On the “Road Trip After Hours” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long shared a humorous story about a time he forgot a specific word during a live promo, and his fear of Vince McMahon’s reaction. Long explained that McMahon had written a promo for him and wanted him to stress one word in particular.
The Word: “Episodic”
Long recalled the moment with perfect clarity. “He had in this promo, I never will forget this word: episodic. That was the word, episodic,” he said. “And they told me, said, ‘Vince says this is, this is what he really wants you to stress, this episodic’… and I thought I had that down.”
Going Blank on the Ramp
Despite his preparation, when the moment came to deliver the line on the live broadcast, his mind went blank. “Brother, I stepped out on the ramp, and I swear, man, I just went blank. I could not remember episodic to save my life,” Long remembered. “And all I was thinking about, Vince is going to kill me. That’s all I was thinking about on the ramp.”
Vince’s Surprising Reaction
Fearing the worst, Long returned backstage after the segment, only to be met with a surprising reaction from his boss. “I walked back through, and he was standing up, and he was just dying laughing, man,” he said. “And I apologize. I just couldn’t get it out.”
A Lesson from the Boss
Long explained that Vince McMahon’s reaction was a lesson in how to handle the pressures of live television. He shared the advice McMahon gave him and other performers for when things go wrong. “Vince always said this, and this is why I always got comfortable. He said, ‘something happens out there, then it was meant to be,'” Long recalled. “He told us, don’t be so hard on yourself… He would always tell me that, ‘don’t, if it happened live, it was meant to be.'”
The full anecdote and more stories from Teddy Long’s career can be heard on the “Road Trip After Hours” podcast.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Road Trip After Hours with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
