By Steve Carter
Teddy Long has been involved in professional wrestling for over 30 years. He has served in many different capacities, including as a referee, wrestling manager and as the general manager for the WWE Smackdown show.
Long will be making a rare appearance in South Georgia Saturday night as he will serve as the guest commissioner for the WrestleMerica Ashburn Assault 2 show. The card will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the City Gym. Advanced tickets can be purchased by calling 678-588-0508. You may also go to the WrestleMerica Facebook page to learn more.
Long will be available for a meet and greet, including signing autographs.
Beginning on the ring crew for the legendary NWA organization that ran shows every week at 6:05 p.m. Saturdays on WTBS, Long eventually became an official. Perhaps his first famous appearance was when he was the referee for the 1989 match that saw Rick Steamboat capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair.
But the lovable Long suddenly turned into a bad guy, eventually evolving into a manager for such wrestlers as Norman the Lunatic, Johnny B. Badd and the One Man Gang. He would also be at the helm of the tag teams of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed), as well as the Skyscrapers (Dan Spivey, Sid Vicious and Mark Callous). Interesting note there is the fact Mark Callous became the legendary wrestler, The Undertaker.
After moving on to the WWE, Long again became an unbiased official. However, fate would work again, as Long then again to also become a wrestling manager. He helmed, among others, Olympic strongman Mark Henry.
Later in his WWE stint, Long became a fan favorite as the general manager of Smackdown. Taking the show through twists and turns featuring such stars as The Undertaker, Booker T, CM Punk and others.
He would later leave the WWE in 2014.
Joining Long at the Ashburn show Saturday will be several other top names in Georgia independent wrestling, including The Faces Of Death (Andy Anderson and Pain), the Sin City Mafia, Zane Stevens, Justin Overstreet, Logan Creed, Christian Walker, Logan Stephens, Johnny Romano, Scotty Beach and Fry Daddy.
It should be another great night of professional wrestling.
