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WWE News: Teddy Long Announced As Third Member Of 2017 Hall Of Fame Class

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 05:53 PST, Feb 13, 2017

According to FOX Sports‘ Nick Schwartz, Teddy Long will join Kurt Angle and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express as the third member of the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame class which is to be inducted on March 31, 2017, two nights before WrestleMania 33.

Schwartz asked Teddy what it was like when he got the call and Long couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Well, I was really surprised, you know? I had thought about being inducted into the Hall of Fame and I thought ‘well, if they’re going to do that, I’m pretty sure my time will come one day.’ And that’s what did happen. I was real excited, it’s such an honor to be a part of something like this. To go into the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame… man, it’s just great. It don’t get no better than that.

“I just want to thank Vince McMahon and the McMahon family, and the WWE Universe, and all the people that just hung out with me and wanted some more Teddy Long. I’m just excited right now so I’m kind of lost for words.”

Long began his professional wrestling career in 1985 when he was an errand boy for Tommy Rich and Abdullah the Butcher before becoming a member of the ringcrew and then a referee with NWA’s Jim Crockett Promotions. Teddy was then fired from his job as he began to favor heels in the ring and not call matches fairly.

Teddy Long then earned a job as a DJ for Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert which led the duo to ask Jim Ross to give him a manager’s role within the company. Ross obliged and Long became Norman the Lunatic’s manager before moving on to the tag team Doom that featured Ron Simmons and Butch Reed. Teddy would help those guys to become the World Tag Team Champions.

During his 12-year career with NWA/WCW, Long also managed the likes of Johnny B. Badd, One Man Gang, The Skyscrapers, Marcus Bagwell, 2 Cold Scorpio, Joey Maggs, Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Bobby Walker, Ice Train, and Bobby Eaton before leaving in 1996.

The WWE came calling in 1998 with an offer for Teddy Long to become a referee in the most popular professional entertainment company in the world. Long held his job as referee until 2002 when the WWE moved him into a managerial role and Teddy would end up managing D’Lo Brown, Rodney Mack, Christopher Nowinski, Rosey, Mark Henry, and Jazz before being drafted to SmackDown where he managed Mark Jindrak.

Upon Kurt Angle being fired as the general manager of SmackDown in 2004, the WWE hired Teddy Long to become the first-ever African-American general manager of the show. After being a heel for so long, Teddy immediately turned face and begin giving the fans exactly what they wanted to see which instantly turned him into a fan-favorite.

Long then became involved with Kristal Marshall in 2007 and the two would eventually become engaged to be married on the September 21, 2007, edition of SmackDown, but Long suffered a heart attack and landed in a coma. Marshall then left the WWE shortly after, and during Teddy’s time away, Vickie Guerrero became general manager of SmackDown.

When Long returned later that year, it was as Guerrero’s assistant general manager and the two failed to see eye-to-eye which led to Teddy leaving for ECW in 2008.

After spending around 10 months with ECW, Teddy Long returned to SmackDown in 2009 and became the first person ever to have two tenures as general manager. Long remained with the WWE until 2014 when he became general manager of Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling Summer of Champions iPPV.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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