We Need To Talk About JBL’s Bullying

If you have followed WWE on more than just a casual level over the years, chances are pretty good you’ve heard at least one story about JBL’s backstage exploits.

Tales of JBL being a bully have circulated for a long time, a lot of them going way beyond playful ribbing and into genuinely disturbing territory. I’m talking shower scenes that would upset Norman Bates.

One problem with the business of professional wrestling is that backstage stories like these usually have to be taken with a large pinch of salt. In a business that thrives on creating fake realities it can sometimes be impossible to pick the truth out of the myths.

Now it seems there may be more truth to those stories than a lot of fans were ever willing to believe.

Former WWE ring-announcer Justin Roberts has recently released an autobiography; an exposé of sorts, and in it he tells several stories of the horrific bullying he suffered at the hands of certain members of the locker-room. Unsurprisingly, the worst of these seem to be focused around JBL who, according to Roberts, would refer to him constantly as “dipshit” or “numbnuts” and would regularly tell him to kill himself.

Roberts also tells a story of how his passport was stolen from his bag on a UK tour and never returned, so he had to go to the US embassy in London to get it re-issued before he could return home. I don’t think anyone would disagree that this kind of ordeal goes way past harmless joking. Roberts even claims that he was often scared for his life on tour.

This new evidence of JBL’s behaviour comes at the same time that WWE commentator Mauro Ranallo, who suffers from bipolar disorder, has taken an extended leave of absence from TV, reportedly due to depression. Prior to the release of Justin Roberts’ book it was already being speculated that JBL’s behaviour toward Ranallo was a factor in his absence.

Even ignoring these second-hand accounts of JBL’s despicable actions, there are plenty of examples that actually took place on live TV that can’t be disputed as easily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Dhid1u_FI

Just head over to YouTube and see what he did to The Blue Meanie, or what he did to The Public Enemy, or what he did to Matt Hardy; the list goes on. JBL has a long history of taking liberties in the ring. All of these individual strokes come together to form a pretty damning picture.

Even scarier still, there is the possibility that JBL was one of WWE’s “enforcers”. That he was sent out with instructions to purposely work stiff with guys who the higher-ups thought needed teaching a lesson. Bob “Hardcore” Holly has claimed in the past that he was given instructions to do just this. For a company that seems so concerned with its public image, new evidence of this kind of systematic abuse could be devastating.

Remember CM Punk’s pipebomb? Remember exactly when the mic got cut off? When he began talking about WWE’s “Don’t Be A Bully – Be A Star” campaign. Sort of makes you wonder just what he was about to say, doesn’t it?

JBL continues to deny any wrongdoing – He even tweeted about the accusations today, stating: “I won’t answer Net rumors-but I didn’t take Justin Roberts passport. Could have been anyone/he was hated by the whole crew. He’s an idiot.”

Even those words don’t do a great job of making him seem less of a bully, do they?

It will be interesting to see how WWE respond to this. Surely this can no longer be swept under the rug. Many fans feel that there is far too much evidence against JBL now for WWE not to take some kind of action. We’ll just have to wait and see what that action is.