WWE legend JBL had an over-the-top, uber-confident gimmick, however the man behind the character wasn’t so confident when he first joined WWE within the ’90s.
After calling time on his fledgling soccer profession, JBL tried his hand at professional wrestling, that includes in Mexico and Japan earlier than ultimately signing for WWE in 1995. The previous APA star has recalled being apprehensive about turning into a hit in WWE in his early days with the promotion and has admitted that he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the professional wrestling juggernaut, particularly after watching an iconic WrestleMania match.
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“Lots of people get overwhelmed by WWE, particularly — I do not know again then, perhaps extra so as a result of we had the territories again then,” started JBL. “However when you get to WWE, you had 14, 15 TV vans, it was only a completely different stage {of professional} wrestling and numerous guys received overwhelmed by it. I definitely did. I keep in mind watching Shawn [Michaels] and Bret [Hart] in that unbelievable Iron Man match on the Pond [Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim], my first WrestleMania. I wasn’t on the present however I used to be backstage watching, and I keep in mind simply watching Shawn rappel from the ceiling and had that unbelievable match. I keep in mind pondering, ‘I in all probability ought to return to Japan.’ It was actually overwhelming.”
The WWE Corridor of Famer realized that WWE was on a unique stage when he first debuted within the promotion, regardless of having been a “prime man” in each different promotion at that time in his profession. However, JBL ultimately put his anxieties away as he grew to become a mid-card and tag group star alongside Ron Simmons in APA through the Angle Period, and later went on to grow to be a world champion and one of many most-despised heels in professional wrestling.
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