Road Trip After Hours w/ WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long and Host Mac Davis
The Fastest 30 Minute Wrestling Show with WWE Hall of Famer TEDDY LONG and MAC DAVIS! It's FAST, It's FUN and it's FREE!
Road Trip After Hours w/ WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long and Host Mac Davis
Abdullah The Butcher Joins Us To Share Stories, Set The Party, And Reflect On A Life In The Ring
Fans once cleared aisles when Abdullah the Butcher walked through the crowd. That same aura lights up our mics as we celebrate a true original, swap stories from the territory days, and lock in plans for his 80th birthday weekend in Riverdale, Georgia. Teddy Long traces his own path back to Abby’s open door—backstage access, lessons learned the hard way, and a lifelong respect for the kind of ring psychology that made people believe.
We dig into what made Abby’s presence so singular: the menace that felt real, the fork that made you flinch, and the way Japanese crowds reacted with equal parts fear and fascination. Gary Hart enters the chat as the gold standard of authenticity at ringside, proving how the right manager can sharpen a legend’s edge. Between memories, we get practical: The black tie purple carpet birthday celebration and awards banquet at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Ticket info, payment options, and pages to follow are all covered, because honoring legends works best when the room is full.
Then we shift to a modern flashpoint: John Cena’s retirement finish. We unpack why a tap undermines “never give up,” and outline a cleaner, character-safe alternative—an injury setup and a pass-out finish in the vein of Bret vs. Austin. It’s not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake; it’s a reminder that consistent storytelling is still the engine of great wrestling. By the end, you’ll feel the throughline from Abby’s believable chaos to today’s booking debates and see how the craft still lives in every detail.
Join us for a night of respect, humor, and sharp candor—and make plans to be part of Abby’s milestone celebration. If you had a favorite Abdullah moment, share it with us, hit follow, and leave a review so more fans can find the show.
I like that intro. I really do. That music gets me going every time we start the show. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another uh all new episode of Road Trip After Hours. I'm your host, Mac Davis, and that, of course, is WWE Hall of Famer, Mr. Teddy Long. Hey, Teddy.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, good afternoon and happy holidays to you, Maxter.
SPEAKER_02:Man, I'm looking forward to it. Uh my hey, my wife during this time of the year, Teddy, I'm I'm used to working. I work from home. So, you know, most of my work is done out of the house. So I'm usually in the house all day, you know, just kind of hanging out. Well, my wife now is off of work uh for like three weeks. I went in there today, Teddy. I swear to God. Now, it's it's Georgia, I get that, but it does get cold here at times, and it's been kind of cold lately. My wife is running the AC today. Oh, yeah. In this house, she is running the AC. It is 68 degrees. That sounds familiar to me. Yeah, I I've experienced that. Yes. Oh my God. And then next thing I know, I'll be sitting in here probably halfway during the show. If I start sweating, it's because she decided she got cold and wanted to turn the heat on. And it'll go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Anyhow, Teddy, uh, we're supposed to have a special guest with us tonight. Uh we haven't heard from him yet. Although we got confirmation, they got all everything that they need. Uh, we just haven't uh seen them call in yet. So we're still waiting right now uh for Abdullah the butcher uh to join the show. And hopefully we'll still get him connected up here uh so everybody can ask questions of Abdullah and we can tell you all about a special uh party that's coming up, and that'll be on January 10th in the Atlanta, Georgia area. And we'll tell you more about that. Uh actually let's just talk about it now while we can, uh Teddy. I know you're gonna be there, and Ron Simmons will be there. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, that's correct.
SPEAKER_02:And it's the big 80th birthday celebration for Abdullah the Butcher. Uh that'll be taking place as an annual black tie purple carpet birthday celebration and awards banquet. And it's taking place at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Riverdale, Georgia. And uh hopefully we'll uh have uh Miss Malik and uh also uh uh uh Abby join us and tell us more about the uh show and what we can expect. Teddy, I know you're looking forward to it. You've been with Abby, you've known Abby for God, how long now?
SPEAKER_03:Well, you know, Abdullah the Butcher is one of the reasons uh well he's one of the guys is how I got into professional wrestling. Uh I was me and my son was going down to the old TBS studios at the time and was watching Georgia Championship, you know, we'd watch him tape it every Saturday morning. Well, by me, I had been working for James Brown too, and James Brown also taped his uh TV show there. Then I could get in. The security guys, you know, would let me in. So anyway, uh I ran into Abdullah, and Abdullah uh had just come to Atlanta, and Abdullah at that time he loved the party. He wanted to, you know, go to all of the all of the big giants. And so they had a place in Atlanta off Cambleton Road there called Mr. V's. That was the place, man. And Abdullah, I think he went there. Somebody took him and he loved that. And he that's where I always took him to Mr. V's. And uh by me being with Abdullah, I could get in the back, you know. I they the guys didn't, you know, Kfay me or nothing much, but Abdullah was really a big reason why I could get back there and nobody bothered me. And then I started making myself busy and stuff, and then I end up uh, you know, get going to the ring, getting the jackets, and uh end up putting the ring up, taking the ring down, and went from there.
SPEAKER_02:And that's early days, Abby, too, that you're talking about. So, I mean, this is at a time when people are really kind of uh a little freaked out with Abby, uh, because this time people aren't quite sure about some of the characters in professional wrestling. Abby was one of those guys. Abdullah the butcher, especially when he went to Japan and places like that, the crowds they would clear out of their seats and run for their lives when they saw Abby at times. He was that believable.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Did it make did you kind of find it funny that people were so terrified of Abby and you knew him a totally different way?
SPEAKER_03:Well, before I really knew him, I was terrified of him.
SPEAKER_02:So was everybody in the back, too. I tell the story all the time because I've this stories I've heard is that it had a board in the back and it would tell you who you're working in that night. And if the guys came in and they saw Abdullah next to their name, is that's who they're gonna work with for the night, they were gone. They they were done. They most of them would turn around, pack their bags, just leave. They weren't gonna have that match.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, because they he they wouldn't work with it, man. Because he, I mean, but uh Abby was stiff, man. And uh Abby come from the old school, and that's how you were taught back in the day. You know, you gotta be stiff, you gotta make people believe this. And so when you got in there with Abby, he uh he made them believe.
SPEAKER_02:Now, did you ever ref any of his matches?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, I did. I ref uh something when Gary Hart was managing him at the time.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Gary Hart was a great combination with Abby, too. Oh, yeah. Gary Hart with anybody really Gary just had this this uh authentic authenticity about him, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Just he was an incredible performer and always good ringside with these guys, but with Abby, yeah, he was really good. Yeah, he was. Did you during the matches? I mean, you see him pull out the fork and stuff. Was he doing that at that time where he's drawing a lot of blood? Yeah, yeah. Did it freak you out when you saw him doing that? I mean, even because you know I was just saying, I I knew to stay out of the way. Just don't get in the way and the fork won't find you.
SPEAKER_03:That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_02:All right, look, we're gonna get something uh in you in the room right now, and we're gonna uh throw your stuff up on the screen while we wait to see if Abby makes it in here. Uh, we have Zach Minger always here. The uh the show is with us to tell us what special holiday or a special day it may be or week, and it is National Bake Cookies Day, Teddy.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I always appreciate Zach. Zach is a great guy to know. Anytime you want to get off your diet, then follow Zach's instructions.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man, Zach always talks about the food in here. And I'm thinking when I saw the National Baked Cookies Day, uh, I did see inside the refrigerator is some of that uh, what was it, Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough that you just chop up and throw it in the oven and make cookies out of them. Man, eating that stuff raw is just as good. Just as good. And it even says on the package now, for those of you freaking out, make sure, but I know on the packages we get, it does say it's safe to eat uh, you know, raw like that, because in the old days that was really good. I think it would have made you sick pretty good. Uh, let's see. We also have uh Pee Wee in here saying, What up, Mac and Ted? Hey Pee-wee, good to see you in here. Hey, holla back, player. Let's see. Uh some congratulations here. Uh, pretty classy lady saying, Hey, Mac and Teddy, this is off topic, but I just got my master's degree this week. That's fantastic, pretty classy lady.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well, congratulations to you. Congratulations.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, what would you get a master's in? Would you get your degree in? Well, give us a hint. What are you doing? Uh, what do you want to do when you, you know, start working? I mean, you're probably working anyhow. Uh, let's see. We have uh a pretty classy lady also that we were just talking to saying she's in the Atlanta area, so she might go to the Abdullah the Butcher birthday celebration in January, uh, which I think would be fantastic. Uh, I and actually Teddy uh has mentioned something about me coming there, and I'm trying to work that out so I can be there. I think it'd be a lot of fun to be there for that event. Uh Pee Wee saying, What up, Mike? What up, Teddy? Uh, are you going uh to Mayo Up My Hat? Yeah, Pee-wee. Um, actually, I have those, they're due to come in at the end of this month. And when they come in, then I'll send it out because I've actually, Teddy, I didn't even tell you this. I went online and found a place and just ordered some hats up. And I'm it was quick and easy. Boom, boom, boom. I was like, wow, that was easy. Uh and they're good looking hats, too, by the way. So when they come in, we'll show them what they look like, and uh, and that's what you'll be getting in the mail, Pee-wee. Uh, let's see, what else do we get here? Uh Terry Richardson, man, Terry, cowboy. Uh Terry and I worked together in uh radio, and uh Terry, we got some stories we can tell. Let's say say back, brother. You're the man. Love you, brother. Yeah, back at you, Terry, man. It's been quite some time, man. I hope you're doing well. Uh, Ellen stopping in the room as well and saying Merry Christmas, and hopes that Santa's good to us both. And Ellen, I hope the same thing for you and Buddy. Also, I got uh a video uh right after our show last week, Teddy. Uh, we were talking about Buddy being in the ring getting his uh his high school diploma. Uh, but he would only walk if he was at the wrestling matches. And so they presented it to him at the wrestling matches at Deep South with Nick. And man, what a great moment! Fantastic moment. Well done, uh uh Nick. I know you're probably watching tonight, and uh that's it does man, that does a heart good to see something like that, uh, especially knowing Buddy and Buddy, you know, picking and choosing when he wants to do something, and he chose to do that with you. Very cool.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you, Nick.
SPEAKER_02:All right, let's see. We also have uh pretty glassy lady saying global health. Okay, she wants to do medical research. Oh, goodness, you you probably research Teddy and find. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I think I just got noticed that uh Dula the Butcher may be here. Okay, how do I see? I think we see Miss Malik. Can you hear us?
SPEAKER_04:Need to turn it around. How do I do that?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I guess you'll have to turn the camera, uh, whatever's facing you towards Abby. Okay, can you see him? Yeah, look, can you get it uh get him a little bit lower in the frame there? Lower? Yeah, just uh I tell you what, hang on, I might be able to fix this for you so you don't have to do anything. How for hang on for just a second.
SPEAKER_04:But can you see him?
SPEAKER_02:We sure can.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Just hold on one minute. We're gonna try to fix this.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, take your time. No, it's it's in that you can't.
SPEAKER_02:All right, it's not not the best, but this will work.
SPEAKER_00:Come up closer.
SPEAKER_02:Uh no, you're perfectly fine now. As long as we can hear him. Uh, if you think we can hear him uh from there, we're good.
SPEAKER_03:Abdullah, can you Abdullah, can you hear us?
SPEAKER_04:Ab, can you hear them?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you might want to get him get it a little bit closer so we can hear Abby and uh he can hear us.
SPEAKER_04:Could you push this up?
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:I'm getting them all sitting there.
SPEAKER_04:Can you see him now?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we're here. Uh oh, well, we saw him for a second. Now we just lost the uh picture. Uh if that's the case, they'll probably come right back in. Let's see. Well, maybe not. We lost the picture if you can hear us, Miss Malik. They're still connected. I can tell that because they haven't there. Oh, there you go. We're back. There it is. All right, Teddy, tell everybody who our special guest is this week.
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, uh, ladies and gentlemen here on Road Trip After Hours, we're uh really proud and honored to have uh one of the greatest uh wrestling performers of all time, uh Abdullah the Butcher. And uh like I was saying earlier here, you know, Abdullah really don't know, but I finally told him one time that uh he was a real big reason that uh, you know, I got into professional wrestling.
SPEAKER_06:Volume up. Volume up.
SPEAKER_02:I think uh they're still trying to work on that camera a little bit there, Teddy. Well, we just lost him. There we go. Now we got him back.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, I'm gonna try to try to I'm gonna try to turn the camera right here.
SPEAKER_02:I guess you can hear us though, right? Teddy, okay, they're disconnected for sure this time, so we'll have to get back. God bless him. We'd love you, Abby. This look, this is not unusual. We do this uh quite often, and sometimes some of our guests do, you know, maybe a little bit up in age, tend to be well, the other thing too, you know, a lot of people kind of like me, they're not, you know, social media savage.
SPEAKER_03:That's what I'm trying to say. Yeah, yeah, a lot of the stuff they do on social media right now. I can't do it. You know what I mean? So I I I don't I understand. If you don't know, you don't know. All right, we're back again.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, here we go.
SPEAKER_02:Can you we can see him perfectly?
SPEAKER_03:All right, stay right there, stay with that. You got it, it's good.
SPEAKER_02:All right, Teddy, tell them again who we got.
SPEAKER_03:We've got Abdullah the Butcher, one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Uh, Abdullah, like I said, was a great part of my career. The we the reason I got started in professional wrestling was because of being associated with Abdullah the Butcher. Well, Abdullah is doing something here in January. It's uh gonna be his 80th birthday, and God bless him, because you know it's so many of us in this business that are gone away, you know, that that are not here. And like myself and Abdullah, you know, we're still breathing, we're still alive, and so we're here. And uh Abdullah, if you can, you know, uh we don't want to take a lot of your time, but tell us a little bit about what's going on with you on uh in January.
SPEAKER_07:You can take all my time, all of the beyond, all night you want to all right.
SPEAKER_03:Well I I've already told everybody that I'm gonna be there along with Ron Summers too. We're both gonna be there.
SPEAKER_04:Um let me just say this if my friend and I don't think we need and I don't know much about it. Wait a minute. I didn't do that. Um I didn't know much about this event. It really was supposed to be a price, but it's Saturday, January the 10th, 2026 at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, 73400 National Highway, Riverdale, Georgia, 30296. Again, that's January the 10th, 2026 at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
SPEAKER_02:Let me ask you a quick question, Miss Malik. Uh, if people wanted to get tickets, how do they call a number? Do they go to a website? How do they get tickets?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, you can um call my number at 770-896-6377. We have QR codes, which I will send to you. They could buy it via um PayPal, um, uh, what is it? PayPal, Venmo, Zell, and um Cash App. Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, and um Cash App.
SPEAKER_02:Abby, let me ask you a question. I I am uh one of those guys that grew up watching you, and uh, and I was telling Teddy earlier that there were only a few characters in wrestling at that time that were very believable, that really scared people. When you went to Japan, did you find that Japan's fans were more terrified of you than the American fans?
SPEAKER_07:They were uh scared to death of me. I walk all through the crowds and stuff. And uh Mrs. Baba Jai, Baba's wife. And Baba was the promoter. And his wife said, he's crazy, he's really crazy. I worked in Japan uh many times, many times.
SPEAKER_02:Did you have a preference for where you like to work? Did you like working in Japan or did you prefer working in the States?
SPEAKER_07:I like working in Japan, the States, Australia, New Zealand, all over.
SPEAKER_02:Did you have a favorite place to perform? Did you have somewhere favorite that you liked to perform?
SPEAKER_07:All the place before I went.
SPEAKER_02:Whoever had the money.
SPEAKER_07:I um I give them what they wanted to see. They wanted to see no bullshit.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Teddy was saying earlier that uh, you know, in your time things were a little stiff. Uh, you know, they're uh you didn't pull punches quite as much as they did later on.
SPEAKER_07:That's very punching.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_07:I agree with that's why Bruce and Roadie and myself and uh Perry Punk. We're just and we got it. We give the people what they wanted.
SPEAKER_02:Herb Simmons, by the way, Abby, uh sent me a message earlier today to make sure I told you he said hello. Uh I don't he wasn't gonna be able to get in the room tonight, I don't believe, but he wanted to make sure that you knew that uh he he was thinking about you.
SPEAKER_07:He was the best body good. We always got a good thing. I wanna find the ball I wanna play a blue bag, it's unbelievable. He reminds me of Teddy Long.
SPEAKER_02:Teddy, you got any questions or stories about you and Abby you can share with us?
SPEAKER_03:Oh well, the only thing I can say, like me and Abby, you know, we go way back, my man. So that, you know, and uh he looked out for me too. He did a lot of things for me too, you know, and I do know that. So uh and I just want to thank him and I'd appreciate everything he's done for me. And uh, like you said, I made it, and so you know, now I understand what this business is all about. I got it. And I want to thank God also to I was able to work close with Vince McMahon. And when you work with him, you learn. And and God put me there with him. I he I don't even think Vince knows why he liked me. You know what I mean? That was you know what I mean? So I mean, I I I made it and and Abdullah was part of it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_07:But you made it yourself, nobody made you. Nobody daddy, you got in there, you were the referee, then you were the promoter. And then you got everything. Nobody told you what to do. Nobody. You're a great referee and a great manager.
SPEAKER_02:I I agree, and but uh, you know, Teddy was telling us just before you got on, uh Abby, that you know it was you opening that door that really got his start. You know, you allowed him to be around and and learn and be a part of the business where otherwise other people may not have given him that opportunity.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, but the main part about it I like Teddy for one thing. He knew how to talk, he had a clean of mine, and he knew a lot. He didn't need TV. They decided but he learned a hard one.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:He trusted everybody, but at the same time, they were trying to shock you.
SPEAKER_02:We had pretty classy lady uh popping in the room. I want to make mention one of our listeners, Abby, saying that her mom saw you live at the city auditorium. Uh this is pretty classy lady, one of the uh people who are watching us right now.
SPEAKER_07:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And uh let's see.
SPEAKER_07:A lot of people watch me. And they thought I was crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you you see Herb Simmons popping in here now. He's saying, I'll book that match, Abby uh Herb versus Abby. Yes, please do it. That's right.
SPEAKER_05:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'll be the special ring announcer for the match. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That's that sounds like something to book there, Herb. That's the whole package right there.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, how'd you like and how are you doing? It's great to have uh people like you and Teddy Long and uh who's talking right now.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_07:But you guys were great. Kenny Long was like you're great. You were great, you were a hundred percent great.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you very much, Abby. We appreciate that very much. I want to remind everybody, too, before we get out of here, that uh his uh birthday party again, the celebration, is an annual black tie, purple carpet birthday celebration and awards banquet is taking place on Saturday, January 10th at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge that's in Riverdale, Georgia. Uh, if you want tickets for more information about how to get it, uh all you have to do is why I'd say look at that, but it's it's everything's reversed, so it's hard to read what you got there. So but tell us again, Miss Malik, uh, the phone number to call to uh get tickets.
SPEAKER_04:770-896-6377.
SPEAKER_02:Abby, we look forward to seeing you on January 10th, my friend.
SPEAKER_07:You're coming. Come with Teddy.
SPEAKER_02:I I plan on being there. I'm I'm actually was trying to shift a few things around so I can come because I do want to be there. Please come. Abby, thank you so much. And again, uh, if you want tickets, you need more information about this event that you're not getting from us right now. If you go to his Facebook page, uh you can go there. You'll find everything you need. Everything is online, either at my page, Teddy's page, or on Abby's page. Right. And uh, you know, this is a great thing. It's gonna be a lot of fun. I expect it's gonna be uh you know, it's one of those things where you don't get a lot of time to spend with some of the true legends in wrestling. This, my friends, is a true wrestling legend. This is somebody I grew up with that I remember, and I remember just how terrified the fans would get because they truly believe what they were seeing. It's a throwback to the days of wrestling that I enjoy. Uh, so it's gonna be a lot of fun that night. You also got Teddy Long and Ron Simmons are gonna be there. Ron Simmons can sell ice to an Eskimo, so you never know what he'll be up to.
SPEAKER_07:But but the main part about it, uh I won't get it back to say something.
SPEAKER_06:Hey, Teddy Long, I appreciate you. You heard it, and you came from these batteries. I love you, but I I love you, I love you. I want to see all you got, all the all the great need to be at this event. So you never know when you get a chance to say, I love you, I thank you, lead up, get the word out, and we need it, it goes down for all of you, and I appreciate you all back in the day on the west side of a lot of people. You did your thing, you did your thing. I want you to be there.
SPEAKER_07:I got another another. I want all my friends for you.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, this is gonna be an event to remember. Also, on Friday, January the 9th, we're gonna have a QA session at the Windham Garden Hotel at um on uh Phoenix Boulevard. I don't have the exact address, but go to Abdullah's page, Larry Shreve's page, or like you said, um uh Teddy Long's page, or uh, and you'll see all of the information there. January 9th, that's on a Friday at the weekend.
SPEAKER_02:I believe, I believe Miss Malik, if I'm not mistaken, uh Mark Charles. Is he gonna be the host for that?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yes, absolutely. Mark Charles is gonna be the host.
SPEAKER_02:I uh we know Mark as well. Mark is uh is a great guy, great guy.
SPEAKER_04:Love him, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:All right, guys, we appreciate it and uh we look forward to seeing you. We'll talk about this more before we get to January 10th. But uh uh Abby, really thank you so much for taking the time to come in here and be with us today. Uh, I know a lot of people have been talking about the fact that uh you weren't feeling well. I I'm gonna be honest with you, you look great to me. You look like you're feeling great.
SPEAKER_07:I feel great. I'm telling you, I will be there. I will be there. Very good. See the border. See you guys. I will be there.
SPEAKER_03:All right, Abby. All right, Abdulman. Thank you very much, Abby. Thank you.
SPEAKER_07:Back up and let me see. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you, guys.
SPEAKER_07:I will be there. We'll see you there. Teddy, make sure you bring the promoter and bring this guy here too.
SPEAKER_03:I will. I'll have him. He'll be there.
SPEAKER_07:I'll be there.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks, Abby. We appreciate it. All right, Teddy. I think we're out of time. We uh it was nice. Uh, we weren't sure if we're gonna get him in here in the beginning, but uh man, that was a lot of fun. I could have kept going and talking to Abby all night long because there's a lot of questions. So maybe in a future show we can get Abby to come back in and answer some of those questions. Uh, and everybody in here. I do want to mention uh before we get out, go ahead, Teddy.
SPEAKER_03:It'd be a good time to talk to him after the birthday party. You know, let's see how that goes. And you know, if that's a big success for him, that'll give him really something to talk about.
SPEAKER_02:I do want to mention uh some of the folks who have popped by. Chris Nelms in the room saying Merry Christmas, gentlemen. Back at you. Chris Nelms, I love you, player. Yeah, old uh locomotive there. Um I know he hates that I give him shit.
SPEAKER_03:I know you always, it's only you.
SPEAKER_02:Also, pretty classy lady saying, I'm guessing y'all will talk about John Cena's retirement match. She said she didn't like it. Uh Teddy, I I do want to mention that real fast before we get out of here. I think I said something to you the other day. It just, I know I have said this on other shows. And I think even with Bill, when we were with Bill, I would say this: I'm old school. I believe in doing the the honors on the way out. I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem that John Cena lost. My problem with the match was that a guy who sat around for 20 plus years kept saying, never give up. And some idiot in the back, in creative, whoever made that decision, had John Cena quit. He tacked out. A guy who says never give up, gave up. Makes zero sense, Teddy. And I can't believe that someone still has a job after the end of that match.
SPEAKER_03:Well, see, what you don't understand, it's not real.
SPEAKER_02:I I know, but still, Teddy, I mean, they when you're telling stories, you're gonna tell me you're gonna write this great story and then you're gonna end it like that.
SPEAKER_03:Well, here's the thing. And uh everybody that looked at it, they saw they saw the the the you know the this halfway tap. It wasn't really a tap to me. This is my opinion. It wasn't really a tap, it was just it, and then they also saw that smirk on John Cena's face, you know, when he was really supposed to be out. Um my thing is this I'm from the old school, and that wasn't how you do business. But here's the thing, I think I don't know. I think that Cena meant in uh earlier, you know, during his last retirement and all that, you know, he might have had trouble with creative the way he was, you know, the way it was being done, you know, and this when they started doing it.
SPEAKER_02:It was it was shit from the beginning, Teddy. I mean, if I'm being completely honest from my viewpoint, when they started this whole thing and they had him turn heel, they didn't have a clue even then what the they were gonna do with John Cena. Instead, they just started throwing stuff at the wall, making his retirement tour look like he just petered out of sight.
SPEAKER_03:Well, going with just like I was saying, you know, the way you do it, you do business. And uh I I saw a video with Hunter and Vince where Vince was laying out the rules of how things should go when a guy leaves the territory. So, you know, I was he done that was right. That was Hunter was right with that. This is how it's supposed to be done. Uh, but uh Cena didn't do business, and I think the reason maybe Cena didn't do business is maybe he thought about maybe earlier that the way that they were using him too, maybe he wasn't happy with that either. So now so now, you know, this is it right here. So, you know, if I'm Cena, now I'm just my opinion. You know, I look at it like this is my last time. I ain't gotta be here no more. So here's what I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_02:What they what they should have done uh if for the finish on that thing should have been kind of like that Stone Cold and Bret Hart deal. Uh, he should have been put into a uh a hold, not necessarily even a sleeper hold, but it put him in a hold that eventually he just passes out, and that way he didn't give up, he just passed out. He still lost. Well, he still went out with his, you know, looking at the lights.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you do something, you know, you maybe give him an injury before that. You know what I mean? Maybe he comes off the top rope or something, and Gunther moves and he hits that one knee. That just that one knee right there. Now you're selling that one knee right there, and Gunther takes advantage of it, hooks him right away. You know what I mean? Now you put him out because I mean the guy's got a messed up knee, he's hurting. I he can't control what's going on, he's out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Doesn't that sound better than what they did? Oh, yeah. I I mean it it was the the audience. This was my favorite part of it. And and I don't mean this to be mean to anybody in particular, but I thought the heat was put on the right person at the end of the night because after John Cena lost and he stands up to celebrate, you know, his his final match and to leave, out comes the entire crew, including Triple H. And when Triple H came out, all you could hear was you effed up, you F'd up over and over again, and they booed him out of the building because they knew this deserved better than what we got. I cannot believe that at any point Vince McMahon would have given us this as John Cena's final run. I don't like it.
SPEAKER_03:And and Cena wouldn't have did that to Vince.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no. It's just really bad. And I and I hate to see it. I do want to mention Pat Rose came by while uh Abby was in here, I guess. Man in Chattanooga, I watched Abby, and he used to scare me to death. I was 12 years old. Love you, Abby. Uh yeah, I was the same way, uh Pat, and Pat and you and I are probably closer in age, and I and I believe that, you know, I Abby was one of those guys when I grew up, him and Terry Funk uh was another guy that you believed was legitimately kind of maybe not all hair. They were nuts. Yeah. And that's what that's why I think sometimes the heels back then worked because you weren't sure. Yeah, maybe he's not some, you know, uh, you know, dead person that came back to life and all that other stuff, but he is a person that is believable that somebody might be out there like that. And if you can make people believe just a little bit, they'll buy a lot more along the way. So uh simple. Yeah, man. Uh also uh Reggie B. Fine. Man, we've been trying to get you on the show. Uh, what's up, guys? It's a pleasure to see you two men that helped this business get better over the years. I appreciate your brother, and I know both of you all personally. Good to see you, Mr. Butcher. Get better. Thank you, Reggie. Uh, let's see. I'm trying to see if there's anything else I'm gonna throw up one here real quick before we get out of here, and I hate to do this. Um also Reggie B. Fine mentioning that uh he's gonna try to come there with uh King Bar Iceman King Barson uh down to the uh the show to see Abby on his 80th birthday. Okay. Uh also we have uh Scott Lance saying happy holidays. And uh he says he hopes they're awesome. Back at you, Scott. It's been a while. Hope you're doing well. Thank you, Scott. And of course, uh uh Nick Patrick, Joe Hamilton in the room saying, Have a great show from Blinkin' Week. If you didn't hear the uh the reason for that name, go back to last week's show with Nick Patrick. Uh that was fun, and he explained exactly uh what Blico Beak uh came from. Uh also let's see, uh anything else in here. Um 40-ounce C dub saying I love crazy, and uh I and we're gonna get crazy out of here because we're out of time, guys. I'm trying to cut us before we get cut. Teddy, anything coming up for you?
SPEAKER_03:Nothing. I'm just waiting to go see Denise for Christmas and have a great meal.
SPEAKER_02:By the way, those of you who are watching, uh, I'll be doing a new show uh that was it was scheduled to start tonight, but uh there's been some plans uh of change, but I'll be hosting a new show with JCW uh Juggerload Championship Wrestling, uh, along with uh the ring rats, Paige Collette, uh, who is she is interesting and all in herself. Uh, but it's it's gonna be a fun show. We're gonna talk about uh, of course, JCW and uh the lunacy shows that are taking place. So make sure you join us. It'll be starting in the first of next year. We actually realize that these shows are all gonna fall on holidays, so we decided we're gonna wait until after the holidays to start that show. So hope you'll join us for that.
SPEAKER_03:Teddy, congrats, congratulations, man.
SPEAKER_02:Hey man, I appreciate it. It'd be fun working with the clowns. All right, we're out of here. I'm Mac Davis. That, of course, is WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long, and we'll see you again. Teddy, are we gonna be back here next week? It's Christmas Day. You tell me, do you want to come in here on Christmas night?
SPEAKER_03:Of course, we can't let the fans down. How easy is this to do? You gonna tell me this is easy.
SPEAKER_02:I can turn this on and uh no telling I might I might have bloodshot eyes, but we'll be here.
SPEAKER_03:But we'll be here.
SPEAKER_02:All right, we're out of here. I'm Mac Davis. That's Teddy Long. This has been Road Trip After Hours, and we'll see you again next Thursday night, seven o'clock Eastern time.
.png)