Teddy started out as a errand boy and eventually in 1985 was promoted up to referee in the NWA. Long became a heel referee making fast three counts for heel wrestlers and was soon let go by the NWA and became a talent scout/manager. He then became the manager of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) who went on to win the World Tag Team Titles. He also managed Chris Jericho, Ice Train, Jim Powers and many other wrestlers. He came to the WWF in 1990 and performed as a referee from 1990 up until September of 2002. He became a manager and managed D'Lo Brown, Rodney Mack, Mark Henry and Jazz telling fans to get "Down wit' da brown" & to "Back da mack". He played a stereotypical "held-down" minority, using ebonics (such as, "Don't be drinkin' that Hate-orade." and "You know I'd look good on the dolla dolla bill.") His stable would be referred to by fans as "Thuggin' & Buggin' Enterprises." When he was drafted to SMACKDOWN, he managed his second white wrestler,Mark Jindrak.After Kurt Angle was fired from the General Manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American General Manager of SmackDown!. Unlike other WWE managers, such as Eric Bischoffand Mr. McMan , his new position saw him as a face , giving the fans what they wanted and making matches that put heels at disadvantages, notably JBL . At first, he continued use of his "Hate-orade" talk, but less aggressively, and with humor. One example was when he stripped Booker T of the U.S. Championship for "drinkin' Hate-orade." In the RAW VS SMACKDOWN fued Teddy fought Eric Bischoff at the 2005 Survival Series and came out winning with a little help from Boogie Man.
In April of 2007 Teddy Long became the on screen boyfriend of WWE SMACKDOWN diva Krystal. To spend more time with his new love he hired Vickie Guerrero as his assistant so he could spend more time with Krystal. In June of 2007 Teddy asked Krystal to marry him, at first she just ran out of the room but later accepted. On September 21st on SMACKDOWN they were getting married! There were constant disruptions and as Teddy was about to say "I do", he suffered a heart attack. As Teddy was recovering, Vickie Guerrero was brought in as the temporary fill in General Manager of SMACKDOWN. In November of 2007 Teddy returned to SMACKDOWN but Vickie Guerrero retained the GM job and Teddy was demoted the assistant GM. Teddy was usually seen wheeling the injured Vickie Guerrero around and sometimes you would see a smirk on his face when things didn't go the way of Vickie or her boyfriend Edge. Many times when La Familia would all be together (La Familia was Vickie Guerrero, Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Ryder, Hawkins and Bam Neely), Teddy would be right there with them but he never fit in with them. Im mid-May of "08" Teddy quite his job as Smackdown's assistant manager after confronting Vickie Guerrero in the ring about her horrific tactics to strip the Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship belt.
On the June 3rd, 2008 edition of ECW Teddy was announced as the new general manager for ECW.
On the April 7, 2009 edition of ECW, Long announced he was returning to SmackDown as General Manager, with Tiffany replacing him on ECW. By doing this, he became the first person in the history of the company to have a second term as General Manager on the SmackDown! brand. He made his official TV return to SmackDown! on April 10, when he announced that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy would face each other in the first stretcher match in SmackDown history. On the June 26th 2009 edition of SmackDown, Vince McMahon announced Long would be (kayfabe) put on probation.
After being pressured by Vince McMahon to "make an impact" on the June 26, 2009 edition of WWE SmackDown!, Long made a last minute change to the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship match at WWE The Bash by adding the team of Edge and Chris Jericho to the match.
Teddy Long Facts:
Birth Name: Theodore Robert Fufus Long
Birth Date: September 15, 1955
Height: 5' ft 10' in
Has one son and a grandson
