Do you miss JBL??

[Chill]

There has been talk lately on this forum that the Miz is going to fill JBL's spot on RAW but I want to know if anyone misses JBL? it's been a little over a month since he left and personally I have not thought about him once (until I've started this thread obv...). I know that JBL had a lot of haters and while I didn't think he was as bad in the ring as some suggested my issue was that I didn't enjoy him being featured so prominently on RAW. He was fine but in small doses imo...

So now that he's been gone a month and the dust of the latest draft has begun to settle, does anyone miss JBL...would you like him to still be on TV and do you think the WWE will miss what was arguably one of their best heels? Also, might JBL wind up back in the WWE one day? I would say probably in some capacity...it seems that wrestlers can never stay away too long.

 

[Pimpin]

Do I miss him as a wrestler? Hell No. Do I miss him as a commentator? No, but he was a great asset when he was a commentator & he & Michael Cole(who is terrible by the way) gelled really well together & made Friday Nights entertaining for me. I do think that JBL will probably come back in either a manager role or as a commentator again. I do not think he should come back as a wrestler cause his in ring work sucks & fans really don't wanna see him wrestle.

 

[jmt225]

No. The guy simply sucks balls and I couldn't be happier about his departure.

The fact is that he was terrible in the ring. I mean, he was truly fucking terrible. He bored me to death whenever he wrestled. He had the more boring move-set ever, and the crowd hardly ever participated in his matches. They just sit there and wait for it to be over.

And on the mic... he was very, VERY redundant. The first time you hear a JBL promo you think, "Wow.. this isn't too bad." But after hearing the exact same thing over and over and over again, it gets tiring and instead of legitimate heel heat, people just want the douche out of the ring and off their TV. It came to a point where I would literally change the channel when he would come on. He was that bad.

Plus, him leaving does open a new top heel spot on Raw. Whether that spot goes to The Miz or someone else (personally would prefer Kendrick as his promos are awesome and he'll always make a babyface look tremendous)... no matter who it is, it's going to be ten times more tolerable then JBL. That’s a guarantee.

 

[JonnyPyro]

I liked JBL on the mic and didn't mind him in the ring. Just didn't think he needed to main event as much as he did, as there were far more credible heels to put over someone other than him. The somewhat Million Dollar Man bit worked for him as well. He was a good heel, bottom line... but he was also filler that was shoved down our throats a little much.

I think when I really began to appreciate JBL as a heel was on the way to a Cyber Sunday. I attended a smackdown, and I think he was up to ref a match. And Stone Cold and someone else, maybe Roddy Piper. Anyways, he gets up from the booth, grabs a microphone, and just goes crazy on his whole "Vote for the Wrestling God" spiel, and I actually laughed at it. I think it was seeing... er... hearing him live that made me like him.

Do I miss? Hardly. I think it's time that a lot of these guys start stepping aside, instead of doing what Taker/Michaels and Austin did at WM26... and that is brush away the young blue-chippers that are still waiting to get over on the main stage. Like the Tag Match... You can't tell me that they couldn't have cut maybe 15 minutes total from those two seperate events to get these young guys in to give your show a hot start, instead of hoping the MiTB (which should NEVER be a show opener, diminishes importance...) does the job for you.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I don't miss him at all. I didn't like the way he looked (ever hear of a gym, JBL?) or his time consuming entrance in that limousine. His overbearing rich-boy act ran thin after awhile and he was unwilling or unable (or not allowed) to alter it. His ring work looked sloppy because of his build and I never understood why he received the push he did.

That said, I wonder what really happened between JBL and WWE. It's rare to see someone who was featured so prominently just leave the company like that, stating that he's done with wrestling and won't be back.

 

[Miko]

I miss JBL, I miss him terribly, the guy was a golden heel. I loved how he left the company though.

He didnt turn face, he was booed all the way up the ramp, he retired the great heel he was, he made Mysterio look golden. That was what made JBL the ultimate heel and that's why I miss him.

 

[Rusty]

Nope. I think at times Raw will miss JBL, but I think it's better for the company that he's finally gone. I never liked him. His promo skills were overrated as fuck, he was boring which I guess is both a positive and a negative thing considering he was a heel. But JBL sucked inside the ring. I never enjoyed a match involving him. People say the John Cena vs. JBL (I Quit Match) from 2005 was his best match ever, and they may be right. That's just sad though, considering it isn't even in Cena's best 5 matches.

With Chris Jericho leaving the show though, apart from Randy Orton the next top heel is the Big Show. I'm not a fan of him either. But with JBL gone, it allows guys like Matt Hardy and The Miz to step up to the plate and have a test run as the 3rd and 4th top heels on the flagship show of the WWE. It's great, because guys like John Cena, Batista, Triple H and Shawn Michaels are going to get sick of facing Randy Orton and The Big Show, so this is a great thing for Raw and for the viewers as we get to see new faces step up to the main event plate.

JBL wasn't anything special and while he was a great heel, he simply didn't deserve the main event spotlight. There was nothing about him that made him stand out from the rest. I'll admit, I liked his first and only reign as the WWE Champion on Smackdown in 2004/2005, but I'm thanking the booking for that one. However I will say one thing about JBL that impressed me: I thought he was a brilliant commentator and Smackdown's commentary box could really use him right now. Grisham belongs on ECW, not Smackdown.

But apart from that, I don't miss JBL at all.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

There's a difference in 'heel heat' and 'we don't give a fuck' heat. JBL received the latter when he left Wrestlemania. JBL burned a lot of legitimate bridges in the WWE in my opinion. He was notorious for being a bully to other wrestlers, being stiff, and a pain in the ass to most people.

He can work the stick. I'll give him that. But as far as wrestling ability, well I know as well as anyone he mimics his move set around the likes of Stan Hansen and other Texans. The difference is JBL was stiff because he was an asshole. Not because of any impairment. His Clothesline from Hell is a rip off of the Lariat and it looks worse than the original move.

And to me, it seems like the show is just better than it was when he was there. The overall flow of their shows seem better, too...which could give an indication that minds are at ease when Bradshaw's not around. Joey Styles punching him in the mouth was the final draw for me. It's one thing to be funny and obnoxious, but to be a ******* time and time again and pick on people who can't defend themselves against you shows what kind of person you are. And him getting thumped in the mouth for it was just desserts.

So not only do I not miss JBL, most everybody doesn't miss him either.

 

[GSM]

To be honest I totally forgot about him and only remembered beacuse of this thread. There was once a time when JBL was ... and I´hate to say this *gulp* entertaining and a ... good heel but these days were more than over, his feud with Shawn Micheals was well ... what was it ? His feuds with Eddie Guerrero and John Cena were decent but only because in each of these feuds was a decent match nothing more nothing less. His character sure was a new idea and he selled it good but a wrestling businnes man who hates mexicans and braggs out about it every single week ? Nah they overdid it with that at some point, I even thougt he could form a tag-team with Kerwin White xD but that´s beside the point, the point is that his character was fresh and new but not for long , this stuff was pushed down the throats of the wrestling fans and obviously they grew tired of it.

 

[The Todd]

There's a difference in 'heel heat' and 'we don't give a fuck' heat

I don't agree with this. Heel heat is heel heat. At a time when too many fans cheer Edge, Orton and Jericho, JBL was getting booed out of the arena. His heat was second only behind Vickie, who is by far and away the best heel in the business at the moment.

I literally hated JBL, so therefore he did his job brilliantly. If he has to be shit as a wrestler, slow and boring, then so be it. Same reason why Big Show must be a good heel, cos I want to see him get his face smashed in.

So to answer, no I don't miss JBL but we're not meant to. As Miko said, it takes a good heel to stay heel right up until the end of his career. Too many are turned face to enjoy the send off.

 

[mkaisking]

As a wrestler? he was horrible and should never have been pushed beyond the APA as hit move set consists of punch, club to back of neck, sloppy neckbraker, clothesline, pin

But as a presence JBL is definatly missed on WWE TV. As statred earlier, the guy is geniuinely hated by the WWE "universe" (how gay is that? but that's for another thread)... rumours are the guys up top are looking to replace tiffany as GM of ECW now JBL would be the perfect man to step in as a natural authority figure fans hate... hell id even have him replace vickie as teh GM of raw

 

[jmudbake]

No, I do not miss JBL as a wrestler. I miss him as a commentator. And I miss Bradshaw, from the APA with Ron Simmons. I enjoyed the Hell out of him then. I hated his Wall Street gimmick. If he returned as a GM, or announcer, or something in that capacity I wouldn't mind it.

 

[butsecks]

To answer the simple question: yes, yes i do miss JBL. he was a great heel,had great mic work, drew heat, something that a lot of these younger talentless jokes should learn from (the miz). its too bad his icee tilte reign lasted a mere couple weeks. i thought he'd take it further.

 

[Zepp73285]

The character of JBL was a character EVERYBODY hated, and because of that, he performed his duty well. Personally, I miss his character as Bradshaw. Bradshaw was awesome, and I still think that Bradshaw has one of the best looking powerbombs in the business, it's too bad they rarely let anyone do those anymore. But come on, the APA was fantastic. Good wrestlers and had a great gimmick too! Sure, as a person, I understand he is quite the jerk, but lets face it, there are not too many people much better than on the mic. Some might disagree with me on his mic skills, but come on lets take a look at all the relatively "young and popular" wrestlers...most of them are as dry and can't cut a strong promo if their life depends on it (besides Kennedy). He wasn't a great wrestler by any means, but by the time he was retiring he was getting up there in age too. I actually remember him being a pretty good wrestler was he was in the APA and I remember enjoying their matches extremely. I feel if the WWE took the Bradshaw character and developed that one, he could have become a pretty popular face. However, as a heel is concerned, I thought he was good. Granted, I don't think he was a good heel to have on RAW but he was great on Smackdown and really brought out much good for that show.

 

[Blade]

I don't agree with this. Heel heat is heel heat. At a time when too many fans cheer Edge, Orton and Jericho, JBL was getting booed out of the arena. His heat was second only behind Vickie, who is by far and away the best heel in the business at the moment.

There is a difference. Fans were giving him heat because they hated watch him wrestle cause they thought he sucked. And they were right.

The difference between heel heat and the heat that JBL got is that if people feel too much of the JBL-style heat, they will get sick of seeing him and stop watching. Heel heat like Edge and Orton create makes people watch rather than legit pissing them off.

Personally, I miss his promos and his commentating. If he had become a GM, i'd be very content. But no one misses his wrestling matches....

 

[chrisgod]

I do not miss him at all, but I think his spot will not be filled by a heel as strong as he was.

He was just awful in the ring, and just a little less than boring, and yeah, maybe his promos were overrated, repetitive and simple, always whining, or bragging, or putting himself over in the same way as the only worth-a-watch performer... but all that promo stuff also applies to the current Jericho's promos, and nobody complains about those (maybe jericho is right... you hypocrites)...

The truth is he was one of the best at doing his job, and that job wasn't being a good wrestler that gives only 5 star matches, but rather putting stupid top-midcarders over so at least a few people gives a shit about them... his job was to make someone else look good, you boo JBL because you really don't like him, and 9 out of 10 times you will cheer his opponent...

THAT is something that a lot of the praised internet darlings do not accomplish... Randy Orton is not capable of making a whole crowd cheer John Cena and back him up during the whole match, instead, he gets a few cheers here and there and splits the crowd between Cena and the "Legend Killer"... JBL was the right man to do that...

 

[Black Snow]

I don't miss JBL's jiggly, pasty rolls in the ring but when I have to hear Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler suck at doing commentary for RAW along with J.R. and Grisham not doing much better on SD! I absolutely miss JBL on commentary. The WWE is absolutely desperate for heel commentators right now.

 

[njchaingang]

he was very good at drawing heat on himself i will agree with that. i also did enjoy him on commentary because he wouldnt put up with coles stupidity. cole should be moved to ECW and have the true raw crew return IMO. i do not miss JBL at all. his ring work this time around was terrible. he was so boring. the crowds were never into his matches and no one really cared.

 

[golden miz]

In the ring I'm real happy thatI dont have to see sagy man boobs take up a main event slot since all he could do was deliver promos that were great but so simular that they got stale for a long period, good for a couple weeks when soething big ecomonic happened then they got stale again. As a comentator he was good but not my fav. I think that he is a sad substraction from wwe he would of been golden in a place like ecw or smckdown in some capacity because I agree this allows to young guys to pay their main event dues. Imagine when Cena susposidly goes away to movies will they then slot bigshow as a face snce who is the next best thing after the big four. You only got MVP who is the only non jobber/non tag midcard face and then you got kofi who jobs mre then anyone else even when he wins it feels like he was still jobbing. So posibly shows spot as a heel might be vanquished so he could be a face so jbl leaving opens it up to the youth

 

[Carlito's-Way]

Do I miss JBL? Hell yes I do. He was the best heel on RAW and could draw more heel heat then Matt Hardy and the Legacy combined. He should have won the World Heavyweight Championship over Booker T. I think we can all agree that the King Booker idea was dumb and not worthy of a World Title reign. But that's a completely different topic. He was great on the mic, had decent ring work(more then Batista at least) and had a good gimmick. He could have been used much better in the company. i.e It would have been much better had Cena not won the WWE Championship at WM21 because I think we all know JBL was a much better champion the Cena truned out to be. But nothing lasts forever, especially not in the WWE.

 

[jayp_1984]

how can a guy who couldnt win the tna title with the entire tna roster out (hypothetically) take the spot of someone who was even remotely close to mid card?

this is the 5th ******ed thread ive seen today alone on here. what are you guys 13?