WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield is best known for his tenure in WWE as Bradshaw alongside Farooq as a part of APA, and later as JBL, where he cemented himself as a major event star and the most effective heels of his generation.
In an episode of “Something To Wrestle,” Layfield recalled a gathering he once had with Vince McMahon about establishing his gimmick and the outrageous suggestion made by McMahon. The veteran claims McMahon checked out him dead within the face when suggesting the gimmick, making him recall Kane’s “Isaac Yankem” WWE character.
“I’m going to WWE headquarters, I never met Vince — Vince didn’t even see my tryout match, so that is the primary time he ever met me. He looks at me and he goes, ‘I take into account, a really unusual idea. I’m gonna make you a heel ballerina,'” Layfield recalled. “And I assumed, ‘This son of a b**ch is crazy!’ I mean, he’s crazy, and I’m sitting there taking a look at him like, ‘I turned down WCW for this?'”
Layfield then claimed that McMahon burst out laughing and admitted that he loved the cowboy gimmick he originally pitched for his WWE debut.
“Like, oh my god, this man’s nuts. And I, straight away, considered that, fell in love with a man, I assumed it was funny,” he added.
The veteran noted, nonetheless, that he was shocked to see the “Billionaire Ted” skits – which made fun of WCW’s Ted Turner – which cemented his opinion about McMahon being crazy in any case. He believes that although the skits were funny, they didn’t add any value to wrestling.
In the event you use any quotes from this text, please credit “Something To Wrestle” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
