WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long recently opened up about a painful real-life injury he suffered during his time as an on-screen authority figure in WWE—one that drew a furious response from Vince McMahon.
Speaking on the Road Trip After Hours podcast, Long was asked by a fan if he had ever been hurt in the ring. He responded with a story involving an unplanned and unprotected bump at the hands of Big Show (now known as Paul Wight in AEW).
“I think one time my Big Show, he threw me out of the ring, and he grabbed me, and he didn’t tell me, and he didn’t give me time to grab the second rope so I could break my fall,” Long recalled. “So I just went straight through and hit the ground, man.”
The spot left Long with a legitimate injury that impacted his mobility backstage.
“As I walked back… I think I hit my knee or something— I couldn’t even hardly walk,” he said.
According to Long, Vince McMahon was visibly upset upon seeing him injured and made his feelings known.
“That’s when Vince got pissed,” Long continued. “He looked at me and he told me, ‘Don’t you ever let anybody throw you around like that again.’”
When asked whether McMahon confronted Big Show about the incident, Long wasn’t sure, saying he went directly to the trainer’s room after the segment to get checked out.
“No, I don’t know what he did or not, because I went on back to the trainer’s office so they could see what was wrong.”
Teddy Long was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 in recognition of his decades-long career as a referee, manager, and SmackDown General Manager. Big Show, who departed WWE in 2021, currently works under his real name Paul Wight with All Elite Wrestling, appearing both as an in-ring performer and on-screen personality.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
