As noted earlier, Theodore Long was confirmed as the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, and he spoke with FOXSports.com‘s Nick Schwartz. In addition to speaking about finding out about his induction, Long talked about some of his career highlights; you can read a few highlights below:
Theodore Long comments on his transition from WCW to WWE:
Well the transition for me was fine, because at the time I didn’t know what was happening at WCW. I was there for about 10 years too, and a lot of guys didn’t know what was going on. So to be able to go somewhere and get a job, you know, that was great. It wasn’t really bad for me. I went to the WWE in ’98 and I walked in and started refereeing. Lot of guys came in and said ‘well how can you do that with this talent you have as a manager? You’re going to go back and put the referee shirt on?’
Yeah I’m going to put the referee shirt on! They pay me. They give me a check every week. And that’s what I’m gonna do. It didn’t bother me, man. I walked in, put the referee shirt on, I was getting my check every week and I was doing my job. Eventually Vince McMahon found out what I could do.
One day I was called up and they told me they wanted me to walk out and start managing. I walked out on TV the first night with D-Lo Brown and I started talking. When I came back through Vince McMahon looked at me and he said to me ‘I couldn’t believe I’ve had you right under my nose all this time.’ That’s how it started.
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Long comments on which role he enjoyed the most in his career:
Well, you know, I really enjoyed doing the heel manager roles. I really had a great time doing that, being the bad guy. And also, well it’s kind of a toss-up, too, because when I became general manager… I kind of got a better understanding of what that role was and what I was supposed to do there. So I enjoyed that too, I had a great time. I really had a great time doing whatever I’ve done, because it didn’t bother me whatever role I was in. Whatever I’m asked to do, then that’s what I do.
Long comments on which wrestlers were influential in his career:
Well, The Undertaker, Mark Callous, me and him are good friends and we go back in the day. I used to manage him back in WCW when he was “Mean” Mark Callous. One of the nicest guys that you could ever meet. Great guy, and he gave me a lot of advice. I had the chance to sit down and talk with him a whole lot and he was very instrumental in my career.
Kevin Sullivan I learned a whole lot from. Like I said, he has a great mind for the wrestling business. In fact, he was a big part of the NWO when it was in WCW, he was doing a lot of the booking and writing for that. Kevin was a great inspiration.
“Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, once again. I learned a whole lot from him. Guys like that that I had a chance to ride with back in the day. I learned a lot from everybody, I was able to get along with basically everybody. I might have had a lot of heat with some guys, but you know, who cares. I was able to get along, and I was able to make it in this business thanks to a lot of the guys that helped me and told me the truth.
A lot of guys will lie to you in this business, and tell you you’re doing good when you’re really not. But I had a lot of guys who were really honest with me that let me know when I was doing bad, and I was able to critique myself, too.
