WWE Hall of Famer JBL revealed on Something to Wrestle With that he has flirted with an in-ring return on multiple occasions since his 2009 retirement, including a WWE angle that Vince McMahon nearly approved and a scheduled match for TNA Wrestling just this past summer.
JBL detailed a storyline he pitched directly to Vince McMahon that would have seen him return to team with Heath Slater. “There was a time with Heath Slater, we were doing the JBL and Cole show, and he was my nephew Clem,” JBL said. “I wanted to do a spot where I came back and tag team with Heath… I talked to Vince about it. He really thought about it hard, and he almost did it. I was hoping that he would. The first thing he says is ‘interesting,’ and I could tell that he wasn’t shooting it down, but he ended up, he ended up killing it.”
More recently, JBL was in talks for a match with TNA Wrestling but walked away due to a creative dispute. “I had a scheduled match for TNA for this past summer,” he revealed. “The guy who was in the creative at the time, we had a disagreement about what he wanted, and I didn’t think it made sense, and so I walked.” He also confirmed he had discussions about participating in the original 2018 All In event.
“There was some times where I flirted with different stuff, and during the time when that AEW All In, came in, I flirted with just some different stuff, about doing some things with, you know, some of the guys that were putting a lot of stuff together, it never worked out, because they kind of went on with Tony Khan and did some stuff and went a different direction. I’ve flirted off and on over the last, I don’t know, 10-12 years of doing something that, just for one reason or another, has never materialized.”
JBL retired from full-time competition at WrestleMania 25 after a 21-second loss to Rey Mysterio. While he has made brief physical appearances since, including an entry in the 2014 Royal Rumble, he has not had a formal match in over 15 years.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
