JBL On Roman Reigns Being A "Rockstar", Why WWE Brings In Part-Timers More Now Than Before, Goldberg
Recently on WWE Network's Bring It To The Table, WWE legend John 'Bradshaw' Layfield weighed in on a number of topics including Roman Reigns' crowd reaction, Goldberg getting psyched for a false entrance, and WWE's use of so-called 'part-timers'.
According to JBL, he hopes Reigns will continue to get mixed reactions like 16-time world champion John Cena.
"I hope so because John Cena is an absolute rockstar. He's perhaps the greatest draw in the history of our business and Roman Reigns is exactly the same. I mean, he's a rockstar. You tell people that and they say, 'no, no, no, people are standing up because they want to boo him.' They're standing up. So if you ask those people who say they're standing up to boo Roman Reigns because 'we don't like him', 'okay, would you pay to see Roman Reigns get beat?' 'Oh, absolutely! I'd love to see him get beat.' He's doing his job because people pay to see him."
JBL shared an amusing story of WWE staff knocking on Goldberg's door and him thinking it was his entrance.
"We had a production guy, or one of the creative guys go knock on Goldberg's door and he thought it was his entrance. He does his headbutt. He kicks the door open. He comes out and he sees that it's not his entrance. He almost killed the guy. This is how intense Goldberg is. It's the reason that at age 50, he's still a draw."
On the subject of 'part-timers', JBL argued that 'part-timers' such as Goldberg will be brought back until current stars can draw the same way.
"People complain about a 50 year old guy coming back. That didn't have to happen during The Attitude Era when we had 'Stone Cold' [Steve Austin], and The Rock, and The Undertaker, and that incredible roster, maybe one of the greatest of all time, you didn't need anybody to draw ratings. Now, we're bringing some of these guys back. We have great stars, but Goldberg still draws and until he doesn't draw and there [are] people to supplant him, he will always be welcome in WWE."
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Source: Bring It To The Table