and manager (1998–2004) Long debuted in the WWF as a referee on the December 21, 1998 episode of Raw is War and stayed with that role until September 2002, when he was taken off the road. Like his previous referee stints, Long went by the shortened Teddy Long name during this period. He was a referee at the Over The Edge 1999 PPV, during the match after Owen Hart's tragic death: a mixed tag match between Jeff Jarrett/Debra and Val Venis/Nicole Bass. Long was the referee when Darren Drozdov ended up paralyzed and can be seen in WWE's Don't Try This At Home warning looking at the paramedics lift Droz up on a stretcher. He wrestled in a 3 on 2 handicap match with The Rock (wrestler) and Jack Doan defeating Kane (wrestler) and Rikishi (wrestler) on Monday Night Raw January 6, 2001. He was re-packaged as a villainous manager once again under his full name, and perhaps his most notable managing stint in this period came when managing D'Lo Brown, Rodney Mack, Christopher Nowinski, Rosey, Mark Henry and Jazz at different times, telling fans to "Get down wit' da Brown" and to "Back da Mack." Long teamed with Mack and Nowiniski losing to The Dudley Boyz at Insurrextion (2003). When he was drafted to SmackDown, he managed Mark Jindrak. On the January 5, 2004 edition of Raw, he was filling in as the guest General Manager for Eric Bischoff. During a match between Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam, announcer Lilian Garcia had announced that Van Dam had won by DQ in a No Disqualification Match. But, Long grabbed the microphone and ordered to restart the match. Just then, Stone Cold Steve Austin, as the "Sheriff" came out with an ATV and chased him around the ring and the arena. After Van Dam won the match, Austin continued to chase Long until he was cornered by both him and Van Dam; in which they pushed Long back into the ring. As he begged Austin not to hurt him, Long offered him a handshake. He accepted it, only to give Long a stunner in the process for restarting the match. General manager of SmackDown and ECW (2004–2012) After Kurt Angle was fired from the general manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American general manager of SmackDown!. Long immediately turned face on his first night as