10 Dark Secrets About WWE Legends
5. JBL And His Love Of "Hazing"
JBL apparently matured deep into his run - much too late for how old he was, and the extent to which he should have known better.
Per the accounts of several of his peers, he was a horrific person to be around - and a lot of the stories told about JBL involve unwanted physical contact.
In his book 'The Hardcore Truth', Bob Holly told the tale of JBL, then working as Bradshaw, drunk from the night before, patting Steve Blackman on the backside at an airport baggage claim. Blackman told JBL to knock it off. Bradshaw persisted. Blackman told JBL that if he did not stop, he'd get his "f***ing teeth" knocked out. Bradshaw did not stop, and ate a series of jabs to the face.
Adam Copeland in his book, 'Adam Copeland on Edge', confirmed the heavy rumour that JBL would - in an apparent attempt to "weed out the prima donnas" - join new WWF/E hires and soap up their backsides in the shower. Copeland treated his own incident with a light tone - "no knuckles disappeared!" - and essentially celebrated that he, by going along with it and offering to return the favour, passed the "hazing ritual".
Still, this could be very fairly described as assault. Nobody should be made to go through like that, whether they sensed what Bradshaw was "really" attempting to do or otherwise.
Palmer Canon flew himself home and quit the wrestling industry altogether when he was "hazed" by JBL (and Chris Benoit). While Ken Kennedy in a Kayfabe Commentaries shoot interview only went as far as to say "[Palmer] was in the bar and a bunch of guys just kind of ganged up on him", rumours persist that Cannon was duct-taped and left to wonder what horror he might endure for the best part of an entire day.