JBL Reveals TNA Wrestling Dropped His Major Storyline Before Slammiversary

WWE Hall of Famer JBL is speaking out about why his time in TNA Wrestling came to an unexpected halt—and it wasn’t by choice.

On the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL revealed that a long-term storyline he was preparing for was abruptly canceled, and the person responsible is no longer with the company.

JBL was originally set for a significant role in the lead-up to TNA’s record-setting Slammiversary event. But instead of taking part in the company’s biggest night of the year, he found himself sidelined after a sudden creative shift from someone who has since exited TNA.

“I was supposed to be there and initially and I was supposed to have a part that people wouldn’t believe—but that did not work out. So the reason that got ended in TNA—It wasn’t because of me. Maybe it was—maybe, kind of—maybe because I’m not any good. But it was a decision made by somebody who’s no longer there.”

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JBL made it clear this had nothing to do with Tommy Dreamer or Carlos Silva, who currently oversee TNA’s direction. He described how the plans were fully laid out and already in motion when the rug got pulled.

“We had the whole thing planned out— I was really loved being a part, and I was supposed to be a part going forward. And all of a sudden, I’d agreed to what I was going to do, and there was a huge escalation that was happening. All that stuff was going somewhere.”

He said he had been training hard, getting in shape, and fully ready to deliver—only to be told out of nowhere that the company was going in a different direction.

“Then they called me one day and said, ‘Hey, we’re changing our mind,’ and that’s their prerogative. Somebody is no longer there. It was not Tommy and Carlos.”

And what happened after the change? According to JBL—absolutely nothing.

“And what they changed it to never happened. So I think, in hindsight, I was 100% correct.”

JBL hinted that the long-term payoff for his scrapped storyline might’ve involved putting over Mike Santana, who recently challenged Trick Williams for the TNA World Championship in the Slammiversary main event. It’s a twist fans never got to see—one JBL believes could’ve added even more depth to the build.

JBL might be known for business, but when it comes to this situation, he’s not sugarcoating it. He was ready, he had the story, and someone else’s decision pulled the plug before it ever started.