6 Backstage Wrestling Politicians Who Never Drew A Dime
5. JBL
With his lightspeed push, John Bradshaw Layfield, at least until the crowning of Jinder Mahal, was the most inexplicable WWE Champion ever.
Unlike Mahal, who afforded absolutely nothing, JBL had a few things going for him at least. While his matches were largely terrible, he could deliver the required main event-level drama when turning blood effects on against Eddie Guerrero and John Cena. If the content of his promos was cheap and ugly, the delivery was fantastic. He had a great nasty bellow in him. He mastered the art of playing the blowhard who thinks he knows what he’s talking about because he can shout the loudest. Also, what a finisher: by default, even his worst matches as champion, those that resembled elongated 1998 midcard bouts, had a great ending.
JBL was not a draw. The best thing you can say about him is that his presence felt less surreal as he grew into the role. But he wasn’t a draw. TV ratings patterns didn’t budge when Eddie Guerrero dropped the title to him, and JBL’s first brand-exclusive PPV main event - against the Undertaker at No Mercy 2004 - drew 140,000 domestic buys. That number is pathetic - the worst since In Your House: Ground Zero (136,000) back in September 1997.
There are different ways of playing the political game. JBL wasn’t known for undermining potential locker room threats, nor was he accused of entering deliberately subpar performances that would reflect poorly on his opponents (probably because nobody would be able to tell the difference).
JBL, however, was known as a career-long suck-up and yes-man. He took it upon himself to ingratiate himself with the upper management boy’s club by terrorising the greener lockers in the dressing room. JBL’s job, and he did it, allegedly, through the threat of sexual assault, was to weed out the “primadonnas”. JBL was the guy who curated the desired atmosphere of fear.
A brutal and sadistic office henchman, JBL was the sycophant who endures in political circles longer than the people who want to do good.