Interview from Gametap.com

JBL Interview

The self-proclaimed Wrestling God talks Iraq, his comeback, and making money.

When John "Bradshaw" Layfield was cut from the World League of American Football, he was down to his last $27. Think about that for a minute. The trash-talking millionaire famous for riding limos to the ring was at one time broker than the average jobber he beat to a bloody pulp on his way to championship gold.

"If you've ever been broke, you remember it like it was yesterday," JBL tells me over the phone as we discuss a variety of topics from wrestling to Iraq to finances. "You never forget that empty feeling, and that's one of the reasons why I work so hard now. I've been broke before, and it's ridiculous to go back to being broke. If you have the chance to make some money, make that money."

And how did JBL turn that wrestler salary into millions? "When I first got the chance to start investing, I got a little lucky," JBL admits. "I invested in '97, right near the Asian crisis, and I bought a couple of stocks that were down, and I was pretty lucky with my returns on those stocks. Since then, I just study the market. I don't take risks. I invest in stocks of companies that are making a lot of money, although this will be the first year where I won't beat the market. I beat it for eight straight years up to this year, but this will be the first year where I won't. Then again, eight out of nine isn't too bad of a record."

JBL recently took time out from counting all that cash to do something that is special to his heart, and that's head over to Iraq with a troop of WWE superstars to perform a special show for soldiers that will air Christmas Eve on USA.

Here's what the former champ had to say about the WWE giving back to the armed forces, his potential return to the ring, and who he sees as the next great star of his sport.

GameTap: What's the one memory that will stick with you from your time in Iraq?

JBL: We were flying into Tarmiya and we didn't know we were going into a hot zone. We were in Tikrit, and I have to say, the surge is working phenomenally. The base in Tikrit was like being at Fort Hood or any other base in the States. Everything was calm and you really didn't have any fear about where you were other than the horrible smell of death in the air. But landing in Tarmiya, we were landing in a hot zone and we didn't know that, so when we landed, we looked around and there were dead dogs everywhere. The dogs over there are rabid and when they approach the base, you have to shoot them because otherwise they can give away your position or tear through your things. It looked like something out of Apocalypse Now when we landed, and we knew right away that we weren't in a secure zone. There were Iraqis on the rooftops, bombs were going off, and we don't know what they were, but they were smoke bombs that our forces were shooting off to provide us with cover in case there's a sniper in the area. So as we're running though all of this smoke and the dead dogs on our way to the base, my tag team partner Ron Simmons, in that James Earl Jones voice of his, turns to me and says, "You know, I would've mailed them an autograph." [Laughs] It's one of those things, you can see it on TV all you want, but unless you experience something like that, you really have no idea.

GameTap: Why is it so important to you to go over to Iraq and risk your own life in the process in order to give back to the troops?

JBL: I don't want to overemphasize the fact that we are risking our lives because I really don't think that we are. Those guys are taking such good care of us. They're the heroes in this whole situation and that's why this is so important to us. Those guys are away from their families. I met a guy over there who has been in Iraq for three months and his wife is about to have a baby. He gets to go back to see the birth, but after that, he's going to miss the first year of that kid's life. That's what these soldiers do. They simply do what they are told because they are soldiers. We get to go over there and simply say thank you and tell them how much the people of America appreciate what they are doing. I think sometimes the soldiers get a divided message. People running for office talk about the Iraqi war and I think a lot of it can be misconstrued. I think when you're over there and you're getting shot at then you go back and hear the debate on the news channel, and they all watch news 24/7, it can be confusing. I think sometimes these soldiers just need to be told how much America loves these guys and how much we appreciate them.

GameTap: I'm sure the mood kicks up a notch when the Divas appear.

JBL: Let me tell you something, I've been over there, this was my seventh time, and when somebody like Torrie Wilson gets up on stage, you could be Elvis Presley reincarnated and these guys in the war zone could care less.

GameTap: Makes your job a little tough if you have to follow them.

JBL: You can't follow them. There's no hope. When you have beautiful girls like we have and they're up on stage, these guys could care less about me.

GameTap: It's such a long plane flight; what did you guys do to occupy the time on the way to Iraq?

JBL: That's such a great question. It's around 23 hours travel time. We stop and refuel in Germany and we refuel in the air over Canada, but it just seems like forever. I don't care if you're in a hotel suite, if you have to stay locked in that suite for 23 hours, that's a long time. We got DVDs, we got everything in the world to keep us occupied, but nothing seems to work. That's a brutal trip.

GameTap: There have been plenty of rumors lately that you are itching to get back into the ring starting next year. Is your injury too severe for a full-time return or do you think you can give it one last shot?

JBL: I honestly don't know. I don't know how the injury will do now if I were to try and wrestle. When I went out, I wasn't in shape, I was hurt, and I was only 70 percent of what I should have been. I don't want that to be the last memory people have of me and my career. I would like to come back, but I'll only do that if my body will let me and I can still compete with the young guys.

GameTap: How important do you see the role of the commentator in terms of putting over the talent and the matches? Is the role of the commentator too often overlooked by fans?

JBL: I think it is, but then again it should be. The focus needs to be on the talent in the ring. If the focus is on me, then the focus is on the wrong place. It's something that needs to be, like the referee, it's something that needs to be overlooked. Is it valuable? Yeah, it's extremely valuable, but when people start looking at the commentator and start noticing him specifically, then they're not noticing what he's talking about and a good commentator will always be able to put the attraction on what's in the ring.

GameTap: In all your time watching the Smackdown brand, who do you see as the superstar we should all be keeping a closer eye on?

JBL: There's no doubt about it, MVP. MVP has just had a phenomenal year. He stepped up to the plate like nobody else I've seen, and it was completely out of the blue. He's got everything--the banter, the athleticism --whatever you want in a superstar, he has. It has been fun watching him develop over the past year and a half.

GameTap: Do you see him as someone who can carry the company, similarly to a Rock or Stone Cold, or are those days over?

JBL: You never know. We didn't know Rock or Stone Cold could do it until they did it. We try a lot of times to put the company on a guy, and a lot of times they fail. You never know when guys just all of a sudden emerge and become those stars that transcend the genre. That's something that you wish you could predict, and I've been around a long time and you would think I could spot it, but you can't always. So can the guy be a main eventer? Yeah. Can he carry the company? You don't know until it happens, but I hope he does and I hope those days aren't gone because those were pretty good days.

GameTap: One of the things I always thought was cool about your character in the ring is that you would do just about anything to make someone boo you. As a heel, is anything off limits when you're trying to get that crowd to turn on you?

JBL: I'm sure some things are, but that line is further out there than what most people think. You ask, is eating a person off limits? Well, Anthony Hopkins did it as Hannibal Lecter. People might say, hey that's tasteless, and maybe it is, but you have to have a bad guy if you're going to have a good guy. Is it tasteless when they want to see you get beat up? No, that works. Is it tasteless when all you do is turn off the audience? That's when you go to far, but it's tough to say when that line is crossed because you're evoking emotion in people. You're making them want to dislike you and when you're doing that, there are times when you are going to cross that line of taste. You don't want to, but there are times when it's going to happen. There are also times when you're going to hit it just right, and when you do, they're going to want to see you get beat up so bad that they're going to turn out in sellout crowds to see it. Sometimes you just need to test that boundary, and when you go over it, you've got to find a way to regroup and bounce back.

GameTap: What's the worst thing you've ever done to make someone boo you?

JBL: I don't think anything on television. At times on live events I've shouted at the crowd or something and I realized when I was done, I probably shouldn't have said that. You might regret it, but you move on. Nothing I've really done on TV has done that. Stuff I've done is so foreign from me personally. I was really good friends with Eddie Guerrero. My feud with him is probably what I'm known for most. And some of that stuff I did, to me as a person, I find it reprehensible, but to me as a character, it was something I needed to do for Eddie to ride in on a white horse and beat me up.

GameTap: Did you think back when you were managed by Uncle Zeb that one day you'd end up on top of the company?

JBL: When I first started I did. I was so dumb back then that I thought I would be. Then after I had been there for a while, I thought the opportunity would never get to me. Then I began to question whether I was even worthy of it. But I think when everyone comes in, they think, "Hey I'm going to headline Wrestlemania this year." Little do you realize that there are a lot of talented people between you and Wrestlemania. I got my big break later in my career and it kind of worked out for me in a favorable way because I appreciated it so much more.

GameTap: Before you go, I have one last question that I've been dying to ask you. I was talking to Edge and he told me a story about how you walked up behind him in the shower one day wearing your cowboy gear and started rubbing suds on his ass as some kind of initiation. What's your side of the story?

JBL: [laughs] I think he was dreaming that. I always notice Edge saying hi to me and wanting to hug me so I think that may have something to do with it.