WWE Hall of Famer JBL recently held a Q&A on his Youtube channel where the former world champion answered a number of pro-wrestling related questions, including whether he’ll ever make a return as a wrestler and his thoughts on ECW. Highlights are below.
Whether he’ll ever make an in-ring return:
“I don’t think I can [return]. If I could, I would. I retired, not because I wanted to. I retired because I had to. I had injuries and my body just gave out on me. I’m 54 and I’m training like crazy right now. I would love to get back in the ring and do something. But, I just don’t know if my body would let me. If it would, I’d do it in a heartbeat. You know, my wrestling career stopped, not because I wanted it to but because my body gave out so, I would go back in a heartbeat. These guys do a wonderful job these days by the way. I know somebody’s gonna ask me that question. I don’t think I can keep up with them. Maybe I could do something.”
On the passionate ECW crowds:
“I didn’t get ECW. I mean ‘get it’ as in understanding the passion behind ECW, because we were traveling, we were working 52 weeks a year. We didn’t watch anything, really. You get to a hotel late, you go to bed, you get up early, you train, you go to the next town or go get into town late, get up, train and go to the arena. So I never really saw ECW. Not because I didn’t want to, but because we were working every night. That passion of that crowd, I’ve never felt anything like that. I’ve been in some crazy, crazy things. Some crazy passionate arenas. That crowd was awesome. They told me by the way, they said, ‘Don’t walk through the crowd. We can’t guarantee your safety’ so of course I walked through the crowd. I thought if I get mugged or beat up or whatever it is, it’s gonna be great television. It was awesome. I loved being a heel there, I loved those fans, I loved everything about it. I understand after being there for One Night Stand how great ECW was. It was just fantastic. I think NXT’s kinda like that now. I think the passion that people feel going to some of these NXT TakeOver shows, you feel that same type of passion and fans feel like they belong which is what you — they do. You want them to feel that way and they are part of the show and I think NXT is very similar to ECW that way. I could work in front of crowds like that every single day.”
Full Q&A is below. (H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling)