talent often also making bonuses from this. However, Teddy Long figures ended up not being made as frequently, and he found that information out during a post-WrestleMania party when a drunken employee from the Jakks Pacific toy company told him.

John Laurinaitis revealed to him that there was simply no interest in an action figure for him, which is a big call to make and something that would likely be a big surprise to him considering how many collectors are out there.

7 Heat With Sid Vicious

Most of the time when someone is assigned to manage a talent, the expectation is that they get along with each other considering how much time they have to spend together. They both have to help push each other, and over the years Teddy Long has successfully worked well with a lot of people.

One of those happened to be Sid Vicious, who is a legendary name in the business in his own right. However, while Long was the manager for The Skyscrapers tag team, he and Viciouy didn't like each other behind the scenes.

6 Why He Won't Be In AEW

AEW has a roster full of managers, with lots of the talent having different legends and other people working with them as mouthpieces. The likes of Stokely Hathaway and Jake Roberts have taken on those roles, and because of how much the company enjoys managers, Teddy Long seems like he would fit in well.

However, he has never appeared for the company, and the WWE Hall Of Famer revealed that is because he was told that he is too old. While there are people on the roster that are older than him, that is the message that was relayed to Long at that time.

5 Pulled Over On The Road

The wrestling world used to be very similar to rock and roll due to how the wrestlers would live their lives, and that led to a lot of drinking and partying taking place amongst the talent, especially on the road. That was a situation that once led to Teddy Long being pulled over by the police and fined $600.

He was driving the car with JBL and Ron Simmons in the back, and while Long wasn't drinking, the other two were drunk. When they got pulled over the police smelled it and issued a fine to all of them for their troubles, especially since the tag team ended up mouthing off.

4 Plans To Manage MVP

Most fans know Teddy Long as the loveable babyface who was happy to dance around and have fun with the fans, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't capable of being a heel as well. Fans in WWE didn't have as much of a chance to see that, as he only had limited spots in that role.

However, there was a plan at one point for Long to be the manager of MVP when he was first brought to the main roster. He was the arrogant heel who bragged about how much money he was earning, and the original idea was for Long to be his manager.

3 DJ Skills

Sometimes in wrestling people's talents are just stumbled upon during situations in real life, which was the case with John Cena's rapping ability. However, that was also the case with Teddy Long's microphone skills in WCW, as he used to do some DJ'ing in the past.

He would play music and talk while he did it, and that is something that Jim Ross took notice of. He was told to listen to that, and once Ross learned that Long was a confident talker he ended up getting the chance to cut promos and become a manager.

2 Doesn't Have A Legends Deal

When most people get inducted into WWE's Hall Of Fame they typically end up being given a legends deal by the company to keep them around. It shows respect for their careers, and it also allows WWE to use them for a variety of other things from conventions to legends episodes.

However, something that a lot of people likely aren't aware of is the fact that Long doesn't have one. Even though he does still appear occasionally, Long is not under a legends deal which is surprising considering the success that he had in the business.

1 Holla, Holla, Holla!

Catchphrases in wrestling can be so important, as a great one will be remembered for life by the WWE Universe, and that was the case with Teddy Long's, "Holla, Holla, Holla" phrase. This wasn't something random that he just came up with though, as Long saw it on television.

He was watching Dave Chapelle one night when he saw someone saying the phrase a lot, and it caught Long's eye. Ever the professional, he saw an opportunity to make something, and he instantly took it to television and began using it.