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What's the story?
"Let's me holla at you playa!"
Whether you want to admit it or not, you took a liking to this quote from Teddy Long during his run as SmackDown general manager, and it has become an iconic catchphrase to say the least. Not only is that evident by the way the crowd would hang on his every word as he built up to say the catchphrase, but also by the passion he delivered it with.
In case you didn't know...
While the phrase became somewhat controversial over time due to how annoying it got after a while, it is still something that WWE plays up whenever Long makes an appearance. Of course, it can still be a bit annoying if overused during one of his rare appearances, but the catchphrase has maintained its legendary status all the same.
The heart of the matter
Where did it all come from? Fortunately for the WWE Universe, we finally have an answer to that question as Wrestlinginc.com caught up with Long at Wrestlecon this year and asked him about the catchphrase. Interestingly enough, he claims that the inspiration for the phrase came from his dog.
Well, this is a true story, too, I had a dog, a Labrador named Boss. Every time Boss would get in the way, I would always mess with him, 'Move out the way playa, come on playa,' and I just took that to TV.
What's next?
Teddy Long hasn't been seen on television for quite a while now and only makes appearances on rare occasions, mostly at WrestleManias and special editions of Smackdown Live. Whether he'll continue to do so or not remains to be seen, but the legacy of Teddy Long will live on forever, thanks to his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.
