JBL Rips Indie Wrestling on WWE ‘Bring It To The Table’

The WWE Network special, Bring It to the Table, always features some controversial opinions from panelists Corey Graves and JBL, the latter of which made a statement about indie wrestling.

On the most recent episode of Bring It to the Table, JBL, Corey Graves and Peter Rosenberg discussed subjects such as Sheamus stating that the current era is better than the Attitude Era, whether Shinsuke Nakamura not competing in a match yet is a good or bad thing, SmackDown Live’s newest stable of Natalya, Tamina Snuka, and Carmella (with James Ellsworth) known as the Welcoming Committee, and the meteoric rise of Alexa Bliss.

One of the hottest topics discussed on the show was what the independent circuit means to pro wrestling in general. This conversation stemmed from a recent Rusev tweet to Alexa Bliss after her Raw Women’s Championship win, stating, “Congrats @AlexaBliss_WWE. Let it be known that she wasn’t on the ‘INDIES’ for 10 years. #WWEPayback”

JBL had this to say in defense of Rusev’s tweet.

"“Why is it a badge of honor to say you spent 15 years in double A ball. We knew that AJ Styles might be the best in the world. We didn’t realize that until he come to the WWE. I’m the last generation that went through the territories. I have a lot of respect, and I think these guys should spend as much time learning the business as they can in as many different places, because there’s different wrestling in Kentucky as it is Europe as it is Japan. But the fact that you wear a badge of honor that you can’t make it to the major leagues? To me that’s absolutely insane.”"

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While names such as Ricochet, the Young Bucks, and Will Ospreay have successfully made their names on the independent circuit, the dream to make it to the WWE, especially appearing on WrestleMania, would be a difficult argument for any professional wrestler to reject.