10 Times WWE Wrestlers Went Into Business For Themselves

1. JBL Takes Cowardly Liberties With Blue Meanie

Ecw One Night Stand 2005 Jbl Blue Meanie 1
WWE.com

WWE's relaunching of the ECW brand was ultimately a complete bust that was dead from the moment Rob Van Dam dropped the ECW World Championship after being suspended for drug possession.

Still, there were a few silver linings across the much-maligned run of WWE's ECW. Kurt Angle's time as the all-business 'wrestling machine' was great while it lasted, CM Punk got to cut his teeth in the WWE environment, relative rookies were afforded the opportunity to get TV time ahead of moving to the main roster, and the first two One Night Stand PPVs - the second of which served as the launching point for ECW's return - were so, so much fun.

Following the Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer and Sandman main event of that first One Night Stand show, the PPV concluded with a mass brawl between the ECW Originals and a group of SmackDown wrestlers that included JBL.

For whatever reason, renowned asshat John 'Bradshaw' Layfield decided that he was going to use this opportunity to lay in some legit shots on the unexpecting Blue Meanie. As in, Bradshaw completely busted up Meanie's face, seemingly for no other reason than the the former WWE Champion had a genuine hatred for the ECW brand over the years.

In a move of utter cowardice, JBL spied this melee as the perfect time to go into business for himself and unload on poor Blue Meanie. Rather than any punishment for Bradshaw, WWE instead offered Meanie a short-term contract as a way to try and quell this whole classless situation.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.