Would JBL have been successful if Brock Lesnar stuck around?

[SpoodBeest]

Now this thread is to talk about the rise of John "Bradshaw" Layfeild that occurred during mid 2004. He had split from his tag team with Farooq (Ron Simmons) better known as the APA. He then went through a change in gimmick in which he became wall street success, and a rich business tycoon. After this he then got shot straight into a feud with Eddie Guerrero over the WWE title. The feud ended with JBL getting the title and Guerrero went on to feud with Angle. JBL then went on to have a 9 or 10 month title reign in which he defended it against almost every major face on the SmackDown roster. His title reign ended when he dropped it to John Cena who was the next huge star.

Now since this was JBL's only world title reign, could this have happened at all if Brock Lesnar didn't leave? Personally I don't believe it would have happened. To start off JBL didn't undergo the gimmick change and receive his mega push until Lesnar left. Secondly Brock Lesnar was supposed to be another huge star to lead the WWE into the next generation (much like Cena is today). I believe that if Lesnar had stayed with the WWE, he would have regained the belt from Guerrero and went on to have the dominant monster run that lasted nearly a year and then dropped to Cena the future of the company.

I think JBL even after his gimmick change, and if Brock were still around would have been a dominant force in the midcard division winning multiple IC and US title reigns. But I don't think that he would ever had that main event world title run he had in 2004-2005. I still think Lesnar was the one that would have had the long title run and the eventual feud with Cena. JBL always had the lucky, right place - right time sort of feel to him as he was a top heel on SmackDown when they were in dire need of one after Brock left them. Also some people say Cena might have been affected if Brock stayed, I don't see it that way. The only wrestler that would have had their careers altered if Brock Lesnar stayed would have been JBL

 

[RiVaLGaMeR]

The thing is who comes and goes changes it big time. If Brock would have stayed he would probably still be in the spotlight. If JBL stayed he could still be a commentator or something and we wouldnt have to deal with Matt Striker. Imagine id Eddie was still alive things would be mega different. Rey could have been tag champion again with him. Chavo might not have become a jobber 24/7. Cena might not be exactly who he is or the face of the company. However i dont see how Lesnar would affect JBL really... JBL is doing fine by himself i see him on the TV from time to time talking about politics.

 

[Fuel The Fire]

So are you saying that if brock was around still would jbl be as successful?
The Answer is simple and that would be yes.

I don't think it would have any difference what so ever if brock stayed or not. The only thing that I could see changing in history would be his length as a title holder.

But his gimmick would have been the same thing and it would be just as successful. If anything brock would be the mega face between the two and jbl would get even more heat as a heel.
But again I don't think it made any difference if brock was there or not. JBL would have turned out the exact same way.

 

[harrythem]

I think JBL would've been in the Chris Jericho role. Not quite a true main eventer, not just a mid-carder. If anything it'd have resulted in them taking a bit longer with the build and introduction of his character, instead of a one week change from APA Bradshaw to JBL.

I liked the guys character but, I don't think he would've gone as high, seems he was moved up because they needed a new long term main event heel and he had the right friends and was loyal to the WWE cause

 

[Tenta]

Would he have gotten the chance at the main event? He would have probably, yes. Would he have main champion for a year straight? Probably not. His entire reign as champion was really more as a placeholder than anything else, really. Not that he didn't exactly deserve a reign, but he was waiting for the next face of the company to come around. Brock was gone, Triple H wasn't exactly the face of the company anymore, really, so he was just a holding period until Vince saw somebody that could hold the title. Does that mean he wasn't talented enough to be champion? No, because he was still able to get plenty of heat. Would he have been champion for a year? Definitely not so, and it may have eventually led to a Brock Lesnar/John Cena rematch of last years Backlash, with the roles reversed.

JBL would have still probably been in the main event scene. World Champion for a year? Realistically, he probably would not have been.

 

[therockiswwf]

The thing is who comes and goes changes it big time. If Brock would have stayed he would probably still be in the spotlight. If JBL stayed he could still be a commentator or something and we wouldnt have to deal with Matt Striker. Imagine if Eddie was still alive things would be mega different. Rey could have been tag champion again with him. Chavo might not have become a jobber 24/7. Cena might not be exactly who he is or the face of the company. However i dont see how Lesnar would affect JBL really... JBL is doing fine by himself i see him on the TV from time to time talking about politics.

Yeah he wouldnt be a jobber he would have been fired. He was going to (from what I read at that time) be fired. But when Eddie died he basically got a job for life(unless he does something stupid).
Now onto the thread
I think JBL would still have turned into JBL but his reign might have been shorter. I don't think Lesnar leaving or staying would have effected JBL that much other than the length of the reign.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I don't think a lot of people would of moved up the ladder if Lesnar stayed. That's a fact. I mean, the guy was a huge draw just after 3 months of being on TV. So he would of been the man for a few more years.

Now, the question was, would of JBL been as successful if Brock was still in the business. The answer is he would of been successful but not nearly as successful. A small title reign, then some good feuds.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Well it depends. What if Lesnar was drafted to RAW? Either way, I think JBL would have still been a world champion. It's just a matter of how long he would be champion. If Lesnar had stayed on Smackdown, than JBL's title reign maybe would have lasted 3, 4, maybe even 5 months, but it sure as hell wouldn't have lasted a year. If Lesnar were to be drafted to RAW, well then JBL's title reign may end up lasting that whole year. To me, this is just a matter of where Lesnar is at the time of JBL's rise to super-stardom.

 

[Y2Jericho]

I think JBL may have gotten the world title at some stage if he was lucky, and wouldn't've had it for the length he did. He probably would've retired into his announcer position and not returned to the ring like he did in '07 against Jericho. But you can't just take that one event into account, because everything would've been different. Lesnar may have been placed into a tag team at some stage for all we know.

 

[Ferbian]

Depends how we grade "successful" because all in all with or without the championship JBL was still somewhat successful. He did accomplish a lot of things outside of the main event scene. He was a multiple times tag team champion as well as hardcore champion. United States and Intercontinental champion. He might not be the biggest name when it comes to an Hall of Fame induction. But he is definitely a worthy induction.

The World title reign might never have happened. Because as Heyman so firmly said it. He was only a champion because Triple H didn't want to work Tuesdays. That would imply that he wouldn't have been champion if there were a better choice. So I don't think he would've truly been a world heavyweight champion.

But that's of course all assumption. Things can change over the matter of minutes. If he hadn't won the World Heavyweight championship in 2004. Who's to say that he wouldn't have held it at least once at some other point where talent kinda declined? Or for that sake just giving it to him for the sake of giving it to him like Eddie Guerrero or Benoit who would most likely never have been champions again.

I do believe JBL in his own right is already successful. But if we're referring to the World championship. I say there's a chance. But I wouldn't place any bets on it happening.