While the wrestling industry has seen numerous general managers and entertainers in the past, none of them had the both the traits except for WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long. The legend’s presence on TV still gets the world talking and entertainment begins with his entrance itself. 

Long’s entrance was different from other managers in the industry. The only reason being he used to dance during his entrance. However, this dance didn’t come about as a creative idea in the company. Rather, it had an interesting story behind it.

During a recent appearance on the Insight podcast, the Hall of Famer revealed the origin behind the dance he did during his entrance. The veteran revealed that he was just walking out one day with his grandson in mind who did this dance, and he started doing it as well. Though it could have been a one-time thing, Vince McMahon wanted him to do it every time he went out. 

“My grandson, he’s 19 now. Well when he was two years old, we were trying to learn him how to walk. So we bought this walker that we put him in… Every time we put him in this walker, all he would do would bop up and down like that. So I went to TV one night and they’re playing my music but I was just thinking about him. So I was having fun and just started doing the dance.”

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“One night, I got ready to walk out, and just as I got to the curtain, Vince is standing up. He’s yelling ‘DO THAT DANCE!’ What dance? And he starts doing it! And that’s how the dance started.”

The Hall of Famer also had the unique style of saying ‘playa’ at the end of every line. While the dance was inspired by his grandson, his ‘playa’ expression was something he took out of his dog. He used to call his dog, ‘playa’, when he once said it on TV and made it a regular thing. 

“I had a golden retriever, his name was Boss. I got him as a puppy but as he got bigger and bigger, Boss started getting in the way. So every time, I’m like ‘Come on Playa. Get out of the way Playa.’ I’m just talking to him and one night I went to TV I started using slang, calling people playa.”

While Teddy Long took the dance from his grandson and the ‘playa’ expression from his dog, it enhanced his character as an entertainer with the world watching him without fail. Ringside News will keep you updated with everything going on in the wrestling world. 

Did you like Teddy Long’s dance during his entrance? Let us know in the comments section below.

Ishaan Rathi

Ishaan has been a follower of wrestling for more than a decade now. His passion to learn new things and enhance his skills has helped him get experience as a writer at websites like GiveMeSport and Fansided. He has also held content manager and editorial roles in FirstSportz before. Apart from wrestling, Ishaan seeks to take time and watch movies and TV shows.

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