| “ | I am a Wrestling God! | „ |
| ~ JBL |
John Bradshaw Layfield, also known as JBL or Bradshaw (among other names) is a former professional wrestler who has been under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation) in varying forms since 1996.
Though he has competed under multiple gimmicks in WWE - notably competing as one half of the tag team the APA with real-life friend Faarooq and simply being known as "Bradshaw" - his most well known persona was that of JBL: a wealthy, gladhanding, big-mouthed, fiery-tempered businessman (not unlike J. R. Ewing) - which was based on Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. He has used this persona since 2004, even after retiring as an in-ring competitor.
Layfield was a promimently featured antagonist on both SmackDown and Raw from 2004 until his retirement at WrestleMania 25 in 2009. He was Eddie Guerrero's first major enemy during Guerrero's reign as WWE Champion and has also been a major adversary of John Cena on several occasions, most notably in early to mid 2005. He has also has prominent feuds with The Undertaker, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Jericho, among others.
Layfield briefly retired from the ring in 2006 and became SmackDown 's color commentator, serving as the heel foil to Michael Cole's babyface. He occupied the role until December 2007, when he returned to in-ring competition as a member of the Raw roster. He would remain on Raw until WrestleMania 25, when he decided to retire from the ring for good.
After spending several years away from WWE, Layfield returned in 2012, once again as a color commentator, filling in for Jerry "The King" Lawler on the Raw broadcast team after Lawler suffered a legitimate heart attack. He remained on Raw 's commentary team until the 2016 draft, which lead to him joining SmackDown 's commentary team. He remained in this capacity for a little over a year, after which he stepped down from commentary duties. He is currently still under contract with WWE as part of the Legends Program.
In WWE, Layfield won 24 total championships including one reign as WWE Champion, one reign as United States Champion, one reign as European Champion, seventeen reigns as Hardcore Champion, one reign as Intercontinental Champion, and three reigns as World Tag Team Champion as part of the APA. He is also recognized as the twentieth Triple Crown Champion, and the twelfth Grand Slam Champion.
Trivia
- Layfield is a regular panelist for Fox News, primarily serving as a financial analyst for their Bulls & Bears program.