Teddy Long reveals his personal Mount Rushmore.
The debate about the greatest professional wrestlers remains a popular one, as pundits often present differing opinions. In the eyes of former WWE SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long, though, four specific names stand above the rest.
“[Under]taker. I’d say ‘Stone Cold’ [Steve Austin], JBL, and Ron Simmons,” Long said when asked about his Mount Rushmore of wrestlers, via the Six Feet Under podcast.
When asked to elaborate on the latter two, Long noted that JBL and Simmons, together known as the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA), were untouchable during their active in-ring years in the 1990s and 2000s.
“Because they were the best. Well, they’re not wrestling anymore, so I won’t say they still are, but they were the best,” Long said. “They were a great tag team. Th APA, nobody could touch them. A lot of people don’t know, but they were also Vince [McMahon’s] hitmen, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Together, JBL and Simmons (formerly known as Bradshaw and Farooq) claimed three WWE Tag Team Championship reigns. Individually, they received their respective WWE Hall of Fame inductions in 2020 and 2012. Similarly, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Undertaker took their places in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 and 2022, respectively.
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