JBL On Having Vince McMahon In His Ear During Commentary: ‘I Liked The Direction’
Photo by J. Shearer/WireImage for BWR Public Relations
John “Bradshaw” Layfield, also known as JBL, recently appeared on UnSKripted with Dr. Chris Featherstone, and he reflected on his career in a Q&A session. Here are some highlights:
On having Vince McMahon in his ear while he was on commentary:
JBL: “There were times I wouldn’t hear anything for two hours. There were times I would, when there were certain corrections. I never had an issue with that, not one.”
“I liked the direction because I liked knowing where “The Boss” wanted the storyline to go and to me, it was very helpful.”
On Law & Otis:
JBL: “I love Otis, I think Otis as a character is great. I love doing commentary about Otis and bashing the character as a heel, trying to put him over as a heel. But it was a lot of fun. Those guys have a lot of talent, and being the judge there in the wrestlers’ court, you know, that’s ‘Taker’ seat. I knew I was kind of sitting in somebody’s chair I probably shouldn’t have been sitting in. But it was a lot of fun. It was great going back, I like going back now.”
On passing the torch to John Cena:
JBL: “Vince said, ‘How is he?’ And I said, ‘The kid is awesome.’ And he said, ‘Really?’ And he wasn’t surprised, ’cause it’s not like he didn’t expect him to be good. He was just surprised about how effusive my praise was of him. I said, ‘He has an incredible feel.’ I said, ‘He has a knack for this business, I think he’s your guy.’ I was just happy to be the guy that was there that handed the title to him.”
“I gave him a ringing endorsement. I knew he was the guy, I had no doubt in my mind.”
On two major highlights of his career:
JBL: ” Ron [Simmons] and I were best friends and Ron I look up to Ron, I idolize Ron. When I got the chance to tag with him, it was the highlight of my career.”
“No doubt about it, going out against Cena, I think it was WrestleMania 21 at the Staples Center, that was such a thrill, man, to go out in the main event of WrestleMania as the champion. I’m such a huge wrestling fan, and remember all the WrestleManias growing up as a kid, from WrestleMania one, two, three. I remember the buildup to the big body slam of The Giant with Hulk Hogan. So getting to be in WrestleMania, then also getting to walk out as champion, I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment that will be any more cool than that.”
The full video is available here:
RELATED: JBL On His Early WWE Career, Battling With The Undertaker