The member of the Hall of Fame JBL defend WWE Shows Safety in Saudi Arabia, discredits criticism about prioritizing money and points out that Cm punk acted honestly.
► Your opinion about Saudi Arabia
“I have an opinion, let's start with Saudi Arabia. They talked about negative things, read all these tweets about how they are prioritizing money over security and all that shit**. And yes, it's shit **, really. They said things like: 'Oh, they don't care about the safety of fighters.' But they go too! They are not going to risk their own lives, they also have families. It seems to me crazy that people – tweet after tweet – were saying: 'Oh, they are putting money to security.'
That war is more than 1,600 kilometers. And to get to Saudi Arabia, they travel on private flights. They are not flying over Iran's airspace. They fly from the direction of Egypt, from west to east, not from this to west. So they are not even close to that damn war zone.
It's like closing Austria just because there is a war in Ukraine. Would you feel safe going to Vienna? Of course. But if someone wants to criticize WWE for doing a show in Vienna, they would say: 'Oh, how do they dare to send people to Europe? There is a war in Ukraine. ' That war will not cross the border of Saudi Arabia. If that happens, we are talking about a third world war.”
► The criticism for WWE's commercial alliances
“I have no problem that they go to Saudi Arabia. I don't think it was about putting the money over security. Was it for money? Of course. It is also for money if you are going to Baltimore. It is for money if you go to Los Angeles. They pay you a lot to go, you are fulfilling a contract. That is what people do. So I have no problem that they have gone to Saudi Arabia.
And all that complaint of 'How do you dare to send people to a war zone?' Look, I have been in war areas. And that is not a war zone. I am not a soldier, and I don't want to take merit from anyone – I'm not awarding anything. I was protected by the army and very well cared for. But there is no possible comparison. None. I think what they did in Saudi Arabia was exactly what they should do.”
► CM Punk
“And as for cm punk … we have always been friends. Sometimes you say things in life that you think at that time, but then your life changes. If you have not changed in several years, you have not done anything with your life. Go looking for tweets 10 years ago? I said things for 10 years that I would not say today. I can't think of a specific example, because people say: 'Well, give me an example.' I don't know. In life you change. If you have not changed in 10 years, you have not done anything.
Cm punk does not need money. You don't need money to go there. And I think it's a full guy. Anyone who knows him knows it is. And if I didn't want to go, I wouldn't have gone. You can't force it. WWE wouldn't force him, I guarantee it. So if it was, it was by his own decision. And if he apologized, it was because his perspective changed and did it sincerely. And I believe 100%. Anyone who does not believing mind reader. You can't read Punk's mind. You are just inventing shit ** because you want to be negative.”
