WWE legend JBL has hit out at critics who have slammed CM Punk for his apology in Saudi Arabia for past comments he made about the country.
JBL recently appeared on the "Something to Wrestle" podcast, where he backed Punk's apology, stating that people's opinions change over time, referring to Punk's sordid tweet directed at TheMiz and Saudi Arabia.
"And you say things sometimes in life that you mean, and then your life changes. If you haven't changed in several years, you've done nothing in your life," he said. "For people to go back and look at tweets that people put 10 years ago I said stuff 10 years ago that I would not mean today."
The Hall of Famer said that Punk may have chosen to go to Saudi Arabia of his own accord and firmly believes that WWE would not have forced him to take part in the Night of Champions show if he hadn't wanted to.
"CM Punk doesn't need the money. He doesn't need the money to go over there. I think he's a standup guy. I think anybody that knows him knows that he's a standup dude, and if he didn't want to go, he wouldn't have gone. You can't make him go. WWE is not going to make him go. I guarantee that. So if he went, he wenton his own volition, and if he apologized, he apologized because his view had changed and he meant it. And so I'm taking that 100% at face value. I think anybody that doesn't is a mind reader. You can't read minds. You don't know what's inside of CM Punk. You're just making sh*t up because you want to be negative."
JBL suggested that it's hypocritical to judge others for differing views or lifestyles, adding that life is about enjoying the ride and not imposing a holier-than-thou attitude.
