WWE announced today that both JBL and Ron Simmons, known to Attitude Era fans as the Alcolytes Protection Agency (APA) will be inducting Teddy Long into the WWE Hall of Fame at this year’s induction ceremony in Orlando. The announcement is quite fitting considering Simmons, a fellow Hall of Famer, was managed by Teddy Long in WCW during the early 1990’s when Simmons was in the team of Doom with Butch Reed.
JBL spent many years working with Long on Smackdown and has remained a close friend of the former GM ever since. Off screen, Simmons and JBL famously travelled with Long and another Hall of Famer, the Godfather (Charles Wright). This will be the APA’s second time inducting someone into the Hall as they inducted Godfather into last year’s class.
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BREAKING: @teddyplayalong will be inducted into the #WWEHOF Class of 2017 by @JCLayfield & #RonSimmons! https://t.co/xfY3CRODIq pic.twitter.com/xQxPjBywUO
— WWE (@WWE) March 17, 2017
After the announcement of Long’s nomination into the Hall, JBL showered him with praise.
“Teddy Long is a groundbreaker. He worked his way up from the ring crew to become the manager of one of the greatest tag teams of all time in Doom. He was a referee and became one of the most colorful general managers ever. Teddy Long has done it all. If there’s anybody deserving of going into the WWE Hall of Fame, it’s him.”
The 2017 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place on Friday night, March 31st from Orlando, FL.
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2017
- Kurt Angle, to be inducted by John Cena
- Diamond Dallas Page
- The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express
- “Ravishing” Rick Rude
- Teddy Long, to be inducted by JBL & Ron Simmons
- Beth Phoenix
- Eric LeGrand to receive the Warrior Award
As for the WrestleMania card itself, you can find the fully announced card below.
United States Champion Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens
RAW’s Women’s Champion Bayley vs Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks
Universal Champion Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar
WWE Champion Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton
RAW Tag Team Champions The Club vs Enzo and Cass vs Cesaro and Sheamus
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose vs Baron Corbin
Smackdown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs All Smackdown Women
2017 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal featuring Big Show, Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler
John Cena and Nikki Bella Tag Match vs The Miz and Maryse
Shane McMahon vs AJ Styles, and a rumored Triple H vs Seth Rollins confrontation.
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