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JBL can undoubtedly be counted among WWE's most recognizable faces of the 2000s. During his long tenure in this business, the Sweetwater superstar took the WWE title once, once the Intercontinental belt, once the US title.
United and for 18 times the Hardcore Championship, in addition to various awards at the tag team level. Layfield also turned out to be the 10th wrestler to complete the Grand Slam. During a live broadcast on his official YouTube profile, John recounted how he was arrested by the Spanish police for trying to smuggle a sword into the country.
JBL was luckily saved by a local wrestling fan
“Many years ago I was touring with WWE in various cities in Spain. After the tour, it was my intention to take the ferry to Tangier, Morocco as I had always dreamed of admiring North Africa.
I got there and saw a snake charmer. There weren't many people around and I remember finding this sword with a camel sheath. It struck me so much that I bought it from the charmer for $ 100. I also asked him if I could bring it back to Spain and he replied that there were no problems and that he had sold six just the previous day.
Obviously, I had to go through customs to re-enter the EU. When I passed there, I began to suspect that something was wrong. There were a conveyor belt and a metal detector. I put my sword right on the conveyor belt, I noticed that there were two guys checking, but they didn't say a word.
I thought everything was okay. As soon as I grabbed the sword, I was arrested by the Spanish police," revealed JBL. "The problem was that they didn't understand English very well, so I risked a very serious accusation. It hadn't been long since September 11th.
Luckily a guy passing by recognized me, he was a wrestling fan and knew Spanish, so he was able to explain the situation to the officers better than I did. At that point they returned the sword to me and apologized for the mistake "- he concluded.
The APA has had a few brief reunions since then. They most notably joined forces once again back in 2015 for a special episode of RAW, titled RAW Reunion. The duo, alongside various other WWE legends, laid out The Ascension. Following their separation, JBL went on to become a singles star.
He had a great run, winning numerous titles including the United States, Intercontinental and WWE Championships. Simmons shared how happy he was for Layfield, saying he deserved it. "For me, you know I love this business, right? When you’re in a tag team, no one, absolutely everyone, almost prays that you get the run that we did.
I was very grateful that we went as long as we did and had the success that we did… It was his time now, you know. He had paid his dues, and he had put in his time to where now this catapults him to the next level."
