Teddy Long is a WWE Hall of Famer known for his tenure as Smackdown and ECW General Manager and as a referee in WWE. Big thank you to Chris Hughes from Appalachian Championship Wrestling for helping to make this interview happen! Teddy sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis, IN to talk about this legendary career as a WWE personality, his role as the Smackdown GM, his iconic lines like "One on one with The Undertaker", "Lemme holla at ya, playa" and being part of the "Buckle up Teddy" segment. He discusses how becoming friends with James Brown led to him working in wrestling, how he got hired by WWE, working as a referee before becoming an on-air personality, his dance moves, being chased by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on an ATV and much more! Check out Teddy Long’s podcast “Road Trip After Hours” here: https://youtube.com/@RoadTripAfterHours BLUECHEW: Use the code INSIGHT to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com 00:00 Intro 00:35 What’s on his WWE Hall of Fame ring? 01:16 How he got his start as a pro wrestling referee 07:53 What did he want to do when he was a kid? 08:58 Working for the legendary James Brown 10:49 Managing The Undertaker at the beginning of his career 12:08 Having issues with John Laurinaitis 14:15 What was his relationship with Vince McMahon 15:40 Did he ever feel like he was one of the boys? 16:31 The origin of his using the word playa 17:14 When did he start doing his on-screen dance? 18:22 Adding emphasis to 1-on-1 with The Undertaker 20:58 How did he get his referee job in WWE 25:45 Being in the right place at the right time 26:58 Was he surprised about the John Laurinaitis lawsuits 28:47 Memories of Over the Edge 1999 30:59 Being the referee for D-lo Brown vs Droz 32:16 What does he hear in his earpiece as a ref 33:33 Does he think his career is over? 34:13 What’s the origin of ‘buckle up Teddy’ 36:59 Being ok taking himself the but of the joke 38:37 Was there anything he ever said no to 39:18 Stone Cold chasing him with the ATV 40:14 What did it mean to him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame? 41:24 Why does he hate Mark Corrano? 43:27 His memories of working with Eddie Guerrero 45:38 Eddie Guerrero destroying his Lincoln 46:11 Why has wrestling become more popular again? 48:14 His thoughts on The Rock vs Cody Rhodes 50:01 Honesty is Teddy Long's superpower 50:23 How many suits does he own? 51:33 Prioritizing his health and staying in the gym 53:36 Did he think CM Punk was going to return to WWE? 54:22 Does he ever think he’ll be back in WWE? 56:18 Vince McMahon being stumped by him during a promo 01:00:28 3 things Teddy Long is grateful for Subscribe to http://youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Listen to "Insight with Chris Van Vliet": https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Get awesome CVV t-shirts & merch: https://teespring.com/stores/chris-van-vliet Email me: cvv@chrisvanvliet.com Follow me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Like me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet #wwe #wrestling #teddylong #BlueWireVideo