10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Feb 9)

5. WCW's Attempt To Sign JBL Got Him A WWE Raise

Bradshaw - Attitude Era
WWE.com

WCW went out of business years before the JBL character turned John Layfield into a WWE Champion. That didn't matter to Eric Bischoff. During the late-90s, Bischoff could see that Bradshaw had potential and fancied signing him from under Vince McMahon's nose.

That's when Bisch accosted JBL at an airport.

Bradshaw's story (both told on the Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast) is a little different. He recalls bumping into Eric at an airport bar and sharing a few beers with him. Around that same time, his WWE deal was coming to an end and Bradshaw fancied negotiating a new contract.

Once Vince McMahon learned of the chance meeting between Brashaw and Bischoff, he agreed to give the wrestler a new deal and a salary raise on top of that. This is a brilliant example of how competitive things were between the WWF and WCW during the 'Monday Night Wars'. Let's not forget that Bradshaw was a mid-carder at the time.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.