JBL shared one of the most intense stories of his career involving his legendary rivalry with Eddie Guerrero. Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, he recounted the aftermath of the infamous heart attack angle involving Eddie’s mother in El Paso, Texas. The heat from the local crowd was so volatile that local authorities were forced to escort JBL directly from the arena to the city limits to ensure his safety from rioting fans.
The situation took a surreal turn when JBL encountered a border checkpoint while traveling to his next destination. Because he had been forced to flee the arena in such haste, he was still wearing his full wrestling attire, including trunks and boots, without a shirt. He found himself in a precarious position as he attempted to explain his appearance to a Hispanic police officer without mentioning that he had just “attacked” a member of the beloved Guerrero family.
“They drove me all the way to the city limits. The police did, and they were going to drive me all the way to Odessa. They were going to follow me all the way to Odessa to make sure I drove all the way, got out of the freaking county and….the state…….We got to film it. You know, we had extra state troopers. We had cops all around the ring. I mean, by the time I get back, they’re about to riot, man, they’re John. You got to get out of here. And he’s giving me this huge gift. I got to get this on film. I have to, so we got to make sure I get the whole thing filmed. Anyway, when I get to the back, they have my car ready, my bags in the back. They put me in the car. They drive me straight out of the parking lot and straight to the interstate and straight to Odessa. (We) get to the city. Let me sign we got out of there so fast that nobody follows. Nobody even knew we were out of the arena. They were still thinking I was in the arena somewhere. So I pulled over. I said, guys, nobody’s following me. And I said, appreciate your help. And they said, well, whatever you do, don’t come back. We think you’ll be killed. The police took me to the edge of the city limits and told me not to come back. So when you hear these guys talk about heat these days, I’ll compare stories. Yeah, here’s the funny part. So I get to the ceiling, aside, I pull over, say, guys are not following me, as I said, we’re cool. And so he said, Go to Odessa. I had a room for me in Odessa. They were flying out of Odessa. Everybody else was flying out of El Paso. I had to be by myself in Odessa, I drove about four or five miles and run to a border checkpoint, which is no big deal, except for the fact I’m in wrestling trunks, no shirt and boots, and All my stuff’s in the back. So that’s how I pull up to the border checkpoint in wrestling gear. And this guy, this cop, just looked at this Hispanic cop looks at me, I’m not gonna tell him that I just beat up Mrs. Guerrero. And so we were at there by hhiself. He might shoot me. So I would pull up, and he just looks at me, I mean, just looks at me, and I just sit there. I wonder, what do you say? I’m just sitting there, damn near naked, and my wallets in the truck, everything’s like, you gotta be kidding me? Oh, my. He goes, is there an explanation, sir? And I said, there is. I said, Do you really want to hear it? He goes, No, just put a shirt.”
JBL added that he’s not sure if it is fair to say that talent today could get heat like that because he’s not even sure wrestlers could get away with something like that in modern times.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to more reporting on the Inside The Ring podcast or watch their latest updates on their official YouTube channel.
