• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments on Cult of Whatever
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • The Muppet Christmas Carol: Michael Caine as Scrooge

      The Muppet’s Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 20, 2022
    • Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 1

      2022’s Christmas Movie Watchlist!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 18, 2022
    • Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Poster

      REVIEW: GDT’s Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 14, 2022
    • Troll: Ine Marie Wilmann as Nora

      REVIEWS: TROLL and TROLL HUNTER -A giant creature double feature!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 5, 2022
    • Harry with The Hendersons

      Harry and the Hendersons is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2022
    • Fantastic Four Poster

      The five best “rogues galleries” in superherodom! (part 3)

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 28, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Johnny Cash Folsom Prison Cover

      Fifty Years ago Johnny Cash did Folsom Prison...

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 11, 2018
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Big Sky S03e05: Kylie Bunbury, J. Anthony Pena and Katheryn Winnick as Cassie Dewell, Mo Poppernak and Jenny Hoyt

      Big Sky S03E05 Review: Flesh and Blood - Glamping!

      By Salome G
      | October 22, 2022
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Big Sky S03e10: Gang

      Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock – Break time…

      By Salome G
      | December 11, 2022
    • Rick And Morty: S01e03

      Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

      By Jason Collins
      | December 7, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e09: Dedee Pfeiffer and Cree as Denise and Emily

      Big Sky S03E09: Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire – Stalling

      By Salome G
      | December 1, 2022
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special: Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff as Drax and Mantis

      REVIEW: The GOTG Holiday Special is a sweet prelude to next year’s finale

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 27, 2022
    • The Midnight Club S01: The Gang

      The Midnight Club S1 Review – A series of unfortunate events

      By Salome G
      | November 24, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e08: Reba McEntire as Sunny Barnes

      Big Sky S03E08 Review: Duck Hunting – I love a weirdo.

      By Salome G
      | November 19, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Splatoon 3 Screenshot

      A trio of Nintendo Switch reviews!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 28, 2022
    • Nintendo Switch Logo

      Looking ahead to the Switch 2: Predictions and Wants

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 15, 2022
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • AEW All Out 2022: Keith Lee. Anthony Bowens, Max Caster and Billy Gunn

      AEW All Out 2022 - Review and (wild) Speculation!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
      AEW
    Recent
    • WWE WrestleMania 38: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

      Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 4, 2023
    • AEW Full Gear 2022: Young Bucks and Kenny Omega Elite Entrance

      AEW Full Gear 2022 – A needed reset at the end of a tough year

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 22, 2022
    • WWE Survivor Series 1997: Bret Hart

      The Montreal Screwjob – Twenty Five Years Later

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 8, 2022
    • AEW Grand Slam 2022: Jungle Boy and Rey Fenix

      AEW GRANDSLAM 2022 showcased the present and future of the promotion

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 25, 2022
    • AEW All Out 2022: CM Punk

      AEW All Out Fall Out: All the CM Punk drama that’s fit to print!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
    • AEW Dark: Ricky Starks (22/09/20)

      The future of the AEW World Championship

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 14, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?
    • The Muppet's Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book
    • 2022's Christmas Movie Watchlist!
    • REVIEW: GDT's Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!
    • Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock - Break time...
    • Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

    JBL Interview

    By Josh Modaberi
    | May 21, 2013
    Wrestling Interviews

    John Bradshaw Layfield is arguably one of the best wrestlers of his generation and has enjoyed much success in both the tag team and singles ranks.

    The 46-year-old from Sweetwater, Texas, won a total of 24 championships during his time in WWE including, one-time United States Champion, one-time European Champion, one-time Intercontinental Champion, 17-time Hardcore Champion, three-time World Tag Team Champion as part of the APA with Ron Simmons (Faarooq) and one reign as WWE Champion, a title he held for 280 days!

    Layfield is the man behind Tribute To The Troops, and is now a familiar voice at the commentary table on both Raw and SmackDown as well as the WWE PPV’s.

    We caught up with JBL to talk about his friendships with Ron Simmons and Eddie Guerrero, passing the torch to John Cena, rugby, and climbing the 7 summits plus much more.

    JBL with white hat

    How did you first get into the sport of professional wrestling?

    I was always a wrestling fan, I grew up a wrestling fan and one of my earliest memories was watching wrestling with my grandfather. I always wanted to be a wrestler, but I just thought I would play American Football for a long time, but I had injuries and I couldn’t pass the physical anymore.

    I had a chance to get into wrestling when I was still young and make a living out of it and I jumped on the opportunity.

    Who were some of the wrestlers that influenced you to get into the sport?

    Bruiser Brody and Fritz Von Erich were two of my favourites when growing up, Dory Funk Sr. They’re guys from Texas I just absolutely idolised. I got the chance to wrestle a lot of my hero’s, I wrestled a lot of the Von Erich boys, I got the chance to be in the ring with Fritz Von Erich and with Stan Hansen, which happened later in life not when I was young. To me, that was a dream come true.

    What was it like when you got your break with WWE and teaming with Barry Windham?

    That to me was what I thought was my big break, and it turned out it wasn’t for a lot of reasons. The head of creative at the time Vince Russo didn’t think much of me or Barry I believe, he’s selling comic books or whatever he’s doing right now so that tells you what you need to know about Vince Russo.

    I thought that was my big break, I idolised Barry and a still do to this day, he still had a lot of gas left in the tank, and for whatever reason, they didn’t want to use him. The tag team never went anywhere but for me, it was a big deal.

    Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

    YouTube privacy policy

    If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

    You then teamed up with Ron Simmons as the APA, what was that whole experience like?

    It was the greatest honour of my life tag-teaming with Ron Simmons; the greatest honour of my life is being best friends with Ron Simmons. I can’t say enough good things about Ron; him allowing that tag team to take place was incredible for me and probably made my career and me as a wrestler.

    It was a great pleasure to induct Ron into the WWE Hall of Fame and he was also the best man at my wedding.

    JBL Layfield Theodore Long Ron Simmons Farooq

    JBL, Theodore Long and Ron Simmons

    You also had a very successful singles career, what were some of your highlights?

    Eddie Guerrero, he was the biggest influence on my singles career. I’m not sure the JBL character would be alive if not for Eddie, he really made the career that I had. The Undertaker feud that I had was huge for me, but I got to wrestle every top star during that era, I got to wrestle, Booker T, Dave Batista, John Cena, I really had a fun and incredible run, the run came later in my life so I really had the opportunity to enjoy it.

    One of the greatest things that I got to do was pass the torch to John Cena, which I absolutely take zero credit for, he would have gone to the top anyway but I was lucky enough to be the guy that passed the torch and I was very honoured to be able to do that.

    Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

    YouTube privacy policy

    If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

    What do you make of the similarities between your feud with Eddie and the storyline with Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio?

    It’s hard to compare because I’m too close to the situation, as far as what Eddie and I did and what Swagger and Del Rio are doing right now, Eddie and I had something that was really magical, we were dear friends and Eddie was the groomsman at my wedding.

    It’s hard to compare eras, and I don’t know how to compare what Eddie and I did and the situation between Swagger and Del Rio, when I was so close to Eddie. Someone looking from the outside in, they could probably do it pretty easily but me I’m too biased.

    You were a massive factor behind the Tribute To The Troops shows, how did that come about?

    I was over there one summer right after the invasion of Iraq. It was a miserably hot summer, as all of them are over there. It was 137 degrees one day! I was sitting there talking to Ron Simmons and I thought, it would be great if we could come over here at Christmas and do something like the Bob Hope-type USO Christmas Special.

    So when we got back, I approached Mr. McMahon and [WWE executive producer] Kevin Dunn and told them what I thought would be a good idea and what I thought we could do, and they took it from there. Within a few weeks, the thing was done and we’ve been doing the shows ever since.

    John Layfield JBL in Iraq for WWE Tribute to the Troops

    You’ve now moved over to the commentary table, what have you made of that transition?

    I enjoy doing the commentary very much, I enjoy commentating, I enjoy working with Michael Cole even though I give him hell on air, which I enjoy as much as anything else because Michael likes playing the straight man. I don’t mind playing the straight man as well at times when it’s appropriate and I really enjoy that give and take.

    The ego is in the product and it’s not in yourself, it’s very important to realise when you’re a commentator and also the fact that I’m far enough removed away from wrestling that I don’t need to put myself over. I can put the guys over in the ring, I’m not throwing stones at anybody, I’m only throwing stones at myself.

    In the past all I ever wanted to do was get in that ring, now I don’t ever want to get in that ring again, all I want to do is put over the action in the ring and I’m really enjoying my role as a commentator.

    You bring a lot of your outside interests into your commentary, is that something you enjoy doing?

    I love world sports, I love sports period. I loved watching Phil Taylor winning his sixteenth World Darts Championship; I also love watching the Super Bowl champions, the MLB champions. I think when you are on commentary you’ve got to love what you do, Michael Jordan was probably the best basketball player ever, and lots of people watched him not because he was good but because he was loved. I love what I do and this is all I really want to do right now, and I enjoy the hell out of it and I hope I can do it for a long time.

    Away from wrestling, you train kids doing rugby in Bermuda, how is that going?

    I coach rugby and we have some great rugby players, we are just trying to help these kids graduate, I don’t run a rugby programme there is a big difference. We use rugby as our sport and we have some wonderful ruby players but more importantly, we have some wonderful kids. There are 120 kids that are directly under me and right now they are all passing their courses and doing the right things.

    According to the stats, about 50% of underprivileged kids leave school so I should lose 60 kids and right now I’m losing none of them. I’m sure that won’t hold up 100% but I think we are doing our best to change these kids’ lives, and we are using rugby to help us enable that.

    JBL Rugby Kids Charity

    Are there any wrestlers that you think would make good rugby players?

    We have some big tough guys, you look at Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Ryback and Big Show, we have some really big tough athletes, some of the best I’ve ever seen.

    You’ve also been doing the 7 Summits Challenge, how has that gone so far?

    I’ve done three of the 7 Summits so far, I’ve climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Mt. Elbrus and Aconcagua. I’ve got four more to climb, Michael Cole will join me in climbing Mt. Whitney in mid-August and it looks like I’m going to do Mount Everest in 2015.

    JBL Layfield Summit Peak

    For more information about JBL, follow him on Twitter @JCLayfield.

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    acolytesapabradshawfaarooqJBLjohn layfieldron simmons

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest

    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest

    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

    You might also like

    • WWE: Viva La Raza – The Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero DVD Review

      By Henry Higgins
      | December 26, 2008
    • WWE: JBL Speaks on His Return To The WWE

      By Cassidy
      | March 14, 2011
    • Michael Cole Interview

      By Josh Modaberi
      | June 14, 2013

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Wrestling Topics

    Recommended for you

    • Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 4, 2023
    • The future of the AEW World Championship

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 14, 2022
    • Vince McMahon is out as WWE chief. First reactions here…

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 22, 2022
    • Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • The Curse of the WWE Royal Rumble

      By John Hancock
      | January 27, 2012
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz