Let me tell everyone that I am only 13 years old, and this is my first attempt at writing a column, so feedback would be appreciated. Thank you. John Bradshaw has fallen a lot over the past year. Last year at WrestleMania, he was defending the WWE Championship after almost 300 days as champion. Now, he's fighting for the U.S championship and has faced people like Lashley, Matt Hardy, and the Boogeyman at PPVs. I never liked the JBL character, and hated him being champ. But, if you're fighting for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21, the least you can be doing at WrestleMania 22 is somewhere in the title hunt. And he hasn't been mentioned in the title hunt since The Great American Bash. Now, I think that is wrong. But before we talk about his downfall, let's talk about how he got to the top in the first place.

John Charles Layfield was born on November 29, 1967 in Sweetwater, Texas and later moved to Houston, Texas, then moved to New York City. While attending Abilene Christian College, John had a football career in mind. He succeeded, having gained interest from the NFL's Los Angeles Raider and playing as an offensive tackle of the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football. But after 1992, injuries had curtailed his pro football career and focused on pro wrestling.

After being trained by Brad Rheingans, John made his debut on September 23, 1992, and spent much of the early months of his career in the Texas-based CWF and GWF. For most of 1992 and 1993, Layfield would remain in Texas-based organizations like the GWF and the USWF, winning several tag team belts. In 1994, he toured Germany with Otto Wanz's CWA promotion. For a few years, he split time between the United States and Germany before signing with the WWFe in 1995.

Known as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, he played up his Texas heritage and had Dutch Mantel as his manager. He had a stint as part of the New Blackjacks, and then with Farooq (Ron Simmons) he formed the Acolytes. He joined the Ministry of Darkness, but after the Ministry disbanded, they stayed together and won their first tag team belts. By the end of January 200, they became the APA. They were transformed into ass-kicking, beer guzzling good ol' boys. On July 9th, they won yet again. Not content to be known as a tag team wrestler, he won the European gold in 2001. The APA then broke up in the brand split, and Bradshaw had many hardcore title reigns. Bradshaw then had an arm injury (torn bicep muscle in left arm) then re-united the APA. Ron Simmons was then fired, and this marked the beginning of the JBL rich tycoon era.

This is where JBL began atop the WWE. In two bloody matches at Judgement Day and the Great American Bash, he won both. At Judgement Day he won via disqualification, and did not win the title. But, at The Great American Bash, he won a Texas-bullrope match to win the title. He went on a title streak that lasted almost 300 days, the longest in 10 years, and beat the likes of Big Show, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and of course, Eddie Guerrero. He was on top of the world, but, at WrestleMania, in a move I believe WWE should regret, they handed the belt to a still relative newcomer by the name of John Cena, instead of having it stay with a person who had worked a long time for it. They fought one more time, though JBL had to win a tournament to get the title shot. They had an I Quit match settle the score. John Cena won that very bloody match.

JBL then had a few matches with then-World Heavyweight Champ, Batista. JBL lost every match with him, including a bullrope match on the first edition of Friday Night Smackdown. Ever since then, he has faced Lashley, Matt Hardy, and even the Boogeyman at PPV's, three men nowhere near the WWE title (though Lashley has a good chance in the future). Now, I still don't think it is right. As I said, I never liked the JBL character, I liked him way better as the rough nosed, beer guzzling, ass-kicking Texan. However, I think due to the long title reign and WrestleMania main event he was in, JBL has taken a long ride downhill, and it will be hard for him to recover.

by Tony K...