The Hall of Famer is chasing ghosts
Teddy Long, a man who has booked more tag team matches than there are stars in the sky, recently decided to weigh in on the current creative state of WWE. During a sit-down, the former SmackDown General Manager suggested that the company still needs the hand of Vince McMahon to do things right. It is a bold take for 2026, and frankly, it sounds like he is nostalgic for a time that stopped working years ago.
The argument usually goes that Vince had the secret sauce for building stars. That narrative ignores the fact that by 2022, the creative process had become a claustrophobic mess of last-minute script rewrites and segments that were flat-out insulting to the audience. We watched the show turn into a repetitive grind where storylines were abandoned the second the chairman got bored.
The post-Vince reality is objectively better
Look at the product right now. We have actual, long-term booking that makes sense. The mid-card title matches mean something again, and the pay-per-view cards are not built solely on the whims of an octogenarian in a gorilla position chair. As Ringside News noted, Long claims the talent is there, but he believes he knows who has the vision. I disagree.
We finally have enough consistent airtime to let feuds simmer instead of boiling over in three weeks. Remember the 2010s? You had guys getting buried because they looked at the boss wrong or didn't fit a specific physical archetype. Now, the roster feels like a meritocracy where the best performers actually get the spotlight they deserve.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
Teddy Long is a legend, and I have zero disrespect for his contributions to the business. I grew up hollering at the screen every time he announced a match, and I still miss the playa-hating era of SmackDown. However, wanting the old regime back is like asking for a rotary phone because you like the sound of the dial.
The business has moved on. The current TKO-era WWE is pulling record numbers without the chaotic pivot-heavy booking of the past. If you look at the recent success of shows like Saturday Night's Main Event, it is clear that production value and modern storytelling hold more weight for the current fan base.
The booking flaws remain
Let's not pretend everything under the new guard is perfect. We still get matches that drag on too long without a clear payoff, and there are segments on Raw that make you want to jump into the ring just to change the channel. But those are minor hiccups compared to the systematic soul-crushing booking that defined the final years of the previous administration.
The issue isn't a lack of direction. It is the fact that some veterans struggle to recognize a new era because they are tethered to how they think things *should* be done. We are 4 years removed from the old regime, and the company has never looked healthier. Sometimes, you have to let the legend retire and accept that the game has evolved past them.
Bottom line? If Teddy wants to book a tag team match, by all means, bring him back for a guest spot. But when it comes to the heavy lifting in creative, let's keep the past in the archives where it belongs. WWE is moving forward, with or without the approval of those who think 2005 was the peak of civilization.
