JBL has revealed that one of the most memorable lines from Sting’s WWE run actually came directly from Vince McMahon through his commentary headset.
Speaking on the Something To Wrestle podcast, John Bradshaw Layfield confirmed for the first time that Vince McMahon personally fed him the memorable line: “That’s not Sting, that’s a picture of Sting.” The moment came during Sting’s WWE run after his debut at Survivor Series.
“When Vince fed me the line that people love to bring up, I thought that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever said,” JBL admitted. “I realised now how good it was.”
JBL explained that the line referred to a segment involving a still image of Sting shown backstage.
“When he’s had a picture of Sting back there, his thing wasn’t moving, and they said, ‘That’s not Sting, that’s a picture of Sting,’” he recalled. “I never said it. Vince fed me that line verbatim.”
Although he initially thought the line sounded awkward, he admitted fans have continued bringing it up for years and now sees it as one of the funnier calls from that era.
“100% kudos to the chairman,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t think it was that great, and I realised now it’s a pretty freaking good line.”
JBL Addressed What It Was Like Having Vince McMahon In His Ear While On Commentary
JBL also spoke about his overall experience working commentary with Vince McMahon producing in his headset, pushing back against stories from other broadcasters who described McMahon as aggressive or difficult during shows.
“All these guys talk about Vince yelling at them and all that stuff,” he said. “That never happened to me. He was always great to work with.”
JBL explained that he often stayed almost perfectly in sync with McMahon while calling matches and segments.
“I was one word behind him,” he said. “That was 100% Vince’s line.”
