John Layfield

[4.0] "Fall Away Slam aside, was always poor in ring, which worked OK in the APA as he did minimal wrestling and much clotheslining. Tubby, slow Limousine JBL was still crap and a rubbish champion mostly serving up unmitigated dross. Also a non entity on commentary. Worst of all, his bloated head attempts to ruin ECW ONS 2005 and he gives a chronically awful promo. From what little is audible as he's being booed out of New York. He's trying to mock the Tanaka vs Awesome match, who display in 10 minutes more talent than Bradshaw did in his entire career."

[4.0] "JBL's matches were my least favorite when I was young, he just never clicked for me. His matches were dull, plodding, and lacked excitement. The rich Texan gimmick felt forced and obnoxious, and his promos were more grating than entertaining. Worse, his real-life reputation as a backstage bully soured him further--hard to cheer or even respect."

[2.0] "He had my least favorite longterm World title run in my lifetime. His matches were all dreadful outside of 1 or 2 of them. His promos were extremely overrated. APA was nothing special as a tag team. His run before APA contained nothing special. Just a career that gets praised because he was carried by Eddie Gurrero in a main event program he didn't deserve. People say he's a great heel - no, anyone can get heel heat by being prejudice. That's not talent."

[8.0] "One of the greatest heels in pro wrestling history, and a very good wrestler, and his WWE title run was amazing, I think he is really underrated, he needs more praises"

[7.0] "Layfield's career was destined to be mediocre. But his transformation from Bradshaw to JBL is unmatched, and I despised him - he was a great heel."

[4.0] "Most of my memories of JBL come from two sources: His mediocre run as a commentator, which never sat right with me (This is just a side note), and his awful run during the mid 2000's. During said run, all his matches were extremely boring. He was in terrible shape, and this was reflected in his poor quality moveset, of which the only highlight was his clothesline. His mic skills weren't noteworthy, and as such, a worse than average wrestler that somehow found his way to the top prize. One he did not deserve."

[5.0] "JBL was just one of those middle-of-the-road workers. I actually had a soft spot for him in his younger days and thought he was going to be capable of more, but by the time the APA was going strong it became apparent that he had plateaued and wasnt going to get much better. He could do pretty well against the right opponent, but he certainly wasnt elevating anyone all on his own."

[5.0] "He had a good run for 2 years and then an average run for one more year as a singles wrestler. His time in the APA was entertaining and they had some decent matches and as JBL cut some great promos but he was very limited in the ring and only had a couple of truly great matches. I think he's benefitting from serious revisionism. Somehow his abhorrent behavior in the locker is being ignored and that should absolutely factor into his rating. He was a phony tough guy."

[6.0] "It's hard to rate good ol' JBL. For 70% of his career he was a tag team midcarder, a decent powerhouse, with an impactful finisher but no memorable feud. Then 2004 happened and he gained weight, he worsened his ring skills but hugely overstated his charisma and mic work. He undoubtedly did a great job, it's not easy to suddenly become the Smackdown top heel. However, his character and charisma compensated for his lack of skills inside the ring, staying an average wrestler overall. Not considering his infamous behavior behind the curtain."

[6.0] "His transformation from Bradshaw to JBL out of nowhere is one of the greatest career resurgences that has ever happenedits also certainly the quickest gimmick change ever. Jinder Mahal came from nowhere to win the World title, but he was still roughly the same character, JBL was completely different as another out of nowhere champion. I was never the biggest fan, but his Clothesline from Hell lariat was a thing of beauty."

"JBL should make sure to send Brock Lesnar and Triple H a Christmas card every year. Prior to 2004, Bradshaw was a tag team guy who saw his best years as part of the APA with Ron "Faarooq" Simmons. He was a 3 time tag champ and a fixture of the WWE's attitude era, creating many memorable moments as part of the gimmick. They for some reason split them up in the 2002 WWE draft, with Bradshaw becoming a fixture in the WWE's Hardcore division, winning the title a whopping 18 times with his longest reign being about 19 days. He reunited with Faarooq following an injury hiatus where the duo essentially picked up where they left off with beer drinking and card playing segments in backstage areas whilst feuding with heel tag teams like The Basham Brothers, The FBI and most notably the World's Greatest Tag Team. Following Wrestlemania 20, Faarooq retired into a backstage role which effectively left Bradshaw on an island. Luckily for Bradshaw, Brock Lesnar had recently just left the company and Triple H didn't want to work on Smackdown leaving the brand without a top heel to feud with the (still) white hot Eddie Guerrero. Here we get introduced to Jon "Bradshaw" Layfield or simply JBL, an arrogant Texan millionaire gimmick complete with a suit, cowboy hat, and tie. His feud with Guerrero got over strong due to Bradshaw's genuinely detestable nature, playing largely on Guerrero's mexican heritage in an effort to garner heat. Bradshaw was never the best in-ring performer but he was competent enough for Guerrero to carry him till he eventually dropped the title to Bradshaw at the Great American Bash. House shows and live attendance figures were down and Eddie thought it was because he wasn't working as a champion so he dropped it to Bradshaw, hoping the move and creation of this new heel would help improve business. The wrestling business as a whole was in a down period at this time so the move did little to drum up business. Bradshaw would go onto hold the title for 280 days, defending it against the likes of Guerrero, Undertaker, Booker T, Big Show and Kurt Angle where he almost never won a match clean until he dropped the title to the up-and-coming John Cena at Wrestlemania 21. Following his title loss, he was still viewed as a top heel on the Smackdown brand but largely returned to the upper-midcard. He would feud with up-and-comers like Boogeyman and Bobby Lashley, putting both over before eventually captured the WWE United States title from Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania 22. He had a brief program with Benoit over the title but was able to fend off "The Wolverine." Once he lost the title to Lashley, he switched over to commentating while occasionally entering programs as a active competitor. In terms of legacy, theres alot that can be said about Bradshaw. As a heel, he played the role well and was able capitalize on the absences of Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle and Big Show to become a truly detestable heel character in the mid 2000s. Backstage, Bradshaw was known as a vicious bully, theres infamous cases like the One Night Stand incident with Blue Meanie and then theres other less known cases like Palmer Cannon, Justin Roberts, Amy Weber, Rene Dupree and even guys like The Dicks (Tank Tolland and Chad Wicks) who were (allegedly) victims of JBL's brutal pranks."

[7.0] "At his peak JBL is an absolutely excellent heel, he is genuinely detestable, his in ring work is not bad at all either. His commentary is not always the best but as a heel he has always been a compelling villain."

[10.0] "JBL is without a doubt one of the greatest heels in not just WWE history, but professional-wrestling history. He is the definition of an old school heel because he plays his role to a tee. On top of being a terrific promo and being one of the greatest powerhouses ever, this man has also had a great run with the WWE Championship. Before all of that, he had a great run in the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) w/ Faarooq, in which their segments in the Attitude Era were classics almost every week. He also had some great matches with the likes of Eddie Guerrero and John Cena, which are some of the best matches in not only JBL's career but in the WWE as well. Overall, John "Bradshaw" Layfield is a terrific worker and should be an example of how to be a real deal heel, because he's done it better than most."

[6.0] "JBL, Bradshaw, whatever You want to call him. He Is the definition of a weird career. He has charisma , he was not good backstage, and his in-ring work isn't bad. But damn, he was pushed too much. Gimnicks super weird, but not outrageous. As a Color-Com, he Is mediocre with some decent work in his early years. He just confuses me."

[2.0] "character yes. JBL gimmick did what it was supposed to do however his in ring work as a single star is pretty lackluster. The fact how WWE pushed him as a top guy really is confusing considering in my eyes he's always a mid-carder. His stuff in the APA was solid however as an in-ring worker he really just was used and viewed as a WWE ripoff of All Japan's big gaijin man that is 'Stan Hansen' and as said that style of work was definitely not appreciated the same mid 2000s when WWE had seemingly everyone and I just feel like there was better wrestlers in ring that could have surpassed JBL in his role"

[4.0] "The wish version of Stan Hansen. The only thing I'll give him credit for is reinventing his career with the JBL gimmick. Although, he was more charismatic as Bradshaw than he was as JBL. Arguably his best run was as Bradshaw in the APA, way more likeable and fun to watch during those times."

[9.0] "JBL ist DER ausschlaggebende Grund dafür, dass ein damals 12 jähriger Junge beim durchzappen auf TELE5 hängen geblieben ist und zum Wrestlingfan fürs Leben wurde. Je mehr Zeit ins Land geht desto bewuster wird einem wie gut JBL sein Gimmick verkörpert hat, vermutlich auch weil sein Heel Gimmick damals eine überspitzte Form seiner real life Persona war. Ich möchte dabei stellvertretend die Promo "in his own words" erwähnen. Nahezu jeder Satz dieser Promo kam direkt aus dem Herzen und brannte ihm auf der Seele. Sein Mic Work war unschlagbar, dazu immer die passende Körpersprache & die passenden Auftritte mit und ohne sein Cabinet. Damals wie heute einfach ein unglaublich vielseitiger und glaubwürdiger Heel der immer wusste womit er das örtliche Publikum kitzeln musste um die Halle gegen sich zu bekommen. Seine 279 tägige Titelregentschaft war durchdacht, gut gebucht und immer spannend. Bei Fehden gegen jeden damaligen Top Star des Smackdown Rosters ging er stets als Aussenseiter ins Match und hatte alle Erwartungen gegen sich, von Monat zu Monat dachte man es sei Endstation und bei jedem PPV wunderte man sich am Ende wie der "Survivor" John Bradshaw Layfield es nun wieder geschafft hatte zu überleben. Spätestens ab dem Fatal 4 Way bei Armageddon gegen Booker T, Eddie Guerrero & den Undertaker waren alle Fans stets fassungslos wenn es hiess "...your winner and stiiiiiiiill WWE Champion..." Er war der perfekte Heel um John Cena over zu bringen, zur damaligen Zeit der genaue Counterpart von Cena. Ohne diesen JBL hätte die Karriere von John Cena niemals so perfekt Fahrt aufgenommen. Ein Heel Veteran als Sprungbrett für einen Rookie/Rising Star. Gegen Ende bzw nach seiner aktiven Zeit im Ring war er ein erstklassiker Kommentator, seine Stimme & Emotionen hievten manche Matches auf ein anderes Level, beispielsweiße leistete sein Kommentar einen enormen Beitrag dazu King Bookers Gimmick glaubwürdig erscheinen und funktionieren zu lassen. Wünschenswert wäre natürlich eines Tages noch ein DVD Set über eines der treuesten und unterhaltsamsten Mitgliedern der WWE Familie, mit den besten Momenten seiner Titelregentschaft, Promos und jahrzehnte langen Karriere vor und hinter den Kameras."

[9.0] "Let me preface this by saying: Yes. I agree, John Layfield the person is horrible. What he did behind closed doors to his coworkers was awful, and never would I ever dream of condoning something like that. However, strictly speaking as an in-ring talent, he might be one of my favorites of all time. Hard-hitting, no-nonsense, and able to roll with the comedy if need be; JBL is one of my favorite bastard heels with one of my favorite finishers ever. The Clothesline from Hell was a marvel, because he could make it look good against anyone, regardless of if they were 150 pounds, or 500."

[5.0] "JBL is an interesting person in pro wrestling. He had a up and down career from great things like his world title run and the APA to times when he was just a jobber. He was a good brawler in the ring and could play a character well. Didn't like him as a commentator. He also was apparently a horrible person backstage with his bully running rampant."

[6.0] "Was he a piece of shit backstage? Absolutely but unfortunately half of my faves are wankers. Pre APA, Bradshaw is a whole load of nothing but the skits as part of the APA were very fun for their time and got them over big. The JBL stuff was fine and he had a few good bloodbaths but him being on top really just showed how few stars that the WWF had in the period."

[6.0] "amazing gimmicks and finishers. he is a perfect heel but he is just a bully. He would stiffen up and genuinely try to hurt people he didnt like and the whole fiasco with the miz and benoit. I like what he did with the APA. I like what he did with the cowboy gimmick. But he is just a bully plain and simple. The clothesline from hell tho. really good"

[3.0] "One good run on top with a great gimmick that was mostly good for the promos and not the matches doesn't mean his career wasn't mostly trash. In the APA he made a living out of stiffing people, as JBL the WWE Champion he had some great heel promos but only ever backed it up with good matches twice (vs Eddie & vs Cena, both times having the babyface bleed a gallon just to get it over), as a commentator he was obnoxious 9 times out of 10, and I don't think I've heard a positive thing about him as a person behind the character. The only good thing you can really say about him in retrospect is that he was the guy who first put over Cena as a main event guy during a time where WWE had very few real main event guys around."

[9.0] "Brawler Bradshaw was average in WWE but once the JBL character was born he was one of the best heels in the business. Knew how to be a heel and generate heat without it being "go away heat" and it's a lost art in modern wrestling where heels are more focused on being "cool""

[6.0] "An average brawler who benefitted from sticking around long enough to get a shot at being a main eventer during a down time in the WWE, he did make the most of his character work and, for the most part, did well with a lengthy title reign. There were better people for the job, but I can't say he shit the bed."

[6.0] "Loved APA. Didn't really care for his run at the top of the card, but there were worse people to have been the top heel. He was trying to pull off a Stan Hansen thing for awhile which could have worked if it weren't so obvious."

[4.0] "A decent worker with a hard-hitting style who only realised his full potential right at the very end of his career. His dedication to his craft, both in keeping himself fit, and committing to reinventing himself deserve credit, and he earned his rewards through a lengthy championship run. Unfortunately he was equally dedicated to being a trash human being who spread misery and fear amongst his co-workers. Based on numerous accounts, any company or locker room that had John Layfield as a part of it was a worse place because of his prescence. He's supposed to be somewhat of a reformed character now, but I've yet to see him own up to, acknowledge or apologise for the widespread allegations of abusive behaviour."

[3.0] "I think JBL is just dreadful. Besides being a terrible person and a shoot bully I honestly think his matches were really bad, his clothes line from hell that so many people like is just clobbering his opponent so it looks "better" like jesus christ is it really worth it? and most of heat from his JBL gimmick was just him saying racist fucked up shit for problematic heat that he probably actually believes in real life. As an announcer is a straight 0/10. he gets a 3 for the APA stuff and somehow getting a world title run."

[10.0] "Absolutely one of the best heels in pro wrestling history. His rise to the top was incredibly rushed, but eventually it worked out. His 2004 - 2006 run was terrific. He didn't have classic matches week after week, his only all time classics are probably with Eddie and Cena, but if we talk about his promos...man. Top 3 mic talker in WWE history in my book."

[8.0] "This guy is perhaps the greatest heel in WWE history. He does not look like a wrestler, and that is what made him so special. I cannot possibly imagine a guy running a gimmick similar to his today, and getting the Main Gold, and yet he did and it was great. That being said I really don't think he is/was a great comentator, and I heard some bad things about his behaviour backstage, although I try to take those rummors with a pinch of salt. Hope to see him as a manager someday, I think he would be great in that role."

[4.0] "His career up to a certain point is mildly enjoyable. I feel he was the right man in the right place at the right time for Global, I appreciated his early WWF run because he was less cartoony than most at the time. The Blackjacks were a good team and it's a bummer the pairing did not last (it worked for me more than most haha). His career peak was unquestionably the team with Ron Simmons. This has EVERYTHING to do with my endless adoration for all things Ron Simmons. As obvious, I had no real problems with his whole career ...uuuntil that singles heel push, which gets a giant NO from me. Deeply dreadful and off putting. I am not a fan of some jerk goose stomping in Germany, beyond stupid and just the worst damn thing to even think to do and...sorry, trying to stay on the rails here. His garbage personality began to leak into his professional career enough to affect a huge chunk of his work I feel. But the good is inoffensive enough for me to give him a less scathing review that what was here before. 4.25 rounded down."

[7.0] "Say what you will about Bradshaw as a human being, and there is certainly a lot you could say, but as a worker and a character I will always defend him. Some say the JBL gimmick was antiquated or passé by the time of the Ruthless Aggression era; I call it a throwback. His greatest matches were like throwbacks to the wild, bloody brawls of the territory days with a hard hitting, stiff working style to go with it. God help you if you were an enhancement talent and found yourself on the wrong end of a clothesline from hell."

[9.0] "Perhaps this is nostalgia speaking, but when I think of WWE's greatest heels JBL is always quick to come to mind. I despised him in my early teens, and now as an adult look back on his WWE title reign fondly. Excellent on the mic with some very memorable promos and a total heat magnet who was completely believable in the role. He isn't the best in the world between the ropes, hence going for a rating of 9 instead of 10, but I do think he is better in-ring than he gets credit for."

[9.0] "The Greatest Heel of his time bar-to-none. He genuinely pissed you off, not just in the ring but backstage too. There was no limits to how far he'd go to make you mad and that's what made him great at his job. I'd give him a 10 if it weren't for his somewhat lackadazzacle ring skills but on heel work alone one of the greatest."

[7.0] "To me, a good upper-midcard level wrestler. During the Attitude Era, he was really fun to watch in the APA. And even later on, he had some good feuds and matches as JBL. However, I never bought him as WWE Champion for a number of reasons. Mostly because it was so rushed due to many outside factors, like Brock Lesnar's sudden departure and Kurt Angle's injury after WM20 - who had pretty much been SmackDown's main event scene in 2003. When JBL was suddenly put in that spot, viewers inevitably looked at him as the same old 'Bradshaw from the APA' rather than this new, fresh main event character, JBL. Plus, he lacked the moveset of a top guy. It's not a knock on him personally, it's just that he never needed one (the APA were often in 3-minute midcard tag matches) and it all happened too quickly. But in a vacuum, he is an effective heel who is capable of cutting an amazing promo and can put a babyface over well enough at the end of a program."

[10.0] "One of the greatest heels in wrestling history. Perhaps the best lariat of all time outside of Hansen. He could generate heat like few others and had a memorable run with the APA and was involved in some of the best tag matches of the attitude era. Then had great feuds with Eddie, Rey, Batista, Cena. His world heavyweight title reign was way better than anyone would have expected"

[4.0] "jbls heel heat he got in the ring was quite good in his prime as he also took some good cummupence for his heel actions like in his feuds with undertaker, eddie gurrero, big show and john cena. but ounce you peek behind the curtain you realize what an unprofessional person he was like bullying the miz, attacking blue meanie and much more to other wrestlers that in some cases might have made them quit"

[8.0] "JBL was an amazing heel and brawler, his 2004-05 title reign remains one of the greatest heel reigns in WWE history. He had many great matches, usually when he was in a situation where he could fully utilize his brawling style, and he remains the gold standard for the chickenshit heel archetype. He was never on the same level as guys like Cena, Guerrero or Angle, but he was still damn good when he needed to be."

[6.0] "One of the last truly hatable heels, for better or worse. A stiff worker who managed to elevate his career beyond most people's expectations."

[6.0] "Bradshaw was pretty good with Farooq as a monster tag team with the APA. His JBL character, in my opinion, was pushed too hard too fast, and he definitely had legitimacy problems in my mind. He eventually grew on me, but I don't think I ever bought him as a main event guy or viable world champion. With that said, there were definitely worse heels, and he could entertain."

[9.0] "Turned his career around overnight with the JBL gimmick, a great heel character. Solid in-ring worker; I enjoyed his no-nonsense, Texas brawler style."

[8.0] "One of the most underrated wrestlers in WWE history. Did great both as a part of APA and as a JBL. He's one of the best heels in WWE history. He wasn't the best wrestler, but had an awesome clothesline."

[7.0] "Never impressed with his in-ring ability, but he really perfected the rich asshole gimmick during his run. The fact that he was the champ for almost a year baffles me though, it was not at all a very interesting period for the title. Had some fun times during the WWE Hardcore Champion period."

[4.0] "A good clothesline and a Texas-issued birth certificate doesn't make you the second coming of Stan Hansen. Had a great program with Eddie but then Eddie could draw with anyone. Credit where it's due: the Judgment Day/Night matches with Eddie and Cena are two of the best E matches of the 2000s but he never had anything close to their level before or after. Occasionally good character work couldn't make up for bland ring presence and a limited workrate. It's also wild that he continued to make his gimmick being the unstoppable badass when Brawl for All demolished that persona before it even got off the ground. One of the worst title reigns ever, to boot."

[8.0] "First of all I tend to like the heels and anti hero? s more than the baby faces. Having said that, If you asked me in 04-05, what I thought about jbl I would have told you he was the worse champion of all time. I hated that guy. And that? s a testament to just how great of a true heel he was. I think if injuries didn? t mount up he would have been a multiple time champion and really been able to put a lot more guys over. Respect to the wrestling god!"

[7.0] "The JBL gimmick is quite divisive: some see it as a great gimmick that bumped up a low card tag specialist to the top, others seen it as a way to get cheap heat using racial stereotypes. For myself, I thought he was pretty good, always getting the crowd involved with his promos, and he could do some solid comedy skits as well and wasn't afraid to make a fool of himself. In terms of wrestling yes, he wasn't exactly the most technical guy around and some of his matches were stinkers (like with Undertaker, Big Show, etc) but with the right babyface against him, he could put on some pretty good showcases. His heat was huge, and anyone who fought against him was automatically a babyface. I'd rather watch a JBL promo than a Triple H one, that's for sure. Overhated as a whole."

[5.0] "To be fair he performed his jerk business man gimmick very well & he was a good tag team partner but nothing spectacular in his in ring work & he was a terrible champion."

[4.0] "Not a bad promo guy, awful champ though, nothing interesting about him and he's below average in the ring, he has a good clothesline though"

[8.0] "Every match with Bradshaw was hard hitting and had you ooing and aweing in pain with his opponent. He had a pretty decent move set, and the most brutal Clothesline in WWE by far and the most painful to watch powerbomb. He moved well enough for a man of his size and all of his gimmicks were gold, and helped define separate eras. I wish his WWE Championship reign went longer and because of his bruising and mic work I feel like a more versatile moveset wouldn? t suit him and he did very well with his branding. One of the few times ever that not diversifying your moveset is a very good thing. I was initially going to rate a 7 but I think that? s too harsh for his accolades and effort."

[7.0] "JBL was a midcarder who found his way into main event scene. He had a good look and played the rich snob heel well. He could put on some good stuff. Outside of the ring he is allegedly a walking pile of garbage but I haven't seen anything concrete on that"

[7.0] "JBL had an interesting arc. I remember first seeing him show up as Justin Hawk Bradshaw & thinking he had a good look. From the New Blackjacks, to the Acolytes, to the APA; Bradshaw had varying levels of success. Then you woke up one day & instead of a long haired Texan tough guy, he was a New York businessman. A bit of a shocking character change, to say the least. As a top guy on Smackdown, I was always pretty negative with what I saw. Pretty poor in the ring & I really never liked the Clothesline from Hell. His matches got old very quickly. Once he went away from the main event & was more of an upper mid card, I found JBL much more tolerable. I like a lot of his work as an announcer & I think he's mostly underrated in that role. He had a phenomenal grasp on history & tied in a lot of it, which I really found interesting. His run was certainly drama filled, from his prominence with wrestler's court, to his issues with Meanie, Joey Styles, Mauro, Miz & more. But I'm trying not to look at most of the behind-the-scenes escapades & focusing on his in-front-of-camera work."