In the first ever WWEpreview half-year awards I voted JBL as ‘least improved’ wrestler in the WWE this year. This was due to my feelings that he simply had not improved since his December comeback.

Sure, I agree that some initial ring rust would not have been unheard of, but almost everything JBL has participated in, ring-work wise, has not been up to scratch. Then I went away and thought about it, looked at some of his older work, and thought again.

While many now look back on JBL’s 2004-2006 run, and especially his title reign, with fond memories, when you actually look at the work involved there is very little that stands out from a ‘good match’ perspective. JBL’s promo work was, and still remains top class, something that made him such an excellent commentator in 2006 and 2007, but don’t be fooled into thinking that his ring work was ever anything but average.

His first post-gimmick change feud with Eddie Guerrero over the WWE Title was a big step down match-quality wise for Eddie, although the superlative ‘Latino Heat’ was still able to carry the former Acolyte to his best ever series of matches. These spanned a bloody effort at Judgement Day, the match in which he clinched the title at the Great American Bash, and culminated in an exciting Cage match on the July 15th Smackdown.

While these matches were all entertaining enough in getting Bradshaw over as something more than the strictly midcard character that he had been portrayed for the previous eight years, it can be argued that by this point Eddie had become such a great worker that he could have reaped similar results with anyone. JBL had had his reputation made in part by being carried into legitimacy by the hard work of Guerrero, but his next feuds would highlight the more negative aspects of Bradshaw.

An extended programme with Undertaker over the summer and shorter feuds with Booker T and Big show were all highlighted by the dual-edged strengths of JBL’s promos contrasting sharply with the mediocrity of his ring work and predictability of the match finishes, with Bradshaw consistently relying on interference to beat the odds.

Undertaker, Big Show and Booker were not the workers that Guerrero had been, and without a superior in-ring hand to lead him through the match, JBL’s act swiftly became exposed as relying on the smoke and mirrors tricks of foreign object use, and the above mentioned interference to keep his matches competitive.

Further dragging down the blue brand at the time was JBL’s hopeless effort of a stable, with ‘The Cabinet’ of Orlando Jordan, the Basham Brothers, and Amy Zidian challenging Kurt Angle’s Team Angle Mk.2 in the most mediocre stable ever stakes. JBL’s matches during this period were all pretty dull, spanning bores against the Undertaker at Summerslam and No Mercy, a worse than expected effort against Booker T at Survivor Series, and a disappointing misadvertised mess against Big Show at No Way Out.

On the plus side, the fatal fourway at Armageddon was entertaining enough (although JBL was the least of the participants), and the match against Big Show and Kurt Angle (and a cracking last man standing match against Angle on Smackdown around the Rumble), were both choice efforts.

However in these examples, JBL was again either marginalized, letting others do most of the work, or was just carried y a far superior worker, and made to look good as a result. This trend would be highlighted at Wrestlemania XXI.

John Cena, then a hot rising babyface star, was chosen to face and dethrone JBL at 2005’s big event, ending his marathon title reign and hopefully kicking off a new main event babyface run. However Cena himself was a very green worker who had needed to be carried by Undertaker and Kurt Angle to his only superior PPV matches.

JBL was simply not up to the task and his match with the then ‘Master of Thugonomics’ has to go down as one of the most disappointing World Title Wrestlemania matches in history, as the bout was really nothing but a sluggish brawl that highlighted both men’s shortcomings and started Cena’s first Heavyweight Title reign on a decidedly flat note.

A minor miracle occurred at the Judgement Day 2005 PPV, with the Cena/JBL rematch against the odds proving to be one of the best matches of either man’s career. However the stars must have been aligned right for this particular match because as mentioned in my previous column on the Great American Bash, JBL’s next run with Batista would prove to be a common low point of both superstar’s WWE tenures to date.

The Great American Bash match in particular ended on a deflating disqualification finish, especially poor for a PPV main event, and the Summerslam rematch was only better in that it had a decisive finish and was a lot shorter. What stands out from these matches is that Batista has confirmed that JBL actually went out of his way to make his opponent look bad - a selfish action that would lose all concerned money in the long run, as bad matches don’t make customers want to pay to see the rematch.

Perhaps because of this destructive behaviour, JBL was pretty much relegated to the midcard following Summerslam and spent the rest of the year beating guys like Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy (at No Mercy and Armageddon respectively). While he played a headlining role in the RAW vs. Smackdown interbrand feud at Survivor Series, JBL’s low point came at the Royal Rumble 2006 when he jobbed in a virtual squash match to the abysmal Boogeyman.

Also picking up and then losing a debuting Jillian Hall (along with her strange facial growth) during early 2006, JBL’s main event credibility was also used to put over newcomer Bobby Lashley in a relatively entertaining match at No Way Out. Programmed with the then-always-reliable Chris Benoit for Wrestlemania XXII, JBL still managed to have another ‘Mania let down - at least by Benoit’s lofty standards - although the two did manage to redeem themselves with a superb cage match on a Smackdown shortly afterwards. From then on a noticeably injured and flagging JBL put over new World Champion Rey Mysterio in a strong match at Judgement Day before losing his US Title to Lashley in his seemingly final match on the post-PPV Smackdown.

Shortly after this finale, JBL popped up as Tazz’s replacement on Smackdown as colour commentator, and in my eyes did a hell of a lot better in this role than as a main event wrestler.

Bradshaw’s 2008 comeback has had exactly one memorable match, a knock down, drag-out brawl against technical mastermind Finlay in the opener of Wrestlemania XXIV, and again it was mainly the Irishman who was responsible for the match turning out this way. On the negative side JBL totally derailed an admittedly already faltering face return for Chris Jericho, and has been a major factor in John Cena looking decidedly average for most of the year.

It seems that the former Blackjack’s back injury is still nagging him, and this has caused Layfield to look cumbersome and generally out of shape in the ring. It remains to be seen whether he can redress this problem, but it seems that unless a Judgment Day 2005- style miracle occurs, the match at the Great American Bash with Cena in a ‘Parking Lot Brawl’ will not be a turning point. (The match will already have occurred by the time you read this so feel free to laugh if I’m wrong!).

Anyway, one thing that has never been denied has been JBL’s consistently engaging work as a promo-man and colour commentator. This should be the thing that he is remembered for; Jesse Ventura is generally thought of as one of the best commentators of the 1990’s and can anyone remember a particularly memorable match that he participated in? I thought not.

Go back to commentary John, because for a man of your wit and intelligence, it’s potentially far more rewarding in the long run, than putting your physical well being on the line for ‘one last run’.

James Mustoe
james@wwepreview.com