JBL is not here for people acting like Tommy Dreamer suddenly forgot wrestling just because he’s out of TNA.
While speaking on Something to Wrestle, JBL defended Dreamer as both a person and a wrestling mind. He said Dreamer is the kind of guy people respect backstage, and he made it clear he does not know many people with bad things to say about him.
“Yeah, Tommy’s a good dude. I mean, everybody who has ever worked with Tommy, I don’t know anybody who has anything bad to say about Tommy. Tommy’s a good human being. He’s just a good dude. He sticks up for people. He’s a ballsy guy. He’s got a backbone. He’s willing to stand up for what he believes is right, which I admire greatly.”
JBL also revealed Tommy Dreamer was the reason he got involved with TNA Wrestling in the first place. So yeah, this was not some empty defense from far away. JBL worked with him and liked what he saw.
“Reason I went to TNA was because of Tommy. You know, Tommy—I reached out to Tommy, Tommy reached me, whatever happened—and worked with him. I like Tommy. I like his booking style, like everything about it. You know, Conrad, booking in wrestling is hard.”
He said great bookers usually do not just appear out of nowhere. They learn from other great wrestling minds, and Dreamer had one massive advantage: he worked closely under Paul Heyman in ECW.
“You look at Tommy Dreamer and who he worked under. He worked under Paul Heyman closely, one of the best minds in the business. Heyman worked under others. It’s all passed down.”
JBL also compared it to Road Dogg working directly with Vince McMahon, saying those kinds of people are rare because they got to learn the business from the inside.
“Look at Road Dogg. He’s one of the few guys who worked hand in hand with Vince McMahon. These guys are very rare.”
For JBL, that kind of background matters. He said Dreamer has a leg up because he learned from the right people, just like second-generation wrestlers often get a head start from growing up around the business.
“Now, I’m not saying that guys that don’t work under people and don’t have great tools like this can’t learn it, but it’s kind of like second-generation wrestlers. You know, you have some that aren’t very good, but for the most part they have a leg up on all the rest of us that had to learn the business from the outside coming in. Where who Tommy learned from, who all these guys learned from, it gives them a massive edge.”
Then he explained why fans might be too quick to attack creative teams. According to JBL, booking wrestling never stops. You can have one great show, and the next question is immediately what happens next week.
“This wrestling business is hard. It’s hard to book, and the problem is this, Conrad. So you have a show tonight and the show’s really good. You’re going, ‘Oh man, that’s fantastic, man. You guys are the best.’ Okay, what are we doing for next week?”
Dreamer recently left TNA during a major backstage shakeup after serving as head of creative and helping with talent relations and daily operations. His first announced appearance after the exit is already set for WrestleCon Night One on July 31 during SummerSlam weekend.
So while some fans may be dragging Dreamer’s TNA run, JBL is making his position clear. He likes Dreamer, respects his booking instincts, and thinks people do not understand how brutal the creative grind really is.
What do you think about JBL defending Tommy Dreamer after his TNA exit? Was Dreamer judged too harshly, or was the criticism fair? Leave your feedback below.
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