JBL

Photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Real name: John Charles Layfield
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 290 lbs.
Date of birth: November 29, 1966
From: Sweetwater, TX
Resides: Athens, TX
Pro debut: September 23, 1992
Trained by: Skandor Akbar
Finishing move: Clothesline from Hell

Biography

– Layfield wrestled for the CWF and GWF (in Texas) as John Hawk.
– Hawk formed a tag team dubbed the Texas Mustangs with the late Bobby Duncam Jr.
– On November 27, 1992, the Texas Mustangs defeated Black Bart and Johnny Mantel for the GWF Tag Team title in Dallas, TX. The team held the title for a full year before losing to Bad Breed (Ian and Axl Rotten).
– Simmons defeated Tony Halme on January 4, 1993 at the Egg Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
– Hawk and the Equalizer defeated Black Bart and Butch Blackheart on June 16, 1993 for the USWF Tag Team title in Laredo, TX.
– On Christmas Day 1993, Hawk and Black Bart defeated Steven Dane and Chaz Taylor in Dallas for the GWF Tag Team title.
– In 1994, Hawk toured Germany for Otto Wanz’s CWA (Catch Wrestling Association) promotion.
– Hawk won the NWA North American Title from Kevin Von Erich on January 13, 1995.
– Layfield entered the WWF as Justin Bradshaw, with Uncle Jeb.
– Cannonball Grizzly (P.N. News) and Hawk captured the CWA Tag Team title from Ulf Hermann and August Smisl on November 5, 1995 in Oldenburg, Germany.
– Justin Bradshaw beat Savio Vega at the July 1996 “In Your House IX.”
– Bradshaw changed his ring name to Justin Hawk Bradshaw, and eventually formed a tag team with fellow Sweetwater, Texas native Barry Windham as the Blackjacks.
– Blackjack Bradshaw defeated then NWA North American champion Jeff Jarrett via disqualification at the 1998 “No Way Out,” when Jarrett used Jim Cornette’s tennis racket on his opponent.
– At Fully Loaded 1998, Terry Funk and Bradshaw fought 2 Cold Scorpio and Faarooq to a no contest.
– Bradshaw defeated Vader at Breakdown ’98 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
– Faarooq and Bradshaw formed the Acolytes, which eventually joined the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness.
– At the 1999 Backlash PPV, the Acolytes and Mideon defeated the Brood in a six-man tag match in Providence, RI.
– The Acolytes defeated the Hardy Boyz and Michael P.S. Hayes for the WWF World Tag Team title at the 1999 Fully Loaded.
– At Summerslam ’99, The Acolytes won the tag team turmoil match in Minneapolis, MN.
– The Acolytes defeated the Dudley Boyz at the 1999 “Unforgiven” PPV.
– At “Armageddon,” The Acolytes won an eight team battle royal to earn a WWF World Tag Team title shot at the Royal Rumble.
– The Acolytes Protective Agency (APA) was born on the January 31, 2000 episode of “Raw” when the Mean Street Posse became their first customers.
– At Fully Loaded 2000 in Dallas, TX, the Acolytes defeated the WWF Tag Team champion Edge and Christian via disqualification.
– After being sidelined with injuries, the Acolytes returned at Armageddon.
– At Wrestlemania XVII in Houston, TX, the APA and Tazz defeated RTC (Goodfather, Bull Buchanan, and Val Venis) in a six man tag team match.
– On June 13, 2001 in Poplar Bluff, MO, the APA defeated the Haas Brothers to capture the MCW (Memphis Championship Wrestling) Southern Tag Team title.
– The APA defeated the Dudley Boyz for the WWF World Tag Team title in Atlanta, GA on the July 9, 2001 episode of “Raw.”
– At Invasion, the APA defeated the WCW World Tag Team champions, Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire.
– On the October 22, 2001 edition of “Raw,” Bradshaw pinned The Hurricane for the European title in Kansas City, MO.
– At No Way Out ’02, the APA defeated Billy Gunn and Palumbo to win a tag team turmoil match, earning the duo a WWF World Tag Team title shot at Wrestlemania 18.
– In March 2002, Bradshaw was selected in the WWF brand extention by Ric Flair’s “Raw” brand.
– On the June 3, 2002 episode of “Raw” in Dallas, TX, Bradshaw defeated Steven Richards to capture the WWE Hardcore title.
– On September 10, 2002, Bradshaw underwent surgery to repair a torn biceps muscle in his left arm, an injury that occurred the previous night on “Raw.”
– In March 2003, Bradshaw reunited with Simmons as the APA in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
– On the June 19, 2003 edition of “Smackdown,” the APA returned to WWE television.
– Bradshaw won the APA Bar Room brawl at the 2003 Vengeance PPV in Denver, CO.
– At the 2003 Survivor Series, Team Angle (Angle, Benoit, Cena, Bradshaw and Hardcore Holly) defeated Team Lesnar (Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, Big Show, and A-Train).
– After Ron Simmons was fired, Bradshaw became John “Bradshaw” Layfield, playing a rich man gimmick.
– At the 2004 Great American Bash PPV in Norfolk, VA, a bloodied Layfield defeated Eddy Guerrero in a “Texas Bull Rope” match to claim the WWE title.
– At Survivor Series ’04, Bradshaw defeated Booker T to retain the WWE title.
– At Armageddon ’04, JBL successfully defended the WWE Title against The Undertaker, Booker T and Eddy Guerrero in a “anything goes fatal four way” match.
– JBL defeated the Big Show and Kurt Angle at the 2005 Royal Rumble to retain the WWE title.
– On February 11, 2005, JBL married Fox News reporter Meredith Whitney.
– At No Way Out ’05, JBL defeated The Big Show to retain the WWE Title in a “Barbed Wired Steel Cage” match.
– JBL (with Jillian Hall in his corner) defeated Rey Mysterio at the 2005 No Mercy PPV.
– Layfield married Meredith Whitney on February 13, 2005 in Key West, FL.
– At Armageddon ’05, JBL squashed Matt Hardy.
– JBL pinned Bobby Lashley at the 2006 No Way Out.
– At Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago, IL, JBL pinned Chris Benoit to capture the United States title.
– At ECW’s One Night Stand ’06, JBL declared himself as the new voice of Smackdown.
– JBL replaced Tazz as the color commentator on Smackdown on the June 16, 2006 edition of the show.
– On March 29, 2008 in Orlando, FL, JBL inducted the Brisco brothers into WWE’s hall of fame.
– At Wrestlemania XXIV, JBL defeated Finlay in “Belfast brawl” match.
– At the Great American Bash ’08, JBL defeated John Cena in a “New York City parking lot brawl.”
– On the March 9, 2009 edition of “Raw” in Jacksonville, FL, JBL defeated CM Punk to capture the Intercontinental title.
– Following a quick loss to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 25, JBL grabbed a microphone and yelled ‘I quit’. He confirmed his retirement on his blog the next day
– In late-April 2009, JBL announced his involvement with and sponsorship of a new MMA promotion named Vyper Fight League, affiliated with OVW. The promotion went defunct in 2010
– On March 7, 2011, JBL returned to Raw in a segment with Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & Steve Austin.
– On March 31, 2012, JBL inducted his friend and former tag partner Ron Simmons into the WWE Hall of Fame.
– At Raw 1000, JBL & Simmons returned to WWE in their APA gimmick, helping Lita defeat Heath Slater.
– Beginning at Night of Champions ’12, JBL temporarily replaced Jerry Lawler as Raw colour commentator, following Lawler’s heart attack the previous night on Raw.
– On October 31, 2012, JBL was voted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame.
– Shortly after Lawler’s return, JBL signed a permanent deal with WWE and joined both the Raw and Smackdown announce teams.
– On September 12, 2013, JBL replaced Dusty Rhodes as on-screen GM of NXT.
– JBL was a surprise entrant into the 2014 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated in short order by Roman Reigns.
– In July 2014, JBL was replaced by William Regal as NXT General Manager.
– JBL was voted the GERWECK.NET 2014 Announcer of the year.
– After serving as a color commentator on Raw, JBL was switched to the Smackdown announce team in July 2016
– In September 2017, JBL left the WWE announce team, though remained a semi-regular face on PPV pre-show panels
– JBL entered the WWE hall of fame during the Wrestlemania 37 festivities