JBL Says He Was Supposed To Be At TNA Slammiversary, Creative Plans For Him Are ‘Off The Burner’

JBL made a surprise appearance at TNA Emergence 2024, coming down to the ring and whispering something to Nic Nemeth.

JBL would continue to make TNA appearances, returning at TNA Bound For Glory and TNA Genesis, getting involved in the TNA World Title picture. JBL hasn’t been back since Genesis, but he says he was scheduled to be at TNA Slammiversary.

“Somebody sent me a note on social media and they said, ‘I hope they finish this storyline with so and so, unlike what they did with JBL.’ I want to tell people that last night at [TNA Slammiversary], I was supposed to be there, initially, and I was supposed to have a part that people wouldn’t have believed how big it was. That did not work out. There is a reason. The reason that got ended in TNA wasn’t because of me. Maybe it was, maybe it was because I’m not any good, but it was a decision made by someone who is no longer there,” JBL said on Something To Wrestling.

JBL offered further insight, saying, “I’ll tell the basic story. I love Tommy (Dreamer). Tommy was not the one who made the decision. I was supposed to have a real escalation of what we were doing with TNA. We had the whole thing planned out. I don’t want to take any fun away from what these guys are doing now because it’s not about me. Those guys did a great job last night. Very happy for all of them. (Mike) Santana, Trick Williams, the Hardys, these guys are rockstars and I think they’re going to do incredibly well. I really loved being part of it, and I was supposed to be a part of it going forward. All of a sudden, I agreed to what I was going to do, and there was a huge escalation that was happening. All that stuff was going somewhere, I told everybody it was, and it was. It was going somewhere. I was very excited about it. I was training for it, I got in really good shape for it. I was ready to go. They called me one day and said, ‘Hey, we’re changing our mind.’ That’s their prerogative. Somebody is no longer there. It was not Tommy and Carlos (Silva). Those guys are fantastic. I want to say that because those guys were a benefit to me. When they said it was just business, what they wanted to change, I thought it made absolutely no sense. The person that said it is no longer there and what they changed it to never happened. In hindsight, I was 100% correct because nobody else wanted to do it either. I never got brought back into it after that. There is a reason it all kind of got put on, not on the backburner, got taken off the burner completely.”

Conrad Thompson noted the Cagematch reviews of TNA Slammiversary, saying the scores indicate that fans weren’t happy with the creative direction of Trick Williams retaining the TNA World Title in the main event against Mike Santana and Joe Hendry.

Conrad wondered if a different creative decision would have been better received.

“I hope it would have been because it involved me,” said JBL. ” I would have been there throughout the rest of the year. It would have done something that I thought would’ve left the business and left things on people that I thought would have drawn money and done a good job for the company. I would have been there throughout the rest of the year. I’m not going to leave without putting somebody over and make somebody. Mike Santana was probably the guy. I don’t know that for sure. I think he’s the guy. It’s just a matter of when he becomes the guy.”

Along with making appearances at TNA, JBL was showing up to AAA, MLW, and various independent promotions.

Fans can find Fightful’s coverage of TNA Slammiversary here.

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