Future Hall Of Famer: John "Bradshaw" Layfield

[PDecicco]

Most people often consider JBL to be garbage. Everyone hates him and most people say "Well it's not the good kind of hate, it's mostly like X-Pac heat." or "We boo because he can't wrestle, not because he's a good heel."

But the truth is he is a very decorated wrestler and a bit of a storied career. He's a Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion. And for the most part he was widely considered one of the best WWE commentators during his stint on SmackDown!.

He's had a number of successful gimmicks, as well as a number of flops.

I think before he really started to have back problems he was entertaining to watch in the ring. His time in the APA was, in my opion, awesome.

The way he went from southern redneck brawler to a Phenom's Acololyte to a beer drinkin' hardcore roughneck to a wealthy businessman shows just how versaitle he is.

What he does in the ring, while maybe not as flashy as Evan Bourne's Shooting Star Press, he does well. He can craft a story on the stick and follow through with it in his matches.

He looks like a legitmate tough guy and plays the part of a wealthy, arrogant prick to a tee.

I for one wnjoy his caracter and think he's almost guaranteed himself a spot in the Hall Of Fame. I mean after all, he isa Wrestling God!

So what do you think? Is JBL going to be grouped in with such greats as Ric Flair, Harley Race, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold and....Koko B Ware?

 

[Chill]

I'm no fan of JBL. But he will be in the HOF. He has the accomplishments, is a loyal company man and has been around a long time. So yeh he will def be in there at some point imo

 

[mikeRC]

Yes. I was a big fan of the APA gimmick but didn't really think that either member could go on to be world champion but when Bradshaw broke away and became JBL he proved me wrong.

Never before have i seen someone generate such heat in such a short time and he made Smackdown! great in 2004 with a title run that was HOF worthy. And he then surprised everyone again by being a spectacular commentator and i turned on Smackdown every friday just to listen to the guy talk for two hours. While his matches leave something to be desired at times he is just great at the build up that it doesn't matter plus he had some classics with Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

Since, Koko B. Ware made it into the hall of fame, it's been hard for me to argue against any wrestler being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He has a good case though as he is the longest reigning Smackdown champion of all time and has held the tag titles, IC, US, hardcore and european championship. Which is much more than what Koko could say for himself.

 

[Miko]

We all know both members of the APA are Hall Of Fame bound, one is the first ever black world champion and the other is the longest reigning champion in Smackdown history. They formed one of the greatest tag teams ever and have had pretty good careers.

I think they both deserve it as well. JBL takes a lot of flack for not being able to wrestle but as PDecicco said what he does do, he does well. He builds up good tension in a match when he's dominating an opponent, to the point where when the face comes back at him your glad to see him getting his ass kicked. Plus his mic skills are pretty damn phenominal.

So yeah, JBL deserves in the Hall Of Fame.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

He will get in. I don't see why most people hate JBL. Because he's boring and wrestles slow matches and cuts the same promos. That's what a heel is supposed to do. JBL isn't going to pull any Jeff Hardy or Evan Bourne moves. He's a brawler and he will slowly pick you apart limb by limb. He's the best mic worker in the WWE and he gets the best heal heet outside of Vickie. The job of a heel is to make the fans boo you and he's been doing that since 2004. I enjoyed his championship reign even though he found some underhanded way to win.

 

[LokiCobain]

Honestly, I think he's capable of being the "headline inductee" at some point, perhaps co-headlining with Ron Simmons, who also had a very versatile gimmick career, and also it's safe to say that he was vital to the success of the Rock.

 

[shahid]

I really hope not, he just comes across an an incredibly pig headed, arrogant (& not in the good way) bully. & there is NOTHING redeeming about a bully. I swear if I ever meet Joey Styles I will buy him the biggest round of beers this side of Pawtucket Brewery.

Major differences between most heels & Jiggly Boobs Gayfield:

1.When the likes of HHH were heels, we wanted to see them get 10 bells of s*** kicked outta them by Rock, Austin, Taker, Kane et al because their character was an absolute turd. This is positive heat. They were also good workers.

2. John Bradshaw Lardfield however SUCKS in the squared circle, this my friends, is 200% non-negotiable. He looks like a sack of s*** as well. He is also a bully. Guys like Curt Hennig & Owen Hart (both may they R.I.P.) were known to be ribbers backstage, but that is totally different from bullying. Mr.Mamajuana was & is known to be an absolute prick in the locker room, & the bottom line is this, bullies are NEVER cool. True, his character is that of a pompous dicksplash, so some real heat is gained, but mostly it's 'X-Pac heat' so all in all, the cons outweigh the pros in this one, at least for me anyway.

 

[BooCocky]

Why not? He is one of the most successful heels in the business today, he has a World Title reign, and that is the longest world title reign in Smackdown history. He was a good commentator and an excellent mic worker. He had decent matches as champ, had decent feuds and he helped put over John Cena. If that doesn't sound like a successful and hall of fame worthy career, then I don't know what is.

 

[CantTakeTheTaker213]

Def loved him in the APA. As soon as we went solo i didnt think he was very good. And that us not because he went Heel. My favorite wrestlers are heel (Orton, Edge, etc...). His character sucked, and his look sucked too. He went from a bad ass into a bitch. He will get let into the HOF. He is a very loyal employee, similar to Kane. He will prob retire within the next year, and be in the Hall next year

 

[scoobyjrg1974]

I do believe he will be in the HOF but I do think that he should do a face turn.
I think they should have Kozlov win the belt, and JBL turn face as the true american hero and win the belt.
Even if the reign was short because we all know he back is in bad shape, it would be good to see him do it.
But to answer the question at hand yes he deserves to be in the hall of fame.

 

[supergav67]

JBL is friend of Vince.gets to travel in Vinces jet & when injured ,got to commentate on SD when other wrestlers would just be ReleaseD.The fans might not like it or treat it as big a deal as Flairs no matter how Vince sells it.but like H.HBK & Nash (eventually),He,s going in.End of story.

 

[raiders2081]

yeah he will be in the HOF, and will deserve it too

On the topic of the HOF, i was thinking the other day as i seen the latest induction...koko b ware, and it occured to me that their is very little prestige involved in the induction, in pro football you have deserving guys year after year that keep getting denied, one that has stood out to me for many years in ken stabler (the snake) of course im bias, but their are other deserving people out there as well, in wrestling it seems like they pick anyone who will show up and except....should koko b ware be in the HOF before Randy Savage or Jake Roberts? NO! anybody would be a fool to assume so, but you don't have that if football, the HOF in football is very exclusive and it seems like wrestling will take just about anybody in theirs!

 

[Joup7]

I think based on his championships, his loyalty, and his persona, he's gonna make it. However he's not gonna be one of those guys who they build the night around, like Flair, Bret Hart, or Stone Cold. He's gonna be on of those mid-card guys on the HOF Induction Card. Also, it's not gonna come for at least 5 years after he retires.

 

[ulimate123]

Why not? He is a grand slam champion, had a great stable with Farooq (APA) and also has had a decent gimmick afterwards as well. He was the longest reigning champion on SD! (9 months I think!) and his mic skills are excellent. He also draws a lot of heat which means that the fans are interested in his storylines if he gets into a decent one.

 

[Leeds Guy]

He bores the crap out of me, but you cant say he doesnt deserve to be in the HOF. He's gonna go in due to the fact that he had the longest title reign in Smackdown history. Hes work as part of the A.P.A was pretty enjoyful and when he origionally turned heel against Eddie Guerrero i thought that was pretty impressive as he completely changed gimmick mid-episode. His comedy segments as JBL have been funny especially the part were he was chasing immigrants back over the border. He just seems to have got really boring since he came back from his stint as broadcaster. So will he be in? yes. Does he deserve to be in? well thats a completely differant discussion altogether.

 

[Blade]

Despite my own feelings towards JBL, he'll probably get into the HOF based on the whole 'longest-reigning-SD-champion' thing alone.
They won't make too much of a big deal out of him being in the HOF though, it's not gonna be some big emotional thing where he is inducted into the HOF then wrestles his last match the next night at Wrestlemania, cause people simply don't care enough about him for the WWE to be able to pull that off.
It'll be like a Koko B. Ware situation. He'll fall into obscurity for years, then one day WWE will anounce him as a HOF inductee and people will think "oh right, good for JBL!" and then pretty much forget about it as they watch whatever match comes up next on Raw.

But I'm still praying that someone will beat his SD reign...

 

[mattmcgee85]

I can't stand JBL the in ring competitor. However, yes, he is a hall of famer 100%. He has the championships and accomplishments, he held the WWE title ( whether you like it or not) for almost a year, and for a time (at least while he was in the APA and on SD!) was entertaining on the mic and in those backstage segments. I've heard JBL was a great commentator , I don't know first hand because I didn't watch SD! for a few years. If that's the case though, he shuld become a manager to evolve on more time in hsi career.