JBL Says He Owes '100%' Of His Career To This Fellow WWE Fall Of Famer
Across his lengthy career, WWE Hall of Famer JBL had multiple gimmicks and many feuds, but few came close to his heated rivalry with the late, great Eddie Guerrero.
In a recent interview with "Rosenburg Wrestling," John Bradshaw Layfield looked back at his feud with Guerrero and attributed the success of his villainous JBL character to the late star.
"You know, when I say I owe Eddie Guerrero a 100% of my career for JBL, I owe him 100%, you know," Layfield said. He then credited Guerrero for getting the character over and noted how, at first, fans were not buying into the JBL character. "It didn't work at all," he exclaimed.
When asked who came up with the character, Layfield recalled pitching a similar idea based on his experiences growing up in a struggling area in West Texas. "We had a couple of guys with DeLoreans and Lamborghinis driving around town and they were just jerks. I hated those guys."
He then described these people as "Redneck Rich" and explained that he believed the fans would hate him playing a similar character. Layfield recalled pitching the idea to Vince McMahon, which he claims was based around J.R. Ewing, but McMahon has denied that JBL drew inspiration from Ewing in interviews, according to Layfield.
JBL recalled how one house show changed the direction of his caracter
JBL explained that fans couldn't separate him from his APA character. But, Chavo Guerrero Snr. tried to remedy that when he came up with an idea to involve his mother in an angle at a house show on Mother's Day weekend, in honor of his father, Gory Guerrero.
"It was sold out that day and it was almost 100% Latino. They're all there to see Gory Guerrero's widow and Eddie Guerrero, her son and then I come out and she fakes this heart attack and Eddie has been busted open with a chair and he's down," Layfield recalled.
He revealed that Eddie Guerrero told him to get out of the building as he risked being mauled by the crowd. Layfield noted that he knew the angle would give him mega heat, and even though they had State Troopers at ringside, he was told to leave the city because they couldn't guarantee his safety. He even recalled how Mrs. Guerrero called him to make sure he was okay.
"When that video aired, everything changed," said JBL. The angle not only sold out what he believed would have been a terrible show and the end of his run as JBL but set a record for attendance. Layfield also touched upon the close friendship that he and Guerrero had. "He loved the JBL character. Eddie and I got along really well, you know, I did part of his eulogy at his funeral. He was a groomsman at my wedding."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Rosenburg Wrestling" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.