JBL Says Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon Was Biased Against 'Southern Wrestling'

Before his legal troubles in recent years dominated headlines, former WWE chairman Vince McMahon was best known for his quirks surrounding the professional wrestling business. On a recent edition of "Something to Wrestle," Conrad Thompson and WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield looked back on the 25th anniversary of "The Invasion," when McMahon bought out WCW, and JBL spoke about some of those quirks that could have ended up detrimental to McMahon's company.

One of those could have stemmed from McMahon's often-perceived destruction of the territory system as he moved to expand the then-WWF. When creative mind Vince Russo infamously switched sides and left WWF for WCW, JBL explained why McMahon didn't want to bring in some other bright minds.

"Vince had a perception about southern 'wrasslin” that he didn't like," JBL said "But, then he brought in Bruce [Prichard] and he brought in a lot of creative guys that were from the south. I never understood why [Jim] Cornette was not in creative. I never understood why Dutch Mantell didn't get a chance, he was very creative. I never understood why Kevin Sullivan... People thought the world of Kevin Sullivan back then. Kevin had a great reputation. People knew how smart he was. People knew what he had done in Florida. People knew what he had done and where he had been."

Despite the notable absences, there were many minds that worked together in WWF's creative department during the "Monday Night Wars," helping the company overtake WCW in April 1998. McMahon would purchase the company, solidifying his dominance in the industry, in March 2001.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Something to Wrestle" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.