WWE Hall Of Famer Reveals Reason For Their Release
Appearing with WWE for over a decade under a litany of roles, this WWE Hall of Famer has blamed only one person for his 2014 release.
First appearing for the then-World Wrestling Federation as a referee in December 1998, Theodore ‘Teddy’ Long ultimately worked in several roles on-screen. He managed several clients in the early 2000s, including Mark Henry, Jazz, and Rodney Mack, and served as one of the most popular General Managers in company history.
He was released from WWE in June 2014, explaining why in a new interview via Busted Open Radio. Teddy Long opened up on this release, blaming himself entirely for putting on weight and smoking marijuana:
“I was stressed a little bit. I put on some weight. So I think that had a lot to do with it. I’m not blaming WWE, I’m blaming myself because I got low stress. And I put on this weight and stuff. And then Vince [McMahon] always took care of me. And they have a drug policy there about smoking the marijuana.
So I quit smoking weed because I didn’t want to let Vince down and I didn’t want to fail no drug test because I’ve respected him enough that he gave me this opportunity, and I’m not gonna f*ck it up. So that’s why I quit smoking the weed. And then after a while being stressed out after four or five years, I started riding with certain people. I won’t call their name, because I don’t want to put them out there.
But anyway, I started back to smoking weed and I mess around, and failed one of the drug tests and put that weight on. And I know Vince hates that. He hates the weight and Mark and tell you about that. So I blamed myself. I was the cause of my release. But you know, they were gonna do it anyway. But I think I helped them.”
Teddy Long has since made sporadic appearances for WWE, including hilariously requesting to be given another run as General Manager ahead of the 2016 brand split. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 by The APA.