Teddy Long slams 63-year-old wrestling legend for criticizing SmackDown storyline (Exclusive)

Teddy Long slammed a 63-year-old wrestling legend who criticized the SmackDown storyline for SummerSlam 2025 featuring music star Jelly Roll, and stated that the legend needs to get with the times.

On the latest episode of The Wrestling Time Machine, host Mac Davis was thrilled to get the thoughts of WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long regarding a quote made by Jim Cornette. The 63-year-old Cornette called Jelly Roll a very unflattering name (the full quote is later in the article).

Teddy Long slammed Jim Cornette for his criticism and said that he's an old school guy and needs to be brought out of that mentality and change with the times:

"That's Jim Cornette's opinion. He's always going to speak his honest opinion, you can be ready for that. But Jim Cornette got to realize: this is entertainment now, ok? That's why so-called 'fat guys' can beat up wrestlers, because it's not real, it's that simple. Cornette is old school, and it's hard to bring him out of that." (2:04-2:30)

You can watch the full video below:

What was the quote from Jim Cornette that Teddy Long was replying to?

Teddy Long has been defensive about Jelly Roll's involvement at WWE SummerSlam after criticism from fans. But what was the quote from Jim Cornette that urged Long to react on The Wrestling Time Machine this week when asked by Mac Davis?

On his YouTube show, Jim Cornette had very unflattering words about Jelly Roll, and this was what he had to say:

“Jelly Roll, who’s a former giant, you know, Martin the Blimp Levy level fat f**k but is now just a regular fat f**k that you see walking around the streets,” Cornette said. “So, this is what we come up against with the AEW versus WWE weekend — complete opposites. And sometimes you’re embarrassed to be a wrestling fan and watch either one of them.” (H/T PWMania)

Bill Apter immediately came to the defense of Jelly Roll, stating that the musician has worked extremely hard to lose weight and that he has been in the grind at the WWE Performance Center for hours every day.

If you trust Randy Orton's words for Jimmy Kimmel Live, then there are few people who have worked so hard to get into the ring as Jelly Roll has. The Viper admitted that his SummerSlam tag team partner has already exceeded WWE's expectations of him.

If true, then this is a massive sign of endorsement from someone who has spent a quarter of a century in the wrestling business, most of which was in WWE. Jelly Roll told Stephanie McMahon on her podcast that he asked Triple H at SummerSlam 2024 if he could step into the ring if he lost weight. The Game agreed, and he was impressed by the amount of weight the singer lost by WrestleMania this year.

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Edited by Rohit Nath