Bradshaw vs JBL

[CM Steel]

The title to this thread came to me in the idea from rapper T.I.'s album T.I. vs T.I.P.

John Layfield has been in the WWF/E for over 15 years. Debuting as "Justin Hawk Bradshaw" (with Jebediah). And then as "Blackjack Bradshaw" tagging with future WWE hall of famer Barry Windam. Dominating the WWF/E tag team scene with another future WWE hall of famer in Ron Simmons aka Faarooq as the APA. And then going into the WWE main event scene as John Bradshaw Layfield, the wall street genius with a million dollar man attitude.

And JBL becoming a WWE champion after defeating the late great Eddie Guerrero in July of 2004. But many wrestling fans feel that Bradshaw had no business in the WWE main event little alone winning the WWE championship. Fans has always seen Bradshaw as a mid-carder. A friend of mine went to a WWE house show in 2004 when JBL was feuding with Eddie Guerrero and Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree were the main event closing the show. At the time RVD and of course Rene Dupree were not main event wrestler's. In a retrospect neither was Bradshaw.

JBL only had one world title reign. So was JBL a legit main event player in the WWE?

 

[Nate DaMac]

I'm not getting it, are you asking whether or not JBL was a legit main eventer or are you asking if we preferred the Bradshaw character over the JBL character? Just further proves my point, you suck at making threads.

AT any rate, yeah, JBL was a legit main eventer. Giving him the push wasn't a bad idea, hell, giving him the title wasn't a bad idea. They needed someone to step up and help put over the new guys and he played the role very well.

The problem was that he held onto the fucking title for nearly a god damn year. He had no business being booked as a dominant force. He should have held onto the title for a month or 2 to give him legitimacy, dropped it to someone relevant, then hung around to step in and feud with the younger guys who needed putting over by a legitimate threat to their title.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Yeah. JBL was a legit main-eventer and a very good one at that. After his evolution from Bradshaw to JBL he started cutting epic promos and his WWE Championship reign is one of my favorite championship reigns that I enjoyed.

JBL 9 month title reign was filled with great promos and matches. I don't care what anyone says but I liked JBL and his title reign. JBL should come back for a last run as a wrestler or maybe a commentator.

 

[Its_A_Snake!]

JBL 9 month title reign was filled with great promos and matches. I don't care what anyone says but I liked JBL and his title reign. JBL should come back for a last run as a wrestler or maybe a commentator.

My thought's exactly. I remember when JBL won the title. I didn't watch the PPV, but I watched the following Smackdown & if im right, They had a shot of a locker room door with JBL's logo on it with Michael Cole announcing "Tonight we will here from the new WWE champion!" or something like that.
I could'nt believe it because Bradshaw.. one half of the A.P.A was WWE champion. Fucking Bradshaw!? Don't get me wrong I liked Bradshaw but I NEVER expected him to have the gold. He won me over with his awesome promo's and way's of escaping with the belt by the skin of his teeth.

So yes, it took time, but JBL became a legit main-eventer and possible future Hall of Famer

 

[GoShtate]

His APA character was probably the most fun for me and at first when he took the jump to main events and the JBL persona it took me a long time to get used to it. I didn't understand it, I never thought his ring work was all that great and he certainly hadn't been shining at the tag team level to warrant a promotion. But, then after a few months I realized that when people say the most successful characters are ones who can just be themselves, this was just another example.

I came to realize all this time no matter how well liked he was as a part of the APA the guy was just a genuine *******. He played the role to perfection and made me hate him. Still not a fan of his ring work but he put together some of the better matches during his main event time. Still not sure why he attacked the Blue Meanie but it was a real bitch move. JBL is one of the better heels I've seen in a long time.

So I guess personally I liked APA Bradshaw better but JBL was a better character.

 

[Defekt]

Smackdown was very weak on talent in 2004. Bradshaw or JBL was more of a midcarder. He didn't have a good look and was an average wrestler.

However, all things considered, I think his run was pretty good. For all things JBL lacked, he more than made up for them with his mic skills. JBL drew more heat than anyone in the company. He used to make me laugh my ass off. Everyone wanted to see him get killed.

I think JBL was best as an upper midcarder, using his heat to get faces over, but I'd call his run as champ a success.

 

[Twocenter]

The title to this thread came to me in the idea from rapper T.I.'s album T.I. vs T.I.P.

John Layfield has been in the WWF/E for over 15 years. Debuting as "Justin Hawk Bradshaw" (with Jebediah). And then as "Blackjack Bradshaw" tagging with future WWE hall of famer Barry Windam. Dominating the WWF/E tag team scene with another future WWE hall of famer in Ron Simmons aka Faarooq as the APA. And then going into the WWE main event scene as John Bradshaw Layfield, the wall street genius with a million dollar man attitude.

And JBL becoming a WWE champion after defeating the late great Eddie Guerrero in July of 2004. But many wrestling fans feel that Bradshaw had no business in the WWE main event little alone winning the WWE championship. Fans has always seen Bradshaw as a mid-carder. A friend of mine went to a WWE house show in 2004 when JBL was feuding with Eddie Guerrero and Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree were the main event closing the show. At the time RVD and of course Rene Dupree were not main event wrestler's. In a retrospect neither was Bradshaw.

JBL only had one world title reign. So was JBL a legit main event player in the WWE?

JBL was a legit main event player. His character evolved perfectly. He was given a chance because he was an established mid card wrestler in the attitude era. In 2004, many wrestlers left. No Goldberg, No Rock, No Steve and No Brock. WWE was in crisis but JBL stepped up and was established in the main event. He had good feuds with Eddie, Undertaker and even Booker T. I liked his cabinet. He was the champion for nearly a year but was never boring. He cut some great promos and once even made me believe he was a wrestling god. lol. Due to his nearly one year reign, John Cena's first title win seemed good and John was elevated to the main event. So I certainly think that he was a main eventer.

 

[dkorolenchuk]

JBL won me over with his part on the Eddie Guerrero tribute show,when he talked about his respect for eddie and how when nobody thought he could carry the belt,Eddie went to bat for him with management.He came across as very humble and thankful for the chance at his title run.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I would say JBL was absolutely a legit main eventer. In my opinion he was the best thing on WWE TV in late 2004 - late 2005.

Oddly, I had actually pegged Bradshaw as a guy who should have been a main eventer, a year before JBL came about. Watching him in a tag match on SmackDown in 2003, I finally started noticing how he had improved in subtle ways over the years, and I bet a friend of mine $50 he would be main eventing PPVs by SummerSlam 2004. Easiest $50 I ever made.

 

[cmedge]

I could never consider Bradshaw a main eventer. I liked JBL believe me I did. He cut some epic promo's and was a great talent but I dislike his rise to success. The guy barely even got a legit push like Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin and even John Cena. If you compare him from when Eddie first won the title and by the time he lost it, you will notice it that the guy was a nobody before he won it. There were so many other guys we're actually main eventing paperviews 2 years before (Jericho and Kane). JBL recieved no push at all just two random main event paperviews. This lead to the WWE's failure's in pushing stars.. Look at Sheamus and Jack Swagger..

 

[Headman]

The title to this thread came to me in the idea from rapper T.I.'s album T.I. vs T.I.P.

John Layfield has been in the WWF/E for over 15 years. Debuting as "Justin Hawk Bradshaw" (with Jebediah). And then as "Blackjack Bradshaw" tagging with future WWE hall of famer Barry Windam. Dominating the WWF/E tag team scene with another future WWE hall of famer in Ron Simmons aka Faarooq as the APA. And then going into the WWE main event scene as John Bradshaw Layfield, the wall street genius with a million dollar man attitude.

And JBL becoming a WWE champion after defeating the late great Eddie Guerrero in July of 2004. But many wrestling fans feel that Bradshaw had no business in the WWE main event little alone winning the WWE championship. Fans has always seen Bradshaw as a mid-carder. A friend of mine went to a WWE house show in 2004 when JBL was feuding with Eddie Guerrero and Rob Van Dam vs Rene Dupree were the main event closing the show. At the time RVD and of course Rene Dupree were not main event wrestler's. In a retrospect neither was Bradshaw.

JBL only had one world title reign. So was JBL a legit main event player in the WWE?

The title of this thread is misleading so I'll answer the question you pose in your post. Of course JBL was a legit main eventer. He was one of the best heels ever. People can be so stupid when it comes to things like this. They honestly believe the only talented wrestlers are the technical wrestlers and shit on every big man, power hourse or brawler in the business. Then the same people will get all smarky and pull Brusier Brody out of their asses. I laugh and think how if Brody were alive today he'd get shit on too for being wreckless and scientifically flawed in the ring. Then we have the other idiots who never stopped viewing JBL as a tag wrestler so they don't believe he should have been pushed. Thank god you're not incharged of handing our promotions where I work. Let's look at the facts. JBL always got heat no matter who he faced. He could come back right now, say two lines and have the crowd hate him. He's never going to sell a billion dollars in merch, but he'll sure as hell make the guy he's in there with look like a million bucks. And to me, that's great.

 

[Pedigree1]

I'm not getting it, are you asking whether or not JBL was a legit main eventer or are you asking if we preferred the Bradshaw character over the JBL character? Just further proves my point, you suck at making threads.

AT any rate, yeah, JBL was a legit main eventer. Giving him the push wasn't a bad idea, hell, giving him the title wasn't a bad idea. They needed someone to step up and help put over the new guys and he played the role very well.

The problem was that he held onto the fucking title for nearly a god damn year. He had no business being booked as a dominant force. He should have held onto the title for a month or 2 to give him legitimacy, dropped it to someone relevant, then hung around to step in and feud with the younger guys who needed putting over by a legitimate threat to their title.

Completely and utterly agree. Didnt understand the question but giving JBL the title was indeed a smart move on the Es part. But a 280 day reign as champion was a bit much no? I think it was maybe he should have held the title for three or four months tops. He was a legit champion but that time in his career i feel he should have help out the younger talent by putting them over and hung in there to feud for the title just comping up short all the time. But yes JBL did belong in the main event scene just not for a years stretch he did not.

 

[MYGold]

I always loved Bradshaw. How could you not love someone who hung out playing poker, drinking beer and took money to beat people up?

The transition to JBL worked. It was perfect timing. SD was weak.

I wasn't the biggest JBL fan at the time, but the more I think about it now - his character really worked. Great heel.

I also want to point out that I've been watching wrestling for about 25 years. When JBL was feuding with Eddie.....that skit of JBL chasing the Mexicans back across the border is in my top 3 of funniest god damn things I've ever seen on WWE TV.

 

[thexfactor]

I'm sorry but anyone who questions JBL's main event status either does not clearly remember that sad time in smackdown history or you just weren't really watching in the first place. The guy was a great heel 5/5 on the mic to say the least and he continued to build in ring crediblity. His fued with eddie was probably fued of the year in 04. The texas bullrope match with eddie was probably match of the year and that vicious, thunderous chair shot off eddies skull at another '04 PPV was the biggest chair shot of my life one of the bigger OMG moments of WWE history as eddie just gushed blood for another 15-20 mins. The guy was an abesolute stud as other have said his promos were epic, and if you do not agree just simply go back and watch the tape.

 

[GameOver]

JBL only had 1 reign but you missed the point that, it was at the end of his career (like a thank you and farewell gift) he was the longest reigning champ in Smackdown history 280 days. Interesting to note, the guy that won it from him Cena for his first reign was also 280 days but it moved to Raw thus they could still claim JBL was the longest reigning champ ion smackdown history

JBL was a great heel and he was very credible in ring despite being seen as just a big man.
Noone can deny that as part of APA he wasn't one hell of a funny guy too and he certainly carried that duo.

as far as being a Wrestling God!!! well that's debatable but he's certainly HOF worthy if Ron Simmons made it.

So to this apparent question posed, JBL vs Bradshaw characters

Personally i prefered the Bradshaw character, he won 23 titles, was involved in many a great attitude storyline and kick ass matchups, plus more entertaining
But i can't deny JBL was his best work ever from an overall performer standpoint. and that 1 reign was historical.

Pick: Bradshaw - only for entertainment value.

 

[matman8540]

The thing is that the Bradshaw character is going to be liked more; due to the fact he was a face. The JBL character was an annoying, conniving, devious heel. But, then again, isn't that what a heel is supposed to be? As characters on their own merits, I liked the JBL character better, as he did his job and character to a T. Even when he was without a title, he had put over CM Punk by pointing out his "straight edge" personality, by trying to get him to take a drink. Also, when he was on commentary, he wasn't a typical "heels only" broadcaster. He hated the French, with a passion. So when he was commentating on Rene Dupree; he still bagged on him unmercifully. This is in contrast to what Michael Cole would do, such as kissing Daniel Bryan's ass now that the fans are booing him.

 

[The Brain]

JBL is perhaps the best heel the WWE has had in the past ten years. I can’t think of any better proof than how many members of the IWC didn’t like him. The IWC is notorious for loving heels and even they hated JBL. JBL definitely benefited from the departure of Brock Lesnar and another injury to Kurt Angle right after WM20. I think that’s why so many didn’t take him seriously. They looked at JBL’s main event push as a desperation move by WWE. While that may have been the case JBL certainly made the most of his opportunity. Some people just couldn’t accept the man who was in the lower mid card for eight years as the new world champion. He was kind of like how Mark Henry was last year. They were both long time underachievers who reinvented themselves into legit champions and main eventers. If Bradshaw was never in WWE and debuted as JBL in 2004 people would have probably been more accepting of him as a main eventer.

JBL was awesome. Some say he didn’t have a good look. I couldn’t disagree more. He looked like a wrestler. He wasn’t some pretty boy with Hollywood good looks. He was a fighter. Let’s say you don’t know anything about wrestling. You walk into a bar and see Chris Jericho, Edge, CM Punk (designated driver of course), and JBL sitting at the bar. Which one looks like he can kick your ass the most? Some say he wasn’t very good in the ring. That’s bullshit. He just didn’t wrestle the preferred of the majority of the IWC. He wasn’t a fast pace high flyer. He was a brawler and there’s nothing wrong with that. JBL was gold on the mic. He was very articulate and always spoke with confidence. He knew how to get the crowd to hate him. JBL was very much championship material. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a reign as much as his since he was champion.

Completely and utterly agree. Didnt understand the question but giving JBL the title was indeed a smart move on the Es part. But a 280 day reign as champion was a bit much no? I think it was maybe he should have held the title for three or four months tops. He was a legit champion but that time in his career i feel he should have help out the younger talent by putting them over and hung in there to feud for the title just comping up short all the time. But yes JBL did belong in the main event scene just not for a years stretch he did not.

I don’t understand why you would have wanted a shorter reign. One of the most common complaints about WWE today is the short title reigns. Here was a nice nine month reign and you think it was too long? JBL defended his title against a lot of big names. He beat Eddie Guerrero, Undertaker, Booker T, Kurt Angle, and Big Show. He took short cuts to beat them and escaped by the skin of his teeth each time. This just built up more heat for him. The timing was perfect for him to help out younger talent like you wanted. Remember he helped build John Cena at WrestleMania. JBL held the title for nine months and beat several proven names only to drop the title to a newer talent at the biggest show. If that isn’t helping build new talent I don’t know what is.

 

[SolidSnakeAlpha]

JBL was a very believable heel. All the trademarks,learnt from ten plus years of being surrounded by the best in the business,all collated into one big pot of hatred.Best heel in a long time,IMO.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

First of all, house shows mean nothing. Second of all, JBL was a legit main eventer simply because WWE said so. That doesn't mean he was a good one (I'm not a fan) or should have been one.

Personally, I liked the APA Bradshaw character. I don't like anything he did before then. I always found him boring. I also don't like JBL. In theory he should have been a great character, but to me he was just boring. Even though he was JBL it just seemed like he was someone playing a character that didn't fit him. Maybe I just didn't like the guy. So to me personally, JBL never felt like a main eventer and was an instant channel changer for me.

 

[WCW_Sting]

I'm still not sure what this thread is asking, so I'm just going to give my opinions on one John Bradshaw Layfield.

My cable didn't carry UPN until 2002, so I didn't start watching Smackdown! regularly until then. I barely remember the APA Bradshaw with the short, blond comb-over. I always assumed he did that because he had to make Fox News appearances. I definitely remember the night on "Paul Heyman's Smackdown!" when Heyman said, "I didn't say I was firing the APA. I said I was firing you Faarooq." I remember rooting for Eddie Guerrero to win the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar and being very certain and excited that he would since Brock was sure to face Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania (we all knew it wouldn't be a title match, and this was before the NFL rumors started circulating), but when John Bradshaw Layfield attacked Eddie the week after his long time friend and partner was fired, I instantly began rooting for Smackdown!'s newest heel. The concept was brilliant, and he fit the role extremely well. The Brain was dead-on when he said, "JBL is perhaps the best heel the WWE has had in the past ten years." I never understood the hate for the new Bradshaw. It seemed like most haters would complain about his lack of physique, which to me, was dumb. The guy knew his stuff (wrestling and finances), and he was brilliant on the mic. I loved seeing him at ECW One Night Stand provoking the irate long-time loyalists to boo and chant obscenities at him.

John Bradshaw Layfield is one of the most underrated heels of all time. I always enjoyed the combination of Michael Cole and Tazz (though he sucks in TNA for some reason), but I enjoyed Bradshaw at the table much more. I still hadn't had enough of the character when he quit, and I hated to see him leave after Wrestlemania 25. It's doubtful that he'll ever return, but I sure hope he does.

As always, get over yourselves and enjoy some wrestling.

 

[lowandmighty]

Yeah JBL's title reign was a really long one and I think that's more impressive than 10 short title reigns. There still hasn't been anyone stay champion as long as he did since.
So JBL was totally a main event player. One of the best for mine.

 

[Raven/StevieRichardsfan]

I liked the Ministry of Darkness Bradshaw because he was my favorite stable member but I can't help but love JBL because of his mic skills and his in-ring ability. He's not the BEST no but he's pretty damn good. And to answer the other question HELL yeah he's a main event player he held the title for 9 months thats almost a year that's 9 months worth of promos and main event matches after that title reign everybody saw JBL differently.