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**The Show Off** · 06-19-2011, 10:47 PM

77. John Bradshaw Layfield

I was never really a big fan of the Acolytes or the APA but I did always like Ron Simmons, so when the APA split up due to the roster split in 2002 I thought Ron Simmons would benefit the most. I was shocked then when I began to like Bradshaw and what he had to offer. He was going for the WWF Hardcore Championship and I saw something in him. I actually even remember starting a thread say that Bradshaw should get a push. He was just a big rough and tumble Texan and I thought he could make a decent high mid carder�I was wrong.

Two years later John Bradshaw Layfield was the WWE Heavyweight Champion. His reign was a revelation. I was someone who wanted and hoped for a push for him, but I never ever expected that he would become the WWE Heavyweight Champion and I certainly didn�t think he would be as entertaining as he turned out to be. His gimmick, similarly, was a revelation. It was the first time in years that a guy in the WWE had a real honest to goodness gimmick (that spring and summer of 2004 was kind or a revival of the gimmick.) He was part Blackjack (which he actually was earlier in his WWE run) and part Million Dollar Man.

The real greatness of JBL were his amazing mic skills. It was insane to think that a guy so great on the mic was basically held in the background of the company for 7 years. He was equal parts badass and coward; equal parts funny and serious. He was able to keep a 10 month title reign interesting from beginning to end just by the sheer power of his character. His matches weren�t exactly what you�d call great but they always progress the story along, and he understood that as a heel it was his goal to be despised and than ridiculed and he always delivered those two.

Favorite Moment:
The promo in which JBL was drugged and he came to the ring and wrestled an inflatable dinosaur. It was so funny and even now bringing it up I�m sure I�ll have to check YouTube to relive it all over again.

Favorite Match:
Team RAW v. Team SmackDown (Servivor Series Elimination Match, WWE Survivor Series 2005)

06-19-2011, 10:47 PM	#155
The Show Off Total Non-Stop Apologist Posts: 4,430	77. John Bradshaw Layfield I was never really a big fan of the Acolytes or the APA but I did always like Ron Simmons, so when the APA split up due to the roster split in 2002 I thought Ron Simmons would benefit the most. I was shocked then when I began to like Bradshaw and what he had to offer. He was going for the WWF Hardcore Championship and I saw something in him. I actually even remember starting a thread say that Bradshaw should get a push. He was just a big rough and tumble Texan and I thought he could make a decent high mid carder�I was wrong. Two years later John Bradshaw Layfield was the WWE Heavyweight Champion. His reign was a revelation. I was someone who wanted and hoped for a push for him, but I never ever expected that he would become the WWE Heavyweight Champion and I certainly didn�t think he would be as entertaining as he turned out to be. His gimmick, similarly, was a revelation. It was the first time in years that a guy in the WWE had a real honest to goodness gimmick (that spring and summer of 2004 was kind or a revival of the gimmick.) He was part Blackjack (which he actually was earlier in his WWE run) and part Million Dollar Man. The real greatness of JBL were his amazing mic skills. It was insane to think that a guy so great on the mic was basically held in the background of the company for 7 years. He was equal parts badass and coward; equal parts funny and serious. He was able to keep a 10 month title reign interesting from beginning to end just by the sheer power of his character. His matches weren�t exactly what you�d call great but they always progress the story along, and he understood that as a heel it was his goal to be despised and than ridiculed and he always delivered those two. Favorite Moment: The promo in which JBL was drugged and he came to the ring and wrestled an inflatable dinosaur. It was so funny and even now bringing it up I�m sure I�ll have to check YouTube to relive it all over again. Favorite Match: Team RAW v. Team SmackDown (Servivor Series Elimination Match, WWE Survivor Series 2005)