JBL has retired

[$heriff Tom]

From the WWE fan blog sections.

While I think its cool he picked a foe for his last match, and the setting worked for him, the match was corny and crazy gay. He should have had a bit more, but it is what it is. And no, he says he is not coming back, or manning a microphone.

April 6, 2009

It doesn't get any bigger than Wrestlemania 25. WM 25 was in my home state of Texas with my childhood idols being inducted into the hall of fame.

I had wanted to make it to WM 25 for years, and when injuries cut my career short the one regret I had was that I wouldn't make the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania-well, I made it. I never dreamed after I retired the first time that my back would get better and I would be allowed to return to wrestling.
Standing there last night in front of over 70,000 people in my home state ended a journey that was unreal to me. For a kid from Sweetwater, Texas to be able to travel all over the world and realize his dream is pretty cool.

I don't know what the future holds, never say never in life. But I have wrestled my last match. Months ago, I picked out this match. If Eddie Guerrero couldn't be here for it then my dear friend Rey was the obvious choice, and I'm proud he was.

I want to thank the WWE for a great career, for taking a chance on me and allowing me the keys to the car for a while. I will always represent the WWE wherever I go, I am proud of my 13 ½ years with the WWE. And, I am proud of the WWE for cleaning up a great sport to make it more healthy to everyone that is a part.

However, I have no current plans on doing anything in the future on a professional level with WWE. I don't plan on doing commentary, in fact; it hasn't even been brought up to me. I don't plan on being an on air character. I plan on starting the next chapter in my life, and closing the door on this one. I have worked with some of the greatest people in the world; I have life long friends that are the best in the world. Everytime WWE is brought up or JBL, I will smile. I having nothing but great, great memories.

I have several projects that I am working on that will keep me more than busy. I have worked with Charlie Haas to reform www.custom-muscle.com and together we plan on being the best nutrition web site in the world. Check us out, you can buy Layfield Products there, but you can also buy all the cutting edge supplements in the nutrition world there-and the plain old everyday supplements as well. We plan on offering a full service web site, from information to updates on the world of fitness and health and of course the best prices for supplements of all kinds.

I plan on hunkering down and building my companies. I plan on building a world class distribution service in Nashville and a top notch global beverage company. I have a deal in the banking world that I hope to get done that will allow the disabled the first fully access bank online. I have had a life that I could have only dreamed of so far, but it is my time to say thank you and go away. I have nothing but great and fond memories and I want to leave before any of that changes, I swore I would never stay too long-I have too much respect for this business to do that. You may see me in the WWE again, I don't know-but that is not the plan. Right now, I have gotten up early today and am ready to go to work on the next part of my life that will hopefully exceed the first part.

I have been on the road for my entire adult life. I want to put the suitcases up and do my best to be successful outside of wrestling, today starts that journey. Thanks to all you guys out there for cheering me, booing me and making signs about me. It is a little overwhelming to think of the great fans the WWE has today. I have been a bad guy for so long, and when I started you were a bad guy 24/7, I carried that mindset probably too long-well no more, today I am just a normal guy going to work. It seems like yesterday I was sitting with my Grandfather watching wrestling, and telling him that one day I was going to be one of those guys. My grandfather never got to see me wrestle, but I am sure he is happy today. I hope Bobby Duncum Jr. and Eddie Guerrero were watching with him.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me to be a part of the great theater we call "sports entertainment", personally I just always considered myself a wrestler.

[cactusjames]

Nice read, JBL is a classy guy. I love the last line, I was mad ross had to use the term sports entertainment after the HBK/Taker match, he did throw in the term wrestling match after the sports entertainment, but it bugs me they can't use the term wrestling that much, glad JBL had the balls to simplify it and call it what it is.

He's always been a favorite of mine, I was sad when he retired the first time, but since he did announcing duties, it wasn't a total loss. Now he's gone all together and selfishly I'm sad he won't be around. That said, he made me laugh plenty of times, handpicked a great guy to take over the IC strap from him, and he's going out on his terms, so all the credit in the world to JBL, I hope he is successful in the business world.

Best JBL moment ever: WM 24, throwing the trash can at Hornswoggle. A few of my friends were even laughing about it a year later last night, easily the funniest thing I've ever seen in wrestling over the past 15 years.

[$heriff Tom]

James, did you see that I had an avatar / sig of that moment? Ill pull it back out for laughs. I too agree, that was classic.

[cactusjames]

I remember, and as often as you do change pics/avatars, didn't you keep that one around for a while? Screw the avatar, that should be the first thing you see coming into this section. My memory of it was the unexpectedness of it, the trash can being hurled at Hornswoggle was the last thing I thought I'd see, the set up alone looked like it was a shot for Finlay and then in a second, it went from being a stiff shot to the skull of Finlay, to a gem bouncing off Hornswoggle.

When you guys met him, did that happen to come up at all? That's all I would've been able to talk about if I were to meet him or JBL.

[thecaptain15]