Long has been involved in the wrestling business since 1985. The 75-year-old worked for companies including WCW and WWE in various roles, from on-screen authority figure to referee. In 2017, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Atlas said McMahon would never allow Long to join a rival promotion like AEW:
“It’s gonna be hard for Vince to replace Teddy. That’s why Vince keeps bringing Teddy back off and on, because he doesn’t want Teddy to go anywhere else and use his ability to develop another company. So, right now if AEW called Teddy and said, ‘Teddy, we want you to work [here],’ Vince would be on the phone, ‘Teddy, you can’t go there, you gotta come here.'” [7:53 – 8:11]
