wrestling / News

Johnny Mundo Claims JBL Tried to Get Him to Steal Justin Roberts’ Passport, Justin Roberts Says Vince McMahon Encourages JBL’s Harassment of Other Workers

April 8, 2017 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris

As previously reported, former WWE announcer Justin Roberts spoke about being terrorized and harassed by JBL during his time in WWE. He also claimed that JBL had a crew of others that he ordered to harass others. Roberts shared a story that JBL stole his passport from his bag and how that held him up during his travel commute. Deadspin later published another article on the story, where former WWE Superstar Johnny Mundo (aka John Morrison) admits that JBL tried to get him and his former tag team partner, Joey Mercury, to steal Justin Roberts’ passport. Below are some highlights from the article:

Mundo stated on the incident, “JBL asked me and my partner to steal [Justin’s] passport, and we didn’t. JBL was one of the main event guys at the time, and I don’t remember exactly what Justin Roberts did to become the target for the hazing of this specific oversea trip, but JBL asked me and Joey to snag Justin’s passport.”

He added: “Ultimately, we considered the options, and wound up deciding to not do it. This is a weird thing for a wrestler to say, especially in that era, but I usually went by the golden rule. I wouldn’t have appreciated someone doing that to me, especially someone I considered a peer.”

Mundo also claimed that JBL would torment him “on and off for several years.” It eventually stopped after Mundo had enough and shoved JBL in 2009. At the time, Morrison was one of Smackdown’s top stars and knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for retaliating against JBL.

The article also had additional quotes from Roberts, who claimed that Vince McMahon was aware of JBL conspiring to steal his passport. Roberts stated: “I was sitting in the production meeting, Vince [McMahon] is running the meeting, and when it ends, he’s the first to leave. I was sitting there, and as he walked by me, he just whispered to me: ‘Don’t forget your passport! Ha-haa!’ and walked away. That’s when I knew there was no sympathy in that company. This stuff is encouraged.”

Roberts also added, “They like humiliating people. They like laughing at people. The way wrestling is entertainment to us wrestling fans, humiliating people was just entertainment to the bosses.”

The same article also mentions a report from The Wrestling Observer, which notes that JBL’s humiliation of others could be coming from Vince McMahon and WWE trying to weed out others who can’t take it. Dave Meltzer stated, “Everyone knows how tight Layfield is with Vince McMahon. The belief across-the-board is Layfield’s weeding out those who can’t take it comes from above.”