JBL Defends Bischoff Interview

JBL has defended his WWE Network interview with Eric Bischoff after Vince Russo claimed Bischoff lied on the show. The heat stems from Bischoff’s version of the infamous Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett Bash at the Beach 2000 angle, that saw Jarrett lay down and let Hogan get the cover. Hogan then left the arena and Russo cut a promo. Bischoff claims he and Hogan weren’t in on Russo’s “shoot” portion of the angle and lawsuit documents prove it, while Russo claims they all had a conversation about it beforehand.

I saw the comments Vince Russo made about the interview I did with Eric Bischoff. I want to address a couple of points. Mr Russo said that Eric decided to appear on WWE programming – this is true, but at my request, this was NOT Eric’s idea, it was mine. Eric is a friend and I knew he would be a great interview. To take WCW from losing $10 million to making $40+ million in five years is one of greatest stories in history. I wanted to capture this…and we did.

I am very proud of this interview. I understand Mr Russo is not happy with the content of some of Eric’s comments. I felt Eric was honest, I have known Eric for some time-I have a ton of respect for him. However, there is two sides to every story. What Eric did is incredible, I wanted this on record. For the record-I believe Eric.

It is no secret that Mr Russo and I don’t like each other, but that being said-I have no problem asking him on a show and letting him say whatever he wants. Mr Russo and I have both gotten older and hopefully wiser-would love him on a future show. I have zero animosity to Mr Russo—I am getting old:)

The other point is that Eric made money on the interview-I know his pay and it was done for history and not for money. Same as I did some other great interviews that are ‘in the can’, I want to preserve history and show honor and respect to legends with this format, it’s not about money…trust me:) It’s some of the highest watched shows on the Network.

I asked for this format to record history and honor legends-Eric fits both. Proud of my friend, Eric, for what he has done, I thought I was fair with the interview. Would be honored to have Vince Russo on the show as well-and would treat him with respect as well.

BTW, I am not asking for Mr Russo to come on the show-I am not, happy if he did, but not seeking him to come on show. He seems to be doing fine doing what he is doing, and I am happy working with at risk kids in Bermuda on my days off and certainly not asking for more work as every day I do a network show takes away from work with kids who really need my help!

Speaking of JBL he confirmed that several more episodes of his interview show are in the works:

BTW, filmed 5 episodes of #legendswithJBL and they are awesome! But next group I want Stan Hansen, Terry Funk and @TheJimCornette ! #legends

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) December 27, 2015

Stardust Back In The Ring

Stardust is back in action following some injury concerns. He lost to Titus O’Neil at the NYC house show:

Tis' the season… @TheGarden @StardustWWE #WWEMSG pic.twitter.com/gVA71nfBrm

— WWE (@WWE) December 27, 2015

Paige Improvises

WWE Diva Paige improvised at the NYC house show when she couldn’t find her knee pad. She ended up using half of her bra instead:

The struggle when you forget a knee pad and then use one of your bombshell bras taped down as a replacement. Whatevs.

— PAIGE (@RealPaigeWWE) December 27, 2015

Apollo Crews Talks NXT

NXT star Apollo Crews was asked about his desire to make it to the main roster in an interview with the UK Mirror:

I wouldn’t say NXT is a stepping stone, by no means. I think everybody has certain things they want to accomplish here and of course the goal is main roster, but when you come here, you come here with things you want to accomplish here in NXT. You get here and things start happening. It’s definitely not a stepping stone by no means. I think for me personally if you’re a wrestler, NXT is where you want to be. From being down at the Performance Center, starting getting on the road more often, travelling to Texas, Brooklyn, Louisville, Sacramento and now the UK, it’s just growing and expanding, and more and more people want to be a part of this and more people are getting onboard. The WWE Network is a major outlet for NXT and when you come to a place like this and see the support we’re getting, it just shows how big NXT really is.

He also discussed being able to work with Samoa Joe:

It’s amazing. It’s not every day you get to be in the ring with somebody of that calibre so to be able to have that opportunity is amazing for me. It’s a chance to show not just everybody else but myself that I can hang on that level. Sometimes you get caught up in Florida, it gets stressful, and like I said you start taking it like it’s an actual job, but being here and working with guys like that… somehow in a weird way you get so relaxed and just let things happen, you know? I think it comes with him being so experienced and coaching me through certain things, the amount of things I’ve learned from him just these last few days has been really helpful. For me it’s a huge opportunity because he is somebody I used to watch before I even got into wrestling. It doesn’t even seem that way now, you see certain guys before you get here, and when you get here they become your peers and your friends, so it’s weird in that way but amazing at the same time.