Would JBL still have become a world champion if Lesnar had stayed in WWE?

[Dagger Dias]

So another thread ended up inspiring this one as I was answering it. That other thread was asking if Cena would still be in the same place he is now if Lesnar had stayed in WWE. Well, it honestly would have affected JBL more in my opinion. He got his WWE Championship push in 2004 during a time when Smackdown was in desparate need of a top heel. Lesnar would have filled that spot if he had stuck around. That title reign ended up being the best JBL's career ever got. He never held another world title. That brings me to my discussion question....


Would JBL still have become a world champion if Lesnar had stayed in WWE? Why or why not?


It's hard to say. He might not even have gotten the JBL character either. Cena would eventually have earned his top face status, so it is honestly JBL who would have suffered if Lesnar had left. I would like to think he eventually might have gotten a world title, but the only reason he got one in the first place was because of being in the right place at the right time when they needed him. What do you guys think?

 

[wushady]

In the thread the OP mentioned I said that JBL would not have had as long of a reign. He may not have been WWE champion at all if Lesnar stayed. It's hard to say but I think Lesnar would have gone after Guerrero. To get the title back after Wrestlemania. If he hadn't decided to leave at the last minute he would of went over Goldberg whom everyone knew was leaving after Wrestlemania. Lesnar would have been on a role as a monster heel after beating Goldberg.

From what I remember JBL was in a tag match at Wrestlemania that year. His gimmick change and push pretty much came out of nowhere. He probably would have been in the upper mid card having a couple WWE title matches. Beyond that I don't think he would have been champion long if he did get it at all. Lesnar would have been a more impressive title victory for Cena than JBL was.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I don't know if he would have been champ, but I think he still would have been JBL. It's not like WWE said "we need a top heel, so lets pull JBL off the job squad and throw him in there". I think they came up with the character, it caught fire, and they ran with it.

Would he get a title push? Maybe. They needed a top face so maybe they turn Lesnar face and still give JBL the ball. It would have been easy to do with Kurt as the heel GM.

This would have stalled Cena's push, but not stopped it.

 

[The Future Rises]

There were two reasons why JBL got the title :

1 - The WWE needed a top heel after Lesnar left.

2 - His success and wealth outside of wrestling made for a good gimmick and cought WWE's attention.

With that being said.. I think he would have won the WWE title, and besides if Lesnar has stayed then he would have probably been drafted to RAW eventually.

 

[The Brain]

I don't know if he would have been champ, but I think he still would have been JBL. It's not like WWE said "we need a top heel, so lets pull JBL off the job squad and throw him in there". I think they came up with the character, it caught fire, and they ran with it.

Actually I think that may have been exactly what happened. Brock Lesnar's sudden departure, not to mention Angle's injury, left WWE in a desparate situation. Aside from brief moments Bradshaw hadn't been relevant in years. I doubt there were big plans for him before Lesnar left. This just goes to show WWE creative can step up when they need to (they did the same thing ten years earlier with Bob Backlund). Only two months before winning the title who would have ever thought that Bradshaw would go on to have a nine month title reign, or even a title reign at all. Give him credit though. He played that JBL character beautifully and he went from the most unlikely champion to a perfectly respectable and worthy champion. I think it's obvious Lesnar was supposed to be the face of the company for the next several years. Even if Bradshaw did become JBL I highly doubt he would have won the world title with Lesnar still around and he wouldn't have been able to show what a great champion he could be.

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

Hell no he wouldn't have. It wasn't just Brock leaving that led to JBL becoming champion.

Kurt Angle was Injured.
Big Show was Injured.
And of course, Triple H famously refused to work on Smackdown.

It also helped that he was friends with Eddie Guerrero, and it really helped that he was friends with Vince.

The WWE was desperate for a Main Event Heel on Smackdown.

 

[kingtrojan]

I think JBL would still have become champion, because Brock was suppose to feud with the Undertaker after Wrestlemania so JBL would still have become #1 contender. In fact I think JBL would have still had his 9 month reign. If Brock had stayed the draft would have been pushed back and he would have been drafted to Raw and I think the careers of Orton and Bautisa would have been the ones that would have been changed. I think Brock would have been turned good and feud with Evolution and eventually the face of Raw, while on Smackdown things would have played out pretty much the same with Cena eventually becoming the face of Smackdown and not being drafted to Raw.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It is very hard to say, but I think had Lesnar still been around on Smackdown then JBL would not have held onto the title as long as he did.

The gimmick change was needed as WWE needed a new main event level heel, but with someone the calibre of Lesnar on the brand, who was supposed to be the face of the company, I cannot see someone like JBL, who had been stuck in the tag and mid card ranks for years, been given such a long title reign which would have prevented Lesnar from getting his hands back on the gold.

I still think we would have seen the JBL gimmick, and his fantastic mic skills would have boosted him up the card and probably to the main event level, he may even have held the title, but definitely not for as long as he did

 

[iheartfcw]

Haha! Good thread! But Lesnar wud have been champ for a long time if he didnt leave! He was the most dominant guy in his prime!

 

[TheConnecticutBlueblood]

Let's be honest. Lesnar told Vince he wanted to leave; that’s the only reason Eddie won the strap at NWO. They needed a face to beat a heel and they preferred Eddie Guerrero than John Cena or Rey Mysterio due to his popularity and large fan base. And from there JBL won and dominated Smackdown for the year with his ‘cabinet’. But if Lesnar never left Eddie Guerrero would have never been WWE Champion and neither would have JBL. Lesnar would continue to dominate Smackdown for years to come until a new face was ready to take it from him.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

There's a very popular rumour that Lesnar was supposed to be going to RAW and ultimately facing Triple H at WrestleMania 21 for the Wordl Heavyweight Championship. If that had happened, combined with Kurt Angle's injury issues, I think we would still have seen John 'Bradshaw' Layfield as a nine-month WWE Champion. He did his job and he did it masterfully. Now, had Brock stayed on SmackDown, then it would've been a totally different story. Brock would have remainined the king of SmackDown, remaining champion for a long time. Would the JBL character have emerged? Quite possibly. Would it have been nearly as successful? More than likely not.

 

[notjustanotherfan1981]

JBL would have unquestionably been a top tier heel and would have PROBABLY won the World title. There was a while where it seemed WWE was determined to have heel champions, because they felt like the only way to get people to watch was to have the face chasing the belt. I also never felt that Lesnar was the top guy he was made out to be. He could do amazing things for his size in the ring, but his mic work was terrible! I went to a SmackDown recording back when he was fueding w/ Hulk Hogan and it took him 3 takes to cut a 30 second promo! JBL would have DESTROYED Brock on the mic.

I agree w/ the person that previously stated that Eddie would have never won the belt. I think Eddie was in the right place at the right time and he cemented his place in history because of it. No one could have possibly forseen his untimely death and without Brock leaving, there is no way he wins the belt at No Way Out.