ninealevyn

JBL was able to create a capable main event persona and regardless if you like him or not his gimmick belonged in the main event. My question is how was he looked over for so long? I assume WWE knows someone's capabilities before we do, so seeing him being such a good mic worker couldn't have been a surprise. He might not haven be one of the IWC's favorite technical wrestlers, but he was always booked as a credible ass kicker, so why was he kept as a tag team performer for so long?

I know Eddie Guerrero was the one who pushed for his singles push, but why did it take that for them to push him?


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KeepinItReal

My guess is that his gimmick at the time wasn't considered main event, but its so hard to imagine rebooting a guy once they have a popular character, so you kinda feel like its only the Bradshaw character or bust.

It could just be that the AE was so loaded that they never cared to promote him, they had what they needed. I mean they had Rock/Austin/Undertaker/Triple H, and then Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar showed up and HBK returned. The Attitude Era just had higher standards. A lot of amazing guys took forever to get promoted. But yeah, I could never have foreseen JBL as good as he ended up (though I wasn't really watching then).

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wkdsoul

Probably down the fact the character change wasn't a gradual thing or couldnt be instigated from his tag team persona to singles, like their trying to slow turn the miz or del rio.

Bradshaw, the ass kicker and JBL, the texas buinessman, are way apart in terms of character, so prob thought the audience at that point wouldn't buy into it.

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JLawls91

Took me ages to believe that it was the same bloke when he got his push. After I'd stopped watching by the way.

Kincaid

Dude, nostalgia glasses help us out a lot on this one. As someone who was watching at the time? People hated that JBL title run. I mean, it's been vindicated by history a bit but at the time most people thought it was a terrible idea.

Tardust

he wasn't always golden on the mic and the wwe had more credible and profitable stars in the coffer. Then Rock, Austin, Brock and Goldberg left, they split the brands and it became easier for a guy like him to break through.

and tbh, his run was a channel changer for me, but he got over as a heel and that's all that matters

Starbuck

It took them until 2004 because up until that point his competition consisted of Rock, Austin, HHH, Undertaker, HBK, Angle, Kane and the list goes on and on. 2002 rolls along and Lesnar arrives, Goldberg, Steiner, Hogan, Hall, Nash and that list goes on and on too. The competition was just too strong. By the time 2004 comes around, there's a need for some top level talent and there's a gap at the top for him to fill.

There's a reason why the likes of JBL, Edge, Christian, Jeff Hardy, Jericho, Benoit, Eddie etc only got a true run at the top after the AE. It's because the competition at the top was just too much for them to compete with during that time. There was the main event of Rock, Austin, HHH, Taker etc while the JBL's of the world were in the midcard. They finally get their shot when things at the top level slow down. JBL in 04, Eddie in 04, Benoit in 04, Edge in 06, hell, I'd say Jericho didn't get a true run as a main event player until his reign in 08 against HBK.

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nevereveragainu

1 he was a horible wrestler and person
2 he was just a filler champion because Eddies merch sales didn't meet expectations, Cena wasn't ready yet and if he really needed to hold the wwe title AT LEAST give him the us title first, it would complement his george bush style character, speaking of which
3 his gimmick is unoriginal
4 this was 2004 Brock and Goldberg were gone, rock and austin weren't coming back and Triple h was just unwatchable, JBL couldn't hold any of their jocks yet he was the only one of any kind of traditional substance left on Smackdown
5 as far as comparisons go it also didn't help that Taker was then just a part timer and he and Booker clearly wren't in their prime anymore dispite being more credible than JBL

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TripleG

Well they didn't push him to the top until A) He had that more appealing main event heel persona due to being in a successful tag team for so long and B) Because all their other heels on Smackdown were gone. Lesnar quit, Angle was hurt, Big Show was hurt, and as Heyman said "Triple H didn't want to work tuesdays". It got to a point where they had nothing but a generic Booker T heel run. JBL was just the rabbit they pulled out of their hat and it worked.

Bradshaw had no reason to be pushed before then because they were stacked at the main event scene and he was having a good run with Faarooq as his partner. The JBL character was born out of desperation.

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Ryu Hayabusa

There was just way too much competition at the top during the AE. Hell id say its suprising guys like Rikishi got a main event run before JBL did.

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