WWE Superstar The Miz is speaking up about a topic that has followed wrestling for years- JBL’s reputation as a backstage bully. In a recent interview, the former WWE Champion shared a very different experience and actually defended the veteran.
Backstage culture in WWE has always been a hot topic. Over the years, there have been many stories about hazing, stiff matches, and older wrestlers pushing around younger talent. John “Bradshaw” Layfield is one of the names that often comes up in those conversations. But according to The Miz, that was not the full story.
The Miz Says JBL Actually Helped Him in WWE
Speaking on the Six Feet Under podcast, The Miz looked back at his early days in WWE. At the time, he wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Coming from MTV’s The Real World, he didn’t have the independent wrestling background that many of the other stars had. Because of that, he stood out, and not always in a good way.
Miz has previously talked about how tough that period was. He was even kicked out of the locker room at one point and had to change in the hallway. So naturally, many people assumed JBL would have been one of the guys giving him a hard time.
But Miz says that wasn’t the case at all.
“JBL gets a lot of flak for bullying and was an a**hole or whatever… He gets a lot of that. It wasn’t really him. He was the person that would take me aside and go, ‘Hey, kid, you’re doing a good job. Keep doing this, keep it up,” Miz said.
Instead of blaming the veteran, Miz said most of the trouble came from wrestlers who were still trying to secure their own spots on the card.
“It was more the people around that weren’t in the spots. It was the people that weren’t solidified that were trying to be like, ‘Hey, watch me get this Real World kid. I’m gonna really stiff him tonight. Watch this,” Miz added.
That’s a very different take from the stories fans have heard over the years. JBL has faced several accusations of backstage bullying, and his name was brought up during Mauro Ranallo’s WWE exit in 2017. In past interviews, other former wrestlers have also criticized him.
