JBL Speaks About When Vince McMahon Put Non-Fluent WWE Hall Of Famer On Spanish Commentary

WWE legend John Bradshaw Layfield has revealed a surprising backstage story involving Hall of Famer Tito Santana’s brief stint on the Spanish commentary team during his return to WWE in the late 1990s.

Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL recalled how Santana was assigned to the Spanish announce desk in 1997, despite not being fluent in the language.

“Tito didn’t speak much Spanish, and they put him at the Spanish commentary,” JBL said, adding that the decision raised eyebrows among those involved with the broadcast team.

JBL detailed a moment when veteran Spanish commentator Hugo Savinovich raised concerns directly with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

“So Hugo goes to Vince, and goes, ‘Vince, you know, he’s not fluent in Spanish,’ and Vince goes, ‘He’ll be alright,’” JBL recounted. “They kept going, ‘Vince, he doesn’t speak Spanish, he just says Ariba a bunch.’”

Though Santana was well known for portraying several Latino characters throughout his career, JBL pointed out that his actual grasp of Spanish was limited.

“I think Vince loved Tito, and he wanted to do commentary,” he explained. “I guess he thought he would learn the language, and so he put him on commentary, and Tito didn’t learn the language.”

Despite the apparent mismatch between the role and Santana’s linguistic skills, he remained on the Spanish commentary team for roughly a year. His final appearance at the desk came at WrestleMania XIV in March 1998.

Santana, a second-generation Mexican-American and former Intercontinental Champion, was a staple of WWE’s programming from the early 1980s until the mid-90s, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004, cementing his legacy despite the unusual commentary assignment.

How Did JBL Say The WWE Locker Room Reacted To The Introduction Of Steroid Testing?

JBL spoke about the WWE locker room’s reaction to the introduction of steroid testing and said that the general feeling was one of relief. The relief, he said, came from the fact that wrestlers who weren’t using steroids felt that the reduction of steroid use would level the playing field for them to be able to keep up with those who were using them in the past. The trade-off, however, was that the WWE’s competition, WCW, was not testing for steroids, meaning their stars were able to utilise the benefits of appearing bigger, stronger, and larger than life on TV and in person.

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