During a recent visit to the “Something To Wrestle With” podcast, John Bradshaw Layfield, known as JBL, reminisced about his unforgettable altercation with fellow wrestler Steve Blackman at an airport.
The following are some standout moments from the podcast:
Delving into the details of his confrontation with Blackman, JBL shared, “Our disagreement erupted around 9 am at the luggage carousel of the Kansas City airport. It turned out Steve was grappling with migraine and was not in the best of moods, mostly because two well-known Hall of Famers had disturbed his sleep during the flight. Albeit unknown to me at that time, I was pushed into messing around with Steve. Now, knowing the situation, I can see why they did that, but that put me in the firing line.
JBL went on to explain the scenario, “Seeing Steve sitting there in shorts, I playfully pinched him on the butt, appreciating the shorts he was wearing, sort of mimicking that scene from Deliverance. That was the kind of harmless banter we engaged in back then, before the internet became a thing. But Steve reacted quite fiercely, hitting me repeatedly before I could even react, and before I knew it, we were even on top of the luggage carousel wrestling each other. The skirmish was eventually broken up by Ken Shamrock, who was on the phone and saw us tangling.”
Continuing, he confessed, “Looking back, I am relieved he slipped his foot into a luggage bag, otherwise the outcome would have been much severe for me. I feel guilty for pushing him to the edge especially since we had shared such pranks before. However, it was the wrong day and wrong time and I ended up learning my lesson.”
On the subject of the fallout, he revealed, “Bruce Pritchard didn’t fine me that day. It was Jim Ross. When he pulled us aside, he said he would rather be fired than fined. My response to that was just logical – if he fires me, how would I be able to pay the fine? I need to keep my job to be able to pay for the fine.”
To conclude his recollection, JBL said, “I had poked fun at Steve several times. It was just how we were, and definitely how I was. But that particular day, the timing was wrong. I did apologize to Steve afterward and we remain friends.”