JBL has recalled why he refused to defeat Chavo Guerrero on WWE’s tribute show for Eddie Guerrero, insisting the match needed to end with Chavo honouring his uncle.

Speaking alongside Conrad Thompson on Something to Wrestle, JBL reflected on the emotional circumstances surrounding the November 2005 show. When the possibility of a JBL victory was raised, he immediately ruled it out.

“Shortly after we were going to Europe and all of a sudden you’re doing a tribute show for a guy that you think will live forever. And at first they had the match and there was a talk of me going over. I said, ‘Hey, there ain’t a chance in the world I’m going over. Not one in a million. I’m not doing it.’”

Instead, JBL wanted Chavo to win using Eddie’s signature Frog Splash.

“And I said, ‘I want to work with Chavo and I want [Chavo to beat me] with a frog splash.’ And that’s what we did.”

Chavo defeated JBL with the move on the tribute edition of SmackDown, which aired on November 18, 2005. Looking back, JBL explained how much it meant to share that moment with Chavo.

“And I was glad that I got to work with Chavo. And I was glad Chavo made it through. The same reason that, you know, like Elton John said about Princess Diana, you made it through because you had to, because it was for somebody that was important and that’s what you do.

“It’s a tribute. And you make it through because of who they are. And at that point, you’re doing something that you feel like really all you can do for them.”

JBL and Eddie had been fierce rivals on screen throughout 2004. JBL won the WWE Championship from Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope match at The Great American Bash before retaining the title in a subsequent steel cage encounter on SmackDown.

Guerrero died on November 13, 2005, aged 38, from arteriosclerotic heart disease. His nephew Chavo found him unconscious in his Minneapolis hotel room.

WWE taped Raw and SmackDown in Minneapolis that day, with both programmes dedicated to Eddie’s memory. Raw’s tribute aired on November 14, followed by SmackDown four days later.