JBL Officially Retires From WWE, Writes Farewell Blog

JBL officially reired from professional wrestling and wrote a farewell blog on his WWE Universe account. Here are some of the highlights:

I had wanted to make it to WM 25 for years, and when injuries cut my career short the one regret I had was that I wouldn't make the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania-well, I made it. I never dreamed after I retired the first time that my back would get better and I would be allowed to return to wrestling.

Standing there last night in front of over 70,000 people in my home state ended a journey that was unreal to me. For a kid from Sweetwater, Texas to be able to travel all over the world and realize his dream is pretty cool.

I don't know what the future holds, never say never in life. But I have wrestled my last match. Months ago, I picked out this match. If Eddie Guerrero couldn't be here for it then my dear friend Rey was the obvious choice, and I'm proud he was.

I want to thank the WWE for a great career, for taking a chance on me and allowing me the keys to the car for a while. I will always represent the WWE wherever I go, I am proud of my 13 ½ years with the WWE. And, I am proud of the WWE for cleaning up a great sport to make it more healthy to everyone that is a part.

Thanks to all you guys out there for cheering me, booing me and making signs about me. It is a little overwhelming to think of the great fans the WWE has today. I have been a bad guy for so long, and when I started you were a bad guy 24/7, I carried that mindset probably too long-well no more, today I am just a normal guy going to work.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me to be a part of the great theater we call "sports entertainment", personally I just always considered myself a wrestler.

You can read the full blog here.