{"id":4975,"date":"2017-02-23T10:31:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T10:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/?p=4975"},"modified":"2017-02-25T01:40:25","modified_gmt":"2017-02-25T01:40:25","slug":"the-2017-class-adds-teddy-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/?p=4975","title":{"rendered":"The 2017 Class adds Teddy Long"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/?attachment_id=4976\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4976\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long.jpg\" alt=\"Teddy Long\" width=\"537\" height=\"301\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long.jpg 537w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-450x252.jpg 450w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-275x154.jpg 275w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-375x210.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>The 2017 Hall of Fame class is growing.  Last week the WWE announced that long time Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long will joining Kurt Angle and The Rock N Roll Express in the 2017 induction class.  Teddy has been in the wrestling business for well over 30 years and has done almost everything but be a full-time wrestler.<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>Long broke into the business in 1985 as a member of the ring crew in Jim Crockett Promotions where he eventually got promoted to referee.  You can see a lot of Long\u2019s work on the WWE Network on the NWA World Championship Wrestling shows.  The highlight of his career as a ref would working the famed Chi-Town Rumble match between Ricky \u201cThe Dragon\u201d Steamboat and Ric Flair in 1989.<\/div>\n<div><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"315\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KOs8C-Ar6vE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/div>\n<div>After the Rumble, Teddy took on the role as a heel ref and tilted decisions towards heel wrestlers.  That story worked for Long in NWA and Championship Wrestling from Florida.  Long was stripped of referee duties by the NWA for his actions.  From there he transitioned into the managerial portion of his career.  His first client as a manager was Norman \u201cThe Lunatic\u201d and from there he went on to manage a host of others.  Known as Theodore R. Long, he is most associated with managing the legendary tag teams Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) and The Skyscrapers which line-ups included Dan Spivey, Mean Mark Callus(The Undertaker) and Sid Vicious.<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/?attachment_id=4984\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4984\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom.jpg\" alt=\"Teddy Long and Doom\" width=\"463\" height=\"349\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4984\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom.jpg 463w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom-450x339.jpg 450w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom-275x207.jpg 275w, https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Teddy-Long-and-Doom-375x282.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>In 1998 Long began his career in the WWF going back to being a referee again.  He officiated matches until 2002 when he went back into managerial space.  Known as Teddy Long again he Mark Henry, Jazz, D\u2019Low Brown and Rosey on different occasions.  In 2004 Long took over post that most current fans know him for today as the SmackDown General Manager.  During his tenure as GM, Long\u2019s character was mostly a babyface.  He was the GM off and on for the brand up until 2014.  During that time Long also served a stint as GM for the revived ECW brand.  He was known for his signature catchphrase \u201cHold on Playa\u201d when he would interrupt stars in the ring and restore order.  Seems like Teddy Long was always putting a heel in check and setting up some mega tag match for the main event after the opening promo.   The 30 plus year career of Long will now be immortalized in the Hall of Fame.<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div><strong>Written By<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>Keith B. Holt<\/div>\n<div>Follow on Twitter <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/kholtjr\" title=\"Keith's Twitter \" target=\"_blank\">@Kholtjr<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?o=1&#038;p=48&#038;l=ur1&#038;category=amzn_basics_elctnics&#038;banner=1GWDQMNYS019Z54G69R2&#038;f=ifr&#038;linkID=7a04837e074501e52a3f0ed3c97ed13e&#038;t=rintimprowre-20&#038;tracking_id=rintimprowre-20\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" border=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/\/goto.target.com\/c\/360806\/79102\/2092\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/a.impactradius-go.com\/display-ad\/2092-79102\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"60\"\/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" src=\"\/\/goto.target.com\/i\/360806\/79102\/2092\" style=\"position:absolute;visibility:hidden;\" border=\"0\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/\/goto.target.com\/c\/360806\/79118\/2092\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/a.impactradius-go.com\/display-ad\/2092-79118\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" width=\"468\" height=\"60\"\/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" src=\"\/\/goto.target.com\/i\/360806\/79118\/2092\" style=\"position:absolute;visibility:hidden;\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"jwsharethis\">\nShare this: \n<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:?subject=The%202017%20Class%20adds%20Teddy%20Long&amp;body=https%3A%2F%2Fringtimeprowrestling.com%2F%3Fp%3D4975\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jw-share-this\/email.png\" alt=\"Share this page via Email\" \/>\n<\/a>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.stumbleupon.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringtimeprowrestling.com%2F%3Fp%3D4975&amp;title=The+2017+Class+adds+Teddy+Long\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jw-share-this\/su.png\" alt=\"Share this page via Stumble Upon\" \/>\n<\/a>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringtimeprowrestling.com%2F%3Fp%3D4975&amp;title=The+2017+Class+adds+Teddy+Long\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jw-share-this\/digg.png\" alt=\"Share this page via Digg this\" \/>\n<\/a>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fringtimeprowrestling.com%2F%3Fp%3D4975&amp;t=The+2017+Class+adds+Teddy+Long\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jw-share-this\/fb.png\" alt=\"Share this page via Facebook\" \/>\n<\/a>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=I+like+https%3A%2F%2Fringtimeprowrestling.com%2F%3Fp%3D4975&amp;title=The+2017+Class+adds+Teddy+Long\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jw-share-this\/twitter.png\" alt=\"Share this page via Twitter\" \/>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2017 Hall of Fame class is growing. Last week the WWE announced that long time Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long will joining Kurt Angle and The Rock N Roll Express in the 2017 induction class. Teddy has been in&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/?p=4975\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[622,61,189,73,621,32,12],"class_list":["post-4975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-old-school","tag-gm","tag-hall-of-fame","tag-nwa","tag-smackdown","tag-teddy-long","tag-wcw","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4975"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4986,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4975\/revisions\/4986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringtimeprowrestling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}