10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About JBL

In August of 2004, New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey made national headlines when, during a live press conference, he came out as gay and revealed that he had appointed his lover, Golan Cipel, to a position as NJ's homeland security adviser. Though this made McGreevey the first openly gay governor in U.S. history, the fact that he had used his influence to get a job for the unqualified Cipel, the fear of a sexual harassment lawsuit from Cipel, and the fact that McGreevey was married to a women meant that the whole thing was a scandal, and he was forced to step down.

What does that have to do with JBL? A couple of months after McGreevey's speech (but before his resignation took effect), No Mercy 2004 was held in New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena. WWE Champion JBL defeated The Undertaker in the main event, but after the show went off the air, he heeled on the crowd with a particularly upsetting line, saying that "New Jersey was famous for one thing - having a governor who likes little boys."

Of all the hurtful stereotypes associated with homosexuality, drawing connections between it and pedophilia is the most foul. There was an uproar on the Internet following these comments, but of course, JBL wasn't punished in any way.