JBL Reveals Vince McMahon’s Reaction to His Near-Death Experience Backstage in WWE

JBL is a veteran in the pro wrestling world, having started his journey during the Attitude Era in the late 90s and always has interesting stories to tell about his time in the business. In fact, he revealed Vince McMahon’s reaction to his near-death experience backstage in WWE.

JBL really found success as a singles wrestler when he joined SmackDown. He became a main event star and even won the WWE Championship. During this time, he had a big rivalry with Rey Mysterio. In one memorable moment, JBL distracted Mysterio during a match against Mr. Kennedy by riding a horse to the ring.

In a recent episode of What Were They Thinking? with JBL and Briscoe, he explained that they had practiced the segment beforehand backstage. However, the horse had horseshoes, which caused it to slip and fall while he was riding it. JBL didn’t check the horse’s shoes because he thought they wouldn’t use a horse with them. When the horse stepped on the concrete, it lost its balance and fell, taking him down with it.

‘‘So, I get on this horse but like a dummy, I don’t check to see the horse’s shoe. I wouldn’t believe that they’d send a horse to an arena that was shoed. So, I didn’t even think about it. The problem is when a horse is shoed and it steps on concrete, it’s like being on ice. So, I’m riding on this horse backstage, everybody’s out front… And all of a sudden that horse steps off the rubber mat and steps on the concrete and its four legs just split and it goes down. I go down with it. He comes back up, I come back up with it. It falls over now, I fall down with it. Now, it’s on top of me and I’ve got boots stuck in the stirrup and I can’t get off this horse. He gets up for a second time and I’m still on it. Then it finally goes down…”

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JBL described how the horse kept falling while he was stuck in the stirrup and couldn’t get off. Dusty Rhodes watched the chaos unfold and found it hilarious while JBL struggled to get free. Eventually, after the horse fell on its side, JBL managed to escape. When Vince McMahon returned, he simply asked JBL what he had done to the horse to make it act that way. In fact, JBL noted that the horse almost killed him.

“It tore up the entire backstage area with me on the horse and Dusty Rhodes is sitting there, yelling, ‘Rodeo! Rodeo! Rodeo!’ He thinks it’s hilarious. He’s watching a guy die, he thinks this is hilarious. So, finally the horse falls over on its side and I’m trying to get off of it. I got my boot out of the stirrup now and I’m straddling this horse. This thing kicks you, it will break whatever it hits. It will break your leg, it will break your… whatever. I’m just trying to get off this horse. So the trainer comes out and he’s talking to this horse trying to get it calm. Vince comes back, all he says is, ‘What did you do to that horse?’ That horse almost killed me.” 

For the record, JBL is reportedly under a Legends deal with the company and is happy to be part of WWE no matter what. Regardless, Vince McMahon’s reaction to JBL dying might not be a surprising one but JBL clearly didn’t take it to heart.

What do you think of Vince McMahon’s reaction to JBL almost getting killed by the horse? Let us know in the comments section below!