Teddy Long praises WWE's decision to make 41-year-old star champion after he gave his life to the wrestling business (Exclusive)

Teddy Long praised WWE's decision to crown a 41-year-old superstar a champion on SmackDown, and even had a lot of positive words to say about the newly-crowned champion, who he believes has given his life to the wrestling business.

On the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, host Mac Davis asked Teddy Long about the recent title change on SmackDown that saw Sami Zayn dethrone Solo Sikoa to become the new United States Champion. There was a lot of speculation that Sikoa was being punished due to Rikishi's association with the controversial Raja Jackson incident.

However, Teddy Long completely shut this down and said that WWE was likely just pulling the trigger on Sami Zayn regardless of the controversy. He believes that Zayn has given his life to the wrestling business, and he had a lot of praise for him:

"I just think they've been waiting for the right time to do something with him [Sami Zayn], and they went with it, and I think this is right for Sami. I really like him. I think he's a hard worker with a great attitude. You can look at his performance on TV and tell that whatever they [WWE] want him to do, he'll do it; he doesn't care. That's what you do in this business - you give your life to it. And Sami Zayn, I believe, has done that."

You can watch the full video below:

Teddy Long gave Rhea Ripley some important advice after her recent incident with fans.

Rhea Ripley recently spoke out after videos surfaced of her being bombarded by fans in Paris ahead of the most recent WWE PLE. While it certainly is normal for fans to get excited to see a top-tier WWE star, there was a lot of criticism about the lack of personal space when a few fans approached her. Wrestling legend Bill Apter urged fans to always give superstars their personal space.

Teddy Long also addressed the issue when asked about it by Mac Davis on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine, and he said that the only solution for stars like Ripley is to hire security:

"I agree, but nobody's gonna do that. The only thing that's gonna help you there is you're gonna have to hire your own security." Teddy continued, "Like I said, in the position that she's in right now, she's hot on TV and everything. And if that's the problem, then she needs to hire her own security."

This seems like a very logical piece of advice, especially when considering how passionate fans in places like France are. Considering the global popularity that WWE has, it makes a lot of sense for superstars (especially on the highest level) to have personal security assigned to them.

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