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Hi, my name is Kyle. I have been a wrestling fan for 14 years and seen the highs and lows of sports entertainment. I own 23,000 hours of wrestling footage so I can honestly say I am obsessed. One of the great aspects of wrestling is seeing the growth of a wrestler. I would like to talk about one of the most controversial enigmas in wrestling history. That man is JBL. John Charles Layfeild was born a Texas cowboy and in his younger years, played college and pro football, so he has athletic abilities. He started his wrestling career by training with Brad Rheingans in Southeast Texas. Starting in the GWF and won tag team gold with the late Bobby Duncam Jr., Layfeild also won the NWA North American title. Later signed with the WWF in 1995.

That was the birth of Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw - a rough and tough cowboy managed by Uncle Zebkiah a.k.a Dutch Mantell. At the peak of the gimmick, he was a jobber for Saturday Morning Superstars. After the "Hawk" gimmick went nowhere Bradshaw was teamed up with Barry Windam as the New Blackjacks, a remake of the 70's tag team the Blackjacks (which were Barry's father and Layfeilds uncle). The Blackjacks were used sparingly and had one major appearance at WrestleMania 13 in a four way elimination match. For some reason the tag team was dropped with no push. A rivalry was started between the two but after one week was dropped.

Then there was just Bradshaw, a mix of the two previous gimmicks. During this time Bradshaw was teamed up with Taka in a gimmick in which a "big brother was showing younger brother America". While under this role Bradshaw got his biggest victory yet with a clean win over Vader. A shoulder injury halted that push and Bradshaw disappeared.

When he returned in 1999 he and Faarooq had a Goth look and were Acolytes for a "Greater Power" which was the beginning of the Undertakers Ministry of Darkness. During this time the Acolytes won tag team gold, defeating X-Pac and Kane. When the Ministry was disintegrated the Acolytes were left gimmick less.

The Acolyte Protection Agency was born in 2000. The APA was so over with the fans; after all, what's not to love about bar brawlers getting paid to kick someone's ass" I mean the fought heels and face's and the fans loved that. Before the APA Bradshaw had virtually no mic time and was nothing but a big tough guy that did his talking in the ring. The APA was involved in almost every storyline on the show in some way or another. APA ran strong throughout 2002. WWE's Brand Extension had Farooq drafted to Smackdown! and Bradshaw to RAW.

On his own, Bradshaw went back to the Texas cowboy gimmick and started a singles push against the NWO. Bradshaw was in main events on RAW and wrestling big stars at the PPV's. His character was an honest no non-sense fight for what's right wrestler. He was also shown at military bases and charity events helping out and being a great caring citizen. Winning singles gold with the Hardcore and European Championships. The push ended again do to a torn left bicep.

In 2003 Bradshaw debuted on Smackdown with short blonde hair. He was a financial consultant for CNBC. The APA was reborn, never really reaching the status they once had. Then Farooq was fired by Paul Heyman due to a loss against Scotty and Rikisi. Then, JBL turned his back on Farooq, and JBL was born. The next weak this arrogant New York City cowboy came out talking about how great he was and above the average man. Which he portrayed himself as for so long" However now that he was talking more than he wrestled the life time mid carder was given the opportunity to be WWE Champion. He defeated the late great Eddie Guerrero at The Great American Bash in a "Bull Rope Match.". JBL then defended the title for 10 months. Even though every mark in the world wanted and expected the title to be taken from him way sooner, JBL didn't lose the title Wrestlemania 21. In that time, JBL became a self-proclaimed "Wrestling God". He hung around the WWE title scene for a while then had a few small programs with Mysterio, Boogyman and Lashley. At WrestleMania 22, JBL defeated Beniot for the U.S. Championship. Suffering from constant back injuries, JBL has called it quits for now and decided to join the Smackdown! announce team.

Since the JBL character I've read nothing positive about this man. He's a bully and loud mouth behind the scenes and is treated with special treatment from Mr. McMahon. But before the JBL character the only thing I ever heard behind the scenes was a fight with Steve Blackman at an airport. My question is who is the real John Bradshaw Layfeild" Is the JBL character so good that we believe that to be the real him" How is it possible that a perfect example of a feel-good story be looked at as a no good SOB" I mean think about it. Beniot, Guerrero, Mysterio and Foley were all stuck in mid card land but when they finally won the title: marks said they deserve it. JBL wins the title and people hate it. Well then JBL is what wrestling needs. In this day and age of sports entertainment everyone knows that people are playing a role on T.V. The great thing about John Charles Layfeild is no one knows where the character ends and where the man begins"

by Kyle Haynie ..