The Challenge's Mark Long Confirms WWE Cameos Were Unplanned
MTV's "The Challenge" star Mark Long keeps popping up on WWE programming. According to the man himself, these moments keep happening without any planning or forethought.
Long was recently interviewed by Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman, and said that he keeps showing up to WWE events simply to support his longtime friend Mike "The Miz" Mizanin. "Last year I went to a Monday Night "Raw" locally in Orlando," Long recounted, saying he was sitting in the front row when a lull in the match occurred. "Myself and Sheamus, I stood up and had words with Sheamus," Long continued. "And he totally engaged me, pointed at me and it went on TV. And then from then on it exploded. I mean, the WWE site was like, 'This must be a collision course between Mark and Sheamus.'"
While WWE.com played along, no plans were made to capitalize on the moment. "Everyone thought WWE had me there as a plan in terms of some sort of storyline in the future. So a bunch of wrestling sites did stories about it. So at that moment I feel like that was when I was like, 'Wow, I think I could really have a go in this world.'" Long cites his friendship with former WWE Champion The Miz, as well as his budding friendship with "NXT" star Grayson Waller, as an entry point.
'I was just there as a fan and supporting The Miz'
Exchanging words with Sheamus wasn't a singular experience for Long, who found himself cutting an actual promo on Sheamus at a WWE Live Event at Madison Square Garden, which Sheamus saw and responded to. Long feels cutting that promo "fed the allure" of his possible entry into the world of professional wrestling.
According to Long, he couldn't stop running into "The Celtic Warrior" during his travel to various WWE shows. "I went down to Miami again for a Monday Night "Raw." I actually was checking into a hotel behind Sheamus, and he turned to me and noticed me. And he was like, 'Mark Long.' And I was like, 'Sheamus.' And he goes, 'Wow, you're bigger than I thought you were.' And I was like, "Oh." So we actually ended up exchanging numbers. We went out that night after "Raw," became good friends."
The last of Long's recent appearances on WWE programming came at the "Granddaddy of them all," as Long was sitting front row at WWE WrestleMania 38, watching The Miz betray his tag team partner Logan Paul after their tag team match. "The Miz jumped out of the ring and jumped in my arms and was celebrating and we were high-fiving," Long recounted, saying that his new friend Grayson Waller texted him, assuming he was a plant that WWE had put in the stands for Miz. "It was like, 'You don't understand the pop that got in the arena when The Miz jumped in your arms.'"
'It's all building to something.'
While Long has yet to make any concrete plans with WWE, he is adamant that the allure is there. Long recounts being in Nashville for this year's SummerSlam. "We were front row again. And people were like, 'Oh, you're here again. When are you wrestling? When is this?'"
Long notes that he recently appeared with Grayson Waller on "WWE NXT" and says that "it's all building to something." Whether that's a wrestling appearance, he's not clear but he does have a dream scenario. "In a perfect world, I executive produce a show on Paramount called The Challenge: All Stars."
As it stands, Long has more on his plate than his random encounters with the WWE spotlight, as Long will take on Noah Kekoa (formerly known as Kona Reeves in "WWE NXT") at Boca Raton Championship Wrestling's November Knockdown on November 6.