Join Joey Karni as he gets The Angle with WWE Hall of Famer, JBL, John Bradshaw Layfield! We discussed his new podcast, Stories with Brisco & Bradshaw, being a heel in today's generation of WWE, great Eddie Guerrero stories, who wasn't for JBL's push, how JBL came to be, who he would include in his Cabinet today, being inducted into the WWE Hall of Famer class of 2020, his thoughts on the APA possibly getting inducted, & SO MUCH MORE! JBL is one of the greatest heels of all time!
On who would be in his updated Cabinet faction:
“Damian Priest, not that he needs the rub. He’s a star! But that guy is a Rockstar man, he just has a presence about him and you can’t replicate that and some guys have that and some guys don’t. The Rock has that, Cena has that, I think Damian Priest has that and I’d like to have him be part of some type of Cabinet. I’d love to have Otis and Chad Gable in there too, I love those two guys! Those guys crack me up! They are so entertaining! That new look of Otis is just fantastic”
On Roman Reigns & how being a heel has changed:
“I think social media has changed it a lot. I think I would’ve dealt differently with social media. These guys are building their brand on social media so I understand the divergence between the character and what they do on social media, but I still think you need a couple of super heels. I call them super heels, it’s very similar to The Governor on The Walking Dead or The Battle of Bastards from Game of Thrones. It’s that one guy that you hate, that has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and I think social media hurts that. Now I understand why they do it, they do it to create a brand and all types of stuff to do outside of the business, but somewhere I think you need someone who stays in character 24/7 and be a heel. It’s really hard to do. Roddy Piper once told me, “you and I are the only 2 heels alive kid” and we weren’t that was kind of him to say, but it’s tough. Back then, a lot guys didn’t want to be a heel. Roman Reigns is a different type of heel. There’s also an attraction heel. DX was the same, they sold a ton of merchandise and they were technically heels, but they were attraction heels. They were kind of cool…”
On the APA possibly being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
“I don’t know if it’s inevitable. That would be terrific. Ron made my career. Ron made me as a person. Ron had more influence on me as a person than anybody, he just carries himself, you know, people who break barriers are special people, he’s our Jackie Robinson. Ron is exactly the same. It was such an honor to tag with Ron. He’s such a fine human being. He’s such a good person. He’s been my best friend since the day we met. It would be great to go into the Hall of Fame with him. I have no idea if that’s going to happen or not, but if it did, that would be a huge honor.”
On not many being for the JBL character and thinking it was a one-off:
“I don’t think there was anyone against it, but I don’t think there were a lot of people for it. You needed a character at that time. Big Show was hurt. Kurt Angle was hurt. Brock had just left the company. You needed a guy to go against Eddie Guerrero and it was kind of hey let's try this. I remember before that match in The Staples Center, Pat Paterson came over and said “Hey have a good one out there kid” and I said “Thanks Pat” and he said “Hope it works out for you” and I remember thinking, this was a one- off if this match doesn’t work.”
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkQu1vovSJA
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jbl-shoots-on-being-a-heel-apa-hof-eddie-guerrero-wwe-today/id1477487697?i=1000551387452
LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TstwzlbNhcnRTgpJTrXV2?si=qShT3svGQmK5lw3CqxXa3g