Scott Hall says that times have changed and that there is no longer a place for bullying in professional wrestling.
Locker room bullying has been a hot topic in wrestling news as of late after reported friction between JBL and Mauro Ranallo that led to the official end of Ranallo's time in WWE, and widespread reports of JBL's past antics that even gained traction on mainstream media sites.
Hall, appearing on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast, noted that changes in culture and wrestling meant that bullying that might have been acceptable in the past in wrestling no longer was acceptable.
“Obviously, I’m against bullying, but it does happen," Hall said. "The business has changed so much since I came in it. When I came in, there wasn’t a bunch of women wrestlers. There was maybe one or two who came in a couple months a year. Now in the locker room, there’s women. It’s much more politically correct than it was when I started. So I think the bullying stuff—that’s not tolerated anywhere. So it certainly can’t be tolerated in the wrestling business.”
Hall also clarified what he saw as the difference between ribbing and bullying.
"If somebody’s more sensitive, then you can’t rib them as much," he said. "The whole thing is, you don’t rib guys you don’t like. You rib guys you do like. And then you’re there for them to rib back. A lot of times on the road, the grind is so much that we’d just try to amuse ourselves by doing stuff like that.”
Hall also clarified that certain pranks were out of bounds -- making a not-so-subtle reference to former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts' account of having his passport stolen by JBL during a tour of the United Kingdom, which forced Roberts to obtain a replacement and delay his return back to the U.S.
“I might charge a bunch of drinks to your room, but I’m not going to steal your passport,” Hall said.
Hall was appearing on the PWI podcast to promote an upcoming appearance at Fight the World Wrestling in Deer Park, NY.
