Teddy Long Shares Origins of Iconic WWE Catchphrases

WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long recently appeared on "Insight With Chris Van Vilet," where he discussed the beginnings of his famous catchphrases, including “One on One With The Undertaker.”

Long revealed that the phrase took off during an event at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I’ll tell you how I put so much emphasis on that. One night we were in Madison Square Garden. Stephanie [McMahon] went out and introduced somebody. She came back, and Vince [McMahon] was talking to her. He said, ‘Stephanie, I want to put emphasis on that when you introduce the guy.’ I was just standing back, so next time I did Undertaker [I said], ‘One on one with The Undertaker!’ That’s how I learned to do that. When they caught on to it and saw that it was catchy, people liked it then they always wrote it and they put it in there. I’m gonna do it anyway. Not that I’m going off, not doing what I’m supposed to do. But I know Vince didn’t mind, Vince gave me free rein to say what I wanted to say. But he knew I wasn’t gonna say anything that would get the company in trouble. They’d write stuff. I just add my stuff to it.”

In his conversation with Van Vilet, Long also delved into the story behind his ‘Playa Playa’ catchphrase. “I had a Labrador retriever named Boss. I got him as a puppy, but as he got bigger, he started getting in the way. So every time, I’m like, ‘Come on, Playa. Get out of the way, Playa, move.’ I’m just talking to him, and one night I went to TV and started using slang, calling people Playa. That’s how I got the Playa started.”

Long explained the origin of his signature dance as well. “The way I got the dance, my grandson, he’s 19 now. When he was about 2 years old, we were trying to teach him how to walk. We bought this walker, and every time we put him in it, all he would do was bop up and down. So I went to TV one night, and they were playing my music. I was just thinking about him and having fun, so I started doing the dance. I got back home, and we were getting ready to watch the show, I said, ‘Come here, look, I’m doing your dance!’ One night, I got ready to walk out, and just as I got to the curtain, Vince was standing there yelling, ‘Do that dance!’ [I said] ‘What dance?’ And he starts doing it! And that’s how the dance started.”

Teddy Long recently made an appearance on WWE television to help announce picks in the 2024 WWE Draft. You can check out his full interview below.