Teddy Long Announced For The WWE Hall of Fame

FOX Sports is reporting that WWE SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long has been announced for the 2017 Hall of Fame, joining Kurt Angle and The Rock 'n' Roll Express.

Speaking to FOX Sports, Long commented on the induction.

"Well, I was really surprised, you know?," Long said, when asked about his reaction when he got the call. "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."

Before Long was running Smackdown, he began his career as a referee in the NWA/WCW. After a short time, he became a nefarious ref, bending the rules for the heels.

Long would then take on the role of a heel manager for Norman the Lunatic. Long led the team of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) to the World Tag Team Titles. He also managed Johnny B. Badd, One Man Gang, Norman the Lunatic, The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious, Dan Spivey and "Mean" Mark Callous), Marcus Bagwell, 2 Cold Scorpio, Joey Maggs, Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Bobby Walker, Ice Train and Bobby Eaton while in Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW.

After his WCW career came to a close, Long became a referee in the WWE for a short time before once again becoming a manager for the likes of D'Lo Brown and Shawn Stasiak to name a few. In 2004 he began his General Managing career, filling in once on RAW before having a long career of running Smackdown as well as ECW (WWE's version) for a short time. Teddy is most remembered for his schtick of breaking up arguments between wrestlers and booking them into a tag team match for later in the evening.

The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, March 31 at the Amway Center in Orlando.

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