Teddy Long On Undertaker Leaving WCW, Road Warriors Shoot Fight, Who Is On Wrestling Mt. Rushmore
Recently on The Ross Report, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross spoke with 2017 WWE Hall Of Fame Inductee Teddy Long. Among other things, Long talked about The Undertaker, The Road Warriors getting in a shoot fight with Dan Spivey and 'Mean' Mark Callous, and his personal Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling.
Long, who managed The Undertaker as 'Mean' Mark Callous in WCW, admitted that he did not know if The Undertaker had talent, but knew he was a special person and put him over as the nicest and most helpful person.
"I didn't really have a clue about whether somebody was going to be able to make it or whether they had a lot of talent or not, but I knew that there was something special about him."
According to Long, he was present at the meeting that resulted in The Undertaker leaving WCW for WWE.
"I think I had a meeting with [Jim Herd] one time, me and The Undertaker did then. Me, and him, and Mark had a meeting, I think. That was the meeting where we sat down and I was trying to find out what they were going to do with me and Mark was trying to find out where he was going. And so, I think that's when Mark left and went to work for Vince because I think they said he was never draw a dime and they only offered him but a lowball amount or money, so Mark just headed on up."
When asked whether it is true that Dan Spivey got in a shoot fight during a match with The Road Warriors, Long confirmed that it was the incarnation of The Skyscrapers composed of Spivey and 'Mean' Mark Callous that was involved in the incident.
"The match The Road Warriors and Spivey and I believe it was Taker then. We were in Corpus Christi, Texas. And I think one of the Road Warriors stiffed Spivey and Spivey got hot about it and it broke into a fight right in the ring. We were in Corpus Christi, Texas. That is a true story. No, we weren't on TV, we were just doing a live event there. Right, [Dan Spivey and 'Mean' Mark against the Road Warriors]. We were in Corpus Christi. I will never forget that. And it did break out into a real fight."
Long recalled that Paul Ellering, the manager of The Road Warriors, was able to cool off his team.
"Well, I'll tell you what, Paul Ellering was there at the time too." Long continued, "some kind of way, Paul got to him or whatever, but I think it did kind of calm down."
Long's personal Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling includes seven pro wrestling greats.
"It'd be The Undertaker, Mark Callous. Like I said earlier, he's one of the greatest guys you could ever meet. And there are other guys too, that I had a chance to really be connected with. Batista was one of them. He was a really nice guy. CM Punk was another guy I had a chance to be good friends with. He was a really nice guy to me. And Mark Henry, being able to manage him one time, he was great, great to ride with. Tony Atlas, I had a great time with him. So basically, JR, everybody that I was affiliated with, I have to say they are high up on my roster."
Long added, "Randy Orton, him and I were really good friends. I never had a chance to manage him, but I did some stuff on TV with him and Randy was a really nice guy too. And I had a good relationship with Triple H. He was okay back in the day. I met him back in WCW days, and so, when I came there [to WWE], he was always fair with me."
Check out this edition of Slobberknocker Audio here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit The Ross Report with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: The Ross Report