JBL Looks Back At WWE Championship Run, Says Ron Simmons Helped Boost Him Into That Position

JBL speaks about his WWE Title run.

John Bradshaw Layfield’s singles run in WWE as a heel led to him becoming WWE Champion. He held the belt for 280 days.

While sitting alongside Ron Simmons for an interview with Chris Van Vliet, JBL was asked about his main event run. He credited Simmons for pushing him to that spot.

“It was a dream come true. I’d always wanted to be the guy. I’d always dreamed of it, and I’d been the man in smaller territories and things like that. I just didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance, and fortunately, Ron helped boost me into that position, and a lot of mentoring that Ron had obviously helped me as well. But all of a sudden, I got this title, and a lot of it happened. Taker told the story in Chicago when I got fired from CNBC, and I cut the promo instead of going out there and begging for mercy and saying I’m sorry. I went the opposite way and said, ‘Anybody who doubts me as a great American would be like calling Mother Teresa a whore.’ It’s about as strong as it could be. You couldn’t say anything I said back then now, and Undertaker was standing back there with Vince. Taker has told the story as well, and he said, ‘Am I going to put the title on him?’ Taker says, ‘You think?’ That was what did it was that promo in Chicago. I knew that was sink-or-swim night, and then I had the right guy with Eddie Guerrero. The perfect guy.”

JBL is currently a commentator for the Lucha Libre AAA brand.