Former WWE Champion JBL recalls the moment he was almost arrested. The incident took place during a tour to Spain with WWE.
The ongoing pandemic has forced the WWE to host all their main roster shows from the Thunderdome. Before the restrictions on travel however, the WWE would tour all over the country and even outside of it. During one such trip, WWE legend JBL almost found himself arrested.
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During a recent stream on his YouTube channel, the former WWE Champion opened up on the time when a language barrier almost threw him in a Spanish Prison. Fortunately for him a local wrestling fan convinced the cops to let him go.
JBL recalls the moment he was almost arrested
“Years ago I was on tour with WWE in Spain… After the tour, I go from Spain to take the ferry to Morocco, to Tangiers, because I wanted to see North Africa. I get there and I see a snake charmer… Not many people were around, but I found this Camel Sheath sword from the snake charmer, and I bought it for 100 dollars. I asked him “Can I carry this back into Spain?” He said, “Yeah, yeah, I sold six yesterday!”… You have to go through customs, because you’re going from North Africa into the EU, to Spain.”
“As I walk through customs, I start thinking “Something is not right here.” There was a conveyor belt and metal detector. I put my sword right on the conveyor belt, it went right through… Two guys were there talking, the thing beeped, they didn’t say a word. I thought, maybe the sword is Ok, I grab the sword, walk out, and get arrested by the Spanish police!”
“I was about to get a weapons charge after 9/11!… He doesn’t understand my English. I’m trying to explain to him… I realized I’m going to jail now. I give him my wallet, I tried to bribe him… As I’m sitting there waiting to get cuffed and stuffed, a guy walks by outside the window… I can tell he recognizes me.
“Now remember, JBL had a lot of heat at that time. This guy’s obviously a wrestling fan. He comes in… You could tell he was a fan because he doesn’t like me. I said “You know The Rock? That’s a friend of mine!”… I’m just killing kayfabe… So he talked to the guy, they talked back and forth in Spanish really fast. The guy looks up at me, sighs, screws up the arrest record, throws it in the trash, and hands me the sword back!… He goes, “Take it, take it. Mistake.””
JBL has won the WWE, Intercontinental and United States Championships once each. He has also won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Faarooq .
JBL won the Intercontinental title a month before his in-ring retirement at WrestleMania XXV, making him twentieth Triple Crown Champion and the tenth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.
He will be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame this year as part of the class of 2020, after last year’s ceremony was cancelled.
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