Mid 20th Century
162-536: Michael Polchlopek (born December 27, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist . He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Bart Gunn and Bodacious Bart , as well as his appearances with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 1998 to 2002 and with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2002 to 2004 as Mike Barton . Michael Polchlopek
324-456: A Clothesline from Hell , Lita defeated Heath Slater , thus turning face for the first time since 2004. Starting at Night of Champions , Layfield returned to his JBL persona, and sporadically filled in as color commentator, replacing Jerry Lawler, who suffered a legitimate heart attack during the Raw episode preceding Night of Champions. Layfield later re-signed with the promotion and returned to
486-424: A Last Ride match for the title at No Mercy . JBL retained the title with some help from Heidenreich . Though JBL held the title for many months, most title matches were won controversially. At Survivor Series , JBL defeated Booker T to retain his WWE Championship by hitting Booker T in the face with the title belt when the referee was knocked out. JBL defeated Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, and Booker T in
648-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
810-589: A handicap match at Over the Edge in which Michinoku was pinned. Sometimes teaming with fellow Texan Terry Funk . He defeated Vader in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Breakdown which was won by Bradshaw. On Sunday Night Heat right before Survivor Series 1998, Bradshaw teamed alongside former Nation of Domination leader Faarooq to form the tag team of the Acolytes, managed by the Jackyl . Their main gimmick
972-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1134-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1296-418: A Fatal Four-Way Elimination match at Backlash that also included John Cena and Triple H. JBL was eliminated first in the match by tapping out to Cena's STFU , thus renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match . He managed to defeat Cena in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash . JBL's next on-screen rivalry
1458-589: A Fatal Four-Way at Armageddon after a run-in by Heidenreich, who incapacitated the Undertaker, allowing JBL to take advantage and hit Booker with the Clothesline From Hell to get the pinfall victory. During JBL's time as WWE Champion, he employed a stable named "The Cabinet." At its peak, the stable contained Orlando Jordan, who was JBL's "Chief-of-Staff" and Doug and Danny Basham , who were his "Co-Secretaries of Defense" until quitting
1620-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1782-668: A brief feud in October 1996. Bart Gunn briefly went into solo competition, his most high-profile match occurring on Monday Night Raw , in April 1996, which he lost to "Ringmaster" Steve Austin via the Million Dollar Dream. Gunn feuded with Billy Gunn during the fall of 1996 after Billy turned his back on Bart. The feud ended after he defeated Billy on the December 16 episode of Monday Night Raw. His most notable victory
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#17328011438711944-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2106-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2268-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2430-468: A commentary on TheStreet.com that he was retiring from in-ring competition for good. In his final column on the website, JBL wrote, "I have also come to believe that you can't fight father time. A broken back suffered in a match in England, compounded by a herniated and bulged disc, finally made me realize my career as a professional wrestler was over. I since migrated to the color commentary position much in
2592-412: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . John Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by
2754-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2916-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3078-512: A few weeks later to the active WWE roster. Bradshaw returned on the June 19, 2003, episode of SmackDown! , which saw him and Faarooq saving the Undertaker from the hands of Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli, reuniting the APA in the process. Bradshaw returned with a new look, cutting his long hair, returning it to its natural color blonde, and going clean shaven. On the June 26 episode of SmackDown! ,
3240-402: A formal contract with Long going into the match and that he did not intend to leave SmackDown! . This angle was used to give JBL time off wrestling due to his serious back injury. At ECW One Night Stand , JBL announced that he would take Tazz 's place as the new color commentator for SmackDown! . He made his debut as a color commentator on the June 16 episode of SmackDown! . JBL noted in
3402-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
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#17328011438713564-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3726-471: A match with Fatu which he won in eight seconds. Following a handicap match loss to Jesse James on December 9, Bradshaw attacked Zebekiah, who accidentally cost them the match. Afterwards, Bradshaw would work in house shows until February 1997. In February 1997, Layfield paired up with his storyline cousin Barry Windham to form The New Blackjacks , Layfield cut off his long hair and completed with
3888-546: A member of the All Japan branch of Team 2000 . In November 2001, Barton and Steele entered the 2001 G1 Tag League and made it to the finals, where they lost to Tencozy . In the spring of 2002, Barton entered the 2002 Champion Carnival, making it to the finals but losing to Keiji Mutoh . On July 20, Barton and Steele won The Stan Hansen Cup Four Way against The Varsity Club , KroniK , and George Hines & Johnny Smith . On August 30, Barton and Steele challenged Kronik for
4050-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4212-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4374-476: A rematch on the February 11 episode of Raw , which Jericho won. On February 18 on Raw , JBL interfered in the scheduled steel cage match between Mr. McMahon and his storyline illegitimate son, Hornswoggle . After Vince whipped Hornswoggle with his belt, JBL attacked Finlay from behind and handcuffed him to the top rope. After Mr. McMahon left the ring, JBL proceeded to beat Hornswoggle throwing him against
4536-491: A rough-mannered, brawling, blustering, bad-tempered and bigmouthed Texas elite businessman, driven into the arena by limousine . The gimmick was built off of Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Later that year, he captured the WWE Championship and held it for 280 days. A month before his in-ring retirement at 2009's WrestleMania 25 , he became Intercontinental Champion , which made him
4698-584: A shot at the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Jarrett at No Way Out of Texas: In Your House and won by disqualification , but Jarrett retained the title because a title cannot change hands by a disqualification. In 1998, he wrestled as a mid-carder wrestling the likes of Marc Mero at Mayhem in Manchester, Kaientai ( Funaki , Dick Togo , and Men's Teioh ) with Taka Michinoku in
4860-521: A steel chair. On the November 13 episode of SmackDown! , Bradshaw defeated A-Train . At Survivor Series , Bradshaw was part of Kurt Angle 's team, as they faced Brock Lesnar's team in a five-on-five tag team match. Bradshaw managed to eliminate A-Train, before he himself was eliminated by Big Show. His team eventually won the match. Bradshaw was defeated by A-Train on the November 20 episode of SmackDown! , ending their brief feud. At WWE Tribute to
5022-529: A suit, cowboy hat, and tie. He began his first main event push as Kurt Angle and Big Show were injured and Brock Lesnar left the company, with someone needed to face the current WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. He began referring to himself as John Bradshaw Layfield , or JBL . His finishing move's name was part of the overhaul, becoming the Clothesline From Wall Street until he later changed it back to its original name. His first promo
Bart Gunn - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-695: A surprising knockout on August 24. Utilizing his enormous brute strength, Gunn defeated The Godfather in the semi-finals, and Bradshaw in the finals to win the tournament. According to his interview in the Dark Side of the Ring episode on Brawl For All, he sat home for months following this after being told by Vince Russo that WWF creative had nothing for him at the time. Despite this, while still under WWF contract Gunn would sign with All Japan Pro Wrestling in October 1998, wrestling there for three months up until January 1999. During this time he also worked in
5346-548: A tag team with Kip Winchester in the Tampa, Florida-based International Championship Wrestling Alliance known as the " Long Riders ". Polchlopek was perhaps most famous in the World Wrestling Federation as one-half of the tag team The Smoking Gunns with his kayfabe brother Billy Gunn . They made their debut in April 1993 The team won the Tag Team Championship three times before breaking up and engaging in
5508-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5670-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
5832-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
5994-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
6156-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
6318-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
6480-603: The 2016 WWE draft on July 19, WWE announced on their website that JBL would move to the SmackDown commentary team, joining Mauro Ranallo and David Otunga . Layfield returned to his alma mater, Abilene Christian University , a color commentator for two radio broadcasts as the ACU football team faced Houston Baptist University and Stephen F. Austin State University in September 2016. He made his first appearance on
6642-537: The American Sports Network on October 1, 2016, when ACU hosted the University of Central Arkansas . On the January 17 episode of SmackDown Live , JBL saved Jerry Lawler, after Lawler's interview with Dolph Ziggler , who took credit for Lawler's real-life heart attack in September 2012, before Ziggler viciously kicked Lawler's chest and left the ring. On September 1, 2017, JBL announced that he
Bart Gunn - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-632: The Corporation . As part of the Ministry, Bradshaw feuded with Ken Shamrock . The two stables would soon unite as the Corporate Ministry , but disbanded after Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated the Undertaker at Fully Loaded . When the Undertaker went on hiatus in September, Bradshaw and Faarooq's dark gimmick faded. On the May 31, 1999, episode of Raw Is War , the Acolytes (still with
6966-970: The Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) in Texas. His first gimmick was as "John Hawk," storyline cousin of the Windham brothers. He formed the tag team "Texas Mustangs" with Bobby Duncum Jr. ; they quickly won the GWF Tag Team Championship from Rough Riders (Black Bart and Johnny Mantell) on November 27 but dropped the titles to The Bad Breed ( Ian and Axl Rotten ) on January 29, 1993. In January 1993, Layfield went on his first overseas trip to Japan, wrestling for George and Shunji Takano 's Network of Wrestling. Later that same year, he would also wrestle in Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), wrestling under
7128-778: The Midnight Express tag team as "Bodacious Bart" with partner Bombastic Bob in March 1998. The team had limited success, though they did hold the NWA World Tag Team Championship for a brief period from March to August 1998. In July 1998, Bart Gunn participated in the WWF's shootfight tournament, the Brawl for All . Gunn faced tag partner Bob Holly in the first round, and was declared the winner on points. Gunn next defeated "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , with
7290-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
7452-480: The Royal Rumble , JBL wrestled in his first WWE match in nearly five years as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match . Having been on commentary the whole broadcast, JBL left the commentator's table when his number (#24) came up. However, JBL was quickly eliminated by Roman Reigns while trying to hand his jacket to Michael Cole and resumed his role as commentator for the rest of the broadcast. In July, JBL
7614-423: The SmackDown broadcast team on a full-time basis, alongside Josh Mathews and eventually Michael Cole . On April 1, 2013, JBL became the third commentator for Raw alongside Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. JBL was also part of the commentary team at WWE pay-per-views and commentated at WrestleMania 29 . On September 12, 2013, JBL was named commissioner of NXT , replacing Dusty Rhodes . On January 26, 2014, at
7776-681: The Sweet Chin Music . This ended any employment links between the two with Michaels still receiving the full payment owed to him and end the feud. On the March 9 episode of Raw , JBL defeated CM Punk to win the Intercontinental Championship , thus becoming the tenth Grand Slam Champion and twentieth Triple Crown Champion . He held the title for one month, losing the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 25 against Rey Mysterio in 21 seconds. After
7938-603: The WWF Hardcore Championship from Holly. At WrestleMania XV , Esch brutally knocked out Gunn in 35 seconds. Polchlopek was soon after released by WWF. While still under contract with the WWF, Polchlopek found success wrestling in Japan (due in part to his knockout of Steve Williams, who in Japan was a longtime main-eventer and held a strong reputation for his toughness). After signing with All Japan Pro Wrestling in October 1998, his debut would be announced on
8100-651: The World Tag Team Championship . They held the title for a month and a half, before losing to No Fear on July 23. Following the title loss, Polchlopek stopped using the Bart Gunn name and became known as Mike Barton . In late 1999, Barton and Ace took part in the 1999 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing in 5th place with 9 points. In the spring of 2000, Barton entered the Champion Carnival , defeating Masao Inoue in
8262-506: The global financial crisis and would later become JBL's employee at Armageddon . After failing to secure JBL for the World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at the Royal Rumble , Michaels agreed to take part in an "All or Nothing" match at No Way Out on February 15, 2009. Michaels won the match at No Way Out, after his wife (who was watching in the audience) punched JBL in the face and Michaels planted
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#17328011438718424-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
8586-574: The ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield , is an American retired professional wrestler and football player . He is currently signed to WWE , where he is an ambassador and commentator for the company. Layfield rose to prominence in WWE during its Attitude Era under the ring name Bradshaw , during which time he became a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Ron Simmons as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) or simply
8748-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
8910-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
9072-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
9234-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
9396-487: The 2002 New Japan Triathlon Series in November, teaming with Steele and Yuji Nagata . The team made it to the finals, but lost to Manabu Nakanishi , Osamu Nishimura and Yutaka Yoshie . In February 2003, Barton and Steele entered a #1 Contenders tournament for the IWGP Tag Team Championship . They ultimately emerged victorious, defeating Makai Club members Tadao Yasuda and Kazunari Murakami in
9558-497: The 20th Triple Crown Champion and the 10th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. After his retirement, Layfield became an on-air commentator for WWE programming. Layfield was inducted into the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020. Layfield is currently a finance commentator and is featured regularly on Fox News and Fox Business . He is also employed by Northeast Securities as its senior vice president. Layfield
9720-408: The APA and left. This turned Bradshaw heel . In reality, the WWE had decided to stop using Ron Simmons as an on-air performer due to health issues. He was initially released, but he was later re-hired to work behind the scenes in the WWE under various roles. After the on air character of Faarooq disappeared from WWE television, Bradshaw proceeded to take on a J. R. Ewing esque gimmick, complete with
9882-407: The APA and the Undertaker defeated Stamboli, Palumbo and Nunzio . At Vengeance , Bradshaw won a bar room brawl match which featured Faarooq and a variety of mid-card superstars and other WWE employees. The duo lost to The Basham Brothers at No Mercy . On the October 30 episode of SmackDown! , the APA defeated Big Show and Brock Lesnar by disqualification after Lesnar attacked Faarooq with
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#173280114387110044-652: The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA), with a motto of "because we need beer money." The duo was often seen in the backrooms of arenas with a poker table and later a framed doorway comically in the middle of the often large, open aired hallways, which they insisted anyone who came to speak to them use. The Acolytes earned a shot at the WWF Tag Title at the Royal Rumble against the New Age Outlaws ( Road Dogg and Billy Gunn ), but lost
10206-403: The Acolytes, a feared pair of strong and tough mercenaries who, aside from occasionally wrestling and doing "work" for "clients" spent most of their time sitting around in their "office" playing cards, drinking beer, fighting people backstage and then going out to bars and getting into bar fights. In 2004, Simmons retired and the APA separated, and Layfield was rebranded as the heel character JBL —
10368-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10530-504: The Boogeyman won. His next opponent was Bobby Lashley , whom JBL defeated at No Way Out . On the February 24, 2006, episode of SmackDown! , he suffered a broken hand at the hands of Chris Benoit in a six-man tag team match, and WWE.com announced that he underwent successful surgery. JBL returned and feuded with Benoit, defeating him for his United States Championship at WrestleMania 22 . During this time, Jillian Hall remained at
10692-601: The Brawl For All in a definitive match in the Tokyo Dome . The feud with Williams would culminate into a revenge match on a January 28, 2001, pay-per-view main event, which Williams won. After this, Barton and Williams would regularly wrestle against each other throughout the first half of 2001, before the two would eventually team with each other later that year in October. Jim Steele and Mike Rotunda would join them in three-way or four-way tag team matches whenever
10854-456: The Cabinet on the June 16, 2005, episode of SmackDown! . Amy Weber was also a member, being JBL's image consultant, but later left WWE. WWE explained Weber's absence by saying that JBL fired her after an episode of SmackDown! taped in Japan. That episode saw Weber accidentally shoot JBL with a tranquilizer gun. Jordan is the only member not announced to have left the group, though mention of
11016-522: The Champion Carnival 2002 tournament. Barton ultimately defeated Tenryu, bragging backstage to the camera about his win, where Williams was happy for Barton and they fist pumped each other shouting in excitement. Following the NOAH exodus, Barton formed a new tag team with Jim Steele . In October 2000, Barton entered a tournament for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , losing in
11178-699: The Confederate Wrestling Alliance in Dallas, Texas. In December 1995, Layfield (as "John Hawk") debuted in the World Wrestling Federation , losing to Savio Vega in a dark match . He made his televised debut on the January 27, 1996, episode of WWF Superstars as "Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw," defeating Bob Holly in his debut match. His initial gimmick was that of a rough and tumble Texas cowboy (similar in terms of appearance and character to Stan Hansen ), with Uncle Zebakiah as his manager. After victories, he branded his opponents with
11340-861: The Corporate Ministry) won their first WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating Kane and X-Pac . On the July 5 episode of Raw Is War , they dropped the titles to the Hardy Boyz ( Matt and Jeff ) before defeating the Hardyz and their manager Michael "P.S." Hayes at Fully Loaded for their second WWF Tag Team Championship. On the August 9 episode of Raw Is War , they lost the titles to Kane and X-Pac. The duo became fan favorites and changed their gimmick to that of cigar-smoking bar brawlers for hire. In jeans and T-shirts, Faarooq and Bradshaw became
11502-488: The Inferno match at Armageddon five days earlier ("Rome didn't fall because of the gladiators in the ring. Rome fell because of the spectators in the stands.") On the October 12, 2007, episode of SmackDown! , JBL was announced as one of the options WWE fans would be able to vote for to be the special guest referee at Cyber Sunday for the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and The Undertaker, but he lost
11664-457: The March 18 episode of SmackDown! until losing a tag team "You're Fired" match to WWE Tag Team Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty for the tag team title. general manager Paul Heyman , frustrated by an insult by the APA, told Faarooq that if he did not win the aforementioned match, then "You're Fired." After the match, Bradshaw led Faarooq back to Heyman's office to state they had not been fired, but had resigned. Then, Heyman cleared up
11826-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
11988-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
12150-401: The November 1, 1998, edition of AJPW TV. His first in-ring match and appearance with the company was at a pay-per-view on November 14, going by his WWF ring name Bart Gunn. He would compete in the 1998 World Strongest Tag Determination League, teaming with Johnny Ace , and finishing in 4th place with 8 points. He became a member of Johnny Ace's gaijin (foreign wrestlers) stable, The Movement, and
12312-404: The September 9 episode of SmackDown! in a Texas Bullrope match, ending the feud. On the September 16 episode of SmackDown! , JBL lost to Rey Mysterio . He hired Jillian Hall to "fix" his career. At No Mercy , JBL defeated Mysterio in a rematch. In early 2006, JBL started a feud with The Boogeyman who scared him many times in the new year. The two had a match at the Royal Rumble , which
12474-643: The Troops on December 25 , the APA defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team . Bradshaw entered into the 2004 Royal Rumble match at entry number 5, but quickly was eliminated by Chris Benoit . At No Way Out , the APA faced the World's Greatest Tag Team in a losing effort. At WrestleMania XX in 2004, they unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way tag team match . The gimmick continued on-and-off until
12636-477: The WWE Championship, but since a title cannot change hands by disqualification, Guerrero retained the title. JBL won his sole world championship, the WWE Championship from Guerrero in a Texas Bull Rope match at The Great American Bash . JBL won a rematch in a steel cage two weeks later on the July 15 episode of SmackDown! , again with Angle's assistance. After claiming he would not be defending
12798-438: The WWE. Polchlopek returned to the WWE as Bart Gunn for the December 10, 2007, edition of Raw , where he participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. He was eliminated from the match by Steve Blackman . Afterwards, he retired from professional wrestling. Polchlopek made his mixed martial arts debut against UFC veteran Wesley Correira at Rumble On The Rock: Beatdown on June 17, 2006. He won his debut via TKO after
12960-709: The World Tag Team Championship, but lost. In the fall, Barton and Steele left All Japan. Their last match in AJPW was on October 27, 2002, where they teamed with George Hines to defeat Arashi, Nobukazu Hirai & Nobutaka Araya. Polchlopek had a short stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003 only lasting a month where he wrestled one match where he lost to Perry Saturn . After leaving All Japan, Barton and Steele signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Barton entered
13122-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
13284-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
13446-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
13608-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
13770-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
13932-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
14094-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
14256-506: The course of the night, he attacked The Blue Meanie in a shoot . WWE capitalized on the situation by resigning Meanie to a short-term contract. On the July 7 episode of SmackDown! , Meanie was reunited with his old The Blue World Order associates Nova and Stevie Richards and he defeated JBL with the help of the World Heavyweight Champion Batista , who was drafted to SmackDown! a few weeks after Cena
14418-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
14580-531: The drink in JBL's face. JBL faced Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam , which he would lose after Punk hit him with his finishing move, the Go 2 Sleep . On September 7 at Unforgiven , JBL faced Batista, Kane, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho (who replaced Punk in the match after he was attacked by Randy Orton) in a Championship Scramble match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho went on to win
14742-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
14904-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
15066-664: The finals, but an injury to Steele prevented them from getting the title match. After Steele recovered, he and Barton returned to teaming. In October 2003, they entered the 2003 G1 Tag League. During the tournament, on October 21, the two received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Title against champions Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie, but came up short. Barton and Steele finished the tournament in 5th place with 6 points. On September 15, 2006, Barton had his debut match in Muga World Pro Wrestling , which
15228-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
15390-470: The first round but losing to Takao Omori in the second. On June 9, Barton and Ace took part in a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, and lost in the first round to the eventual tournament winners, The Holy Demon Army . In the summer of 2000, Mitsuharu Misawa left All Japan to form Pro Wrestling Noah , taking most of the native talent with him. Barton, like many of the gaijin, remained in All Japan. Johnny Ace, however, left All Japan during
15552-500: The first round to Genichiro Tenryu . In November, Barton and Steele entered the 2000 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing in 4th place with 10 points. On January 2, 2001, Barton won the annual January 2 Korakuen Hall Battle Royal. In the spring, Barton entered the 2001 Champion Carnival, placing 5th with 13 points. By the end of 2001, Barton had begun making appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as
15714-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
15876-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
16038-415: The independent circuit. After returning to WWF television in February 1999, the WWF sent him to be trained by Ray Rinaldi (notable for training Marc Mero ) for a WrestleMania match against Eric "Butterbean" Esch . Gunn would then briefly feud with both Holly and Williams, both angry at having been beaten in the tournament, the latter masking himself and pushing Gunn off a stage to prevent him from winning
16200-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
16362-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
16524-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
16686-505: The latter's feud against the nWo , teaming up with him against them and had a brief feud with Scott Hall where he faced Hall at Backlash in a losing effort due to interference by X-Pac. Following Austin's walkout on the WWE, Bradshaw joined the hardcore division and won the WWE Hardcore Championship seventeen times, with his first title win coming over Steven Richards on the June 3 episode of Raw . He renamed
16848-424: The match and the World Heavyweight Championship. At No Mercy , JBL was defeated by Batista in a No. 1 Contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Throughout late 2008 and early 2009, JBL had a short rivalry with Shawn Michaels . At Survivor Series in a five on five tag team elimination tag team match in which Michaels' team emerged victorious. Michaels had lost his family's personal savings due to
17010-471: The match, he grabbed a microphone and said "I quit!"; the next day he announced his retirement on his WWE Universe blog. Layfield made his return to WWE on the March 7, 2011, episode of Raw as Michael Cole's choice for special guest referee for his match against Jerry Lawler at WrestleMania XXVII . He cut a promo claiming he was starting his "journey back to the main event at WrestleMania," before being interrupted by Stone Cold Steve Austin just as he
17172-500: The match. Their next shot at the title was at Fully Loaded when they faced Edge and Christian . The Acolytes won the match by disqualification but did not become champions. After unsuccessfully challenging for the tag title in 2000, APA won their third WWF Tag Team Championship on the July 9, 2001, episode of Raw is War by defeating the Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray and D-Von ). On the August 9 episode of SmackDown! , they lost
17334-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
17496-629: The misunderstanding and pointed out that he said that if they did not win the titles, then he told Faarooq "You're fired." His reason for saying this directly to Faarooq was because it applied only to Faarooq because "WWE Management" still saw a lot of potential in Bradshaw. He left them after telling Bradshaw to think about his own future. Faarooq shouted after Heyman that he was not fired because they (Faarooq and Bradshaw) had quit. Bradshaw, however, hesitated. Faarooq took Bradshaw's hesitation to mean that he would not resign, and so Faarooq promptly disbanded
17658-634: The name "Death Mask." From June to December 1995, he wrestled in Austria and Germany for the Catch Wrestling Association, where he won its World Tag Team Championship with Cannonball Grizzly in November 1995. He was set to join Smoky Mountain Wrestling in December 1995, to wrestle Buddy Landel , but this did not happen due to the company closing in November. From December 1995 to February 1996, he performed for
17820-531: The name "Vampiro Americano" and frequently teamed with Vampiro Canadiense . He would also wrestle for Federacion Internacional de Lucha Libre, where he won its Heavyweight Championship. Hawk won his second GWF Tag Team Championship with Black Bart on December 25, 1993, from Steve Dane and Chaz Taylor, eventually losing them to The Fabulous Freebirds ( Jimmy Garvin and Terry Gordy ) on June 3, 1994. In June 1994, he went to Europe and toured Austria and Germany for Otto Wanz 's Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) for
17982-416: The need arose. By late 2001, Williams would be a friend of Bart Gunn, often being by his side and taking part in both backstage and in-ring skits, as well as Williams rooting for Barton in his matches. Most notably, in January 2002 the pair celebrated Abdullah The Butcher's birthday together in the ring singing and telling jokes, as well as Williams cheering Barton on when he was facing Genichiro Tenryu in
18144-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
18306-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
18468-554: The remainder of the year. In January 1995, Layfield joined NWA Dallas. He won the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship on January 14, 1995, defeating Kevin Von Erich . Two months later, he lost the NWA North American title to Greg Valentine . He wrestled for NWA Dallas until May 1995. In June 1995, Layfield returned to Japan, but with NOW recently folded, he went to Genichiro Tenryu 's WAR , where he went by
18630-437: The ring apron, winning the match by escape. On the next episode of SmackDown! , JBL had a "Celebration of Excellence" in which he and his Cabinet celebrated the fact that he was the longest-reigning WWE Champion in ten years, a party which was broken up and ruined by Big Show and newly crowned number one contender John Cena . JBL lost the WWE Championship to John Cena at WrestleMania 21 . Layfield's unbroken nine-month reign
18792-707: The ringside doctor determined Correira was unable to continue fighting after suffering a large cut. In his second and final fight, on November 5, 2006, he faced Ikuhisa Minowa at PRIDE Bushido 13 , losing via unanimous decision. Polchlopek was previously an electrician until 1993, and resumed work as an electrician 15 years later, in addition to doing home construction work. He is a father. He currently resides in Orange Beach, Alabama. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
18954-540: The side of JBL until the April 21 episode of SmackDown! when JBL fired Hall, due to a mistake she made during a steel cage rematch between JBL and Benoit the week before as well as her lack of putting together an "appropriate" celebration for him. JBL, while still United States Champion, challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL tried to weaken then champion Rey Mysterio in the weeks leading up to his title match as Mysterio faced off against any opponent of JBL's choosing, capitalizing on Mysterio claiming that he
19116-528: The sides of the cage. JBL later revealed to McMahon that Hornswoggle was Finlay's storyline son, not McMahon's. On March 29, JBL inducted the Brisco Brothers into the WWE Hall of Fame . On March 30, JBL defeated Finlay in a Belfast Brawl at WrestleMania XXIV . JBL's first championship bid since returning to the ring came by challenging Randy Orton for the WWE Championship and participating in
19278-573: The split and retired from wrestling, taking an office job in WCW and later the WWF . In January 2000, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where Barton was wrestling as a full-time competitor during Williams's absence. On the January 17, 2000, edition of AJPW TV, Williams defeated Barton unexpectedly in a match, with the feud continuing for a week in the house show circuit before being postponed. The storyline would resume in
19440-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
19602-472: The summer of 2000 at a time when Barton was teaming with Giant Kimala and George Hines . Barton and Williams would each win against each other on various TV episodes and house shows in 50/50 booking. In the late summer and fall of 2000, Barton and Williams found themselves in an uneasy alliance where they both had a common enemy in Toshiaki Kawada , who was often defeating both Barton and Williams at
19764-418: The symbol "JB" in ink, rather than being seared into the flesh. Bradshaw remained undefeated for three months until a loss to The Undertaker via disqualification on the April 1 episode of Raw . He lost a Caribbean Strap Match to Savio Vega on the September 22, 1996, PPV In Your House 10: Mind Games . The character fizzled out by the end of the year, perhaps remembered only for a feud with Savio Vega and
19926-518: The tables on JBL, making him take on Bobby Lashley with the United States Championship on the line, and JBL lost the title. Infuriated, JBL went to SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long, telling Long that he wanted a rematch with Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship and that if JBL lost, he would quit. When he lost, the crowd at the arena began to sing "Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye" . JBL later stated that he did not have
20088-480: The tag title at WrestleMania X8 along with Hardys and Dudleys, in a Four Corners Elimination match . The champions Billy and Chuck retained their title. Shortly after WrestleMania, Faarooq and Bradshaw split due to the brand extension . Bradshaw was drafted to Raw where his gimmick had an increased emphasis on his Texas roots, which included him carrying a cowbell to the ring and teaming up with fellow Texan Stone Cold Steve Austin . Bradshaw helped Austin in
20250-485: The tag title to Alliance members Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon . On the October 22 episode of Raw Is War , Bradshaw defeated The Hurricane to win the WWF European Championship , his first singles title in the WWF. He lost the title to Christian on the November 1 episode of SmackDown! . At No Way Out in 2002, APA won a Tag Team Turmoil match and as a result, they challenged for
20412-428: The term cabinet went on hiatus after SummerSlam and Orlando was released from WWE in May 2006. JBL defended the title at Royal Rumble against Big Show and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match when he pinned Angle after the Clothesline From Hell and against Big Show in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage match at No Way Out , when Big Show chokeslammed JBL off the top rope through the ring and JBL later crawled out from under
20574-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
20736-646: The time on TV, as well as a common enemy with Genichiro Tenryu . Barton would ultimately defeat Kawada in tag-team action, but come short against Tenryu in the first round of the Triple Crown Tournament. In December 2000, the storyline animosity between Barton and Williams resumed, where Williams crossed paths with Barton in a tag-team television match during the World's Strongest Tag Determination League 2000 tournament. They were on opposite teams and Williams sought to get even with Barton for his loss in
20898-488: The title at SummerSlam , The Undertaker challenged JBL for the title. Around this time, JBL hired Orlando Jordan to help him in title matches. At SummerSlam, JBL won the match by disqualification after Undertaker hit him with the title belt. After the match, Undertaker chokeslammed JBL through the roof of his limousine. JBL wore a halo complete with his cowboy hat on top for the next few weeks to sell his "injuries," SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long then booked
21060-568: The title the Texas Hardcore Championship. It was also during this time that his finishing move was briefly renamed from the "Clothesline From Hell" to the "Clothesline From Texas" or the "Clothesline From Deep in the Heart of Texas." Jim Ross often called the move as such during his commentary, although the name eventually reverted to the original "Clothesline From Hell." In the hardcore division, Bradshaw feuded and exchanged
21222-504: The title with the likes of Richards, Shawn Stasiak , Raven , Christopher Nowinski , Big Show , Justin Credible , Johnny Stamboli , Crash Holly , Jeff Hardy , and Tommy Dreamer , before the title was unified by WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam in August 2002. In September 2002, Bradshaw suffered a torn left biceps at a house show . He was out of action for six months until returning to Ohio Valley Wrestling and then
21384-417: The title. On the December 17, 2007, episode of Raw , JBL announced that he would resume his wrestling career in response to a challenge made by Jericho. On the December 21 episode of SmackDown! , JBL gave his farewell address from SmackDown!, officially marking his return to Raw on December 31. Jericho was disqualified in their match at the Royal Rumble after hitting JBL with a chair. The duo battled in
21546-901: The traditional "Blackjack" handlebar mustaches and short, dyed black hair. In late 1997 Bradshaw traveled to the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) where he competed as a singles wrestler (without Windham). During his time in the USWA he helped his former manager in the WWF, Dutch Mantel (also known in the WWF as Uncle Zebekiah) defeat Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship . Windham's injuries piled up throughout 1997 and Layfield wrestled only occasionally on TV as Blackjack Bradshaw worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling from November to December of that year. The team disbanded in January 1998. He earned
21708-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
21870-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
22032-411: The two continued to team. Both would regularly wrestle until January 22, 1999, when Gunn returned to the WWF to fulfil the rest of his WWF contractual obligations. Upon being released from the WWF after WrestleMania XV , he would return to AJPW in May 1999, still maintaining fanfare and momentum even after the loss to Butterbean. On June 9, Gunn and Ace defeated Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama to win
22194-616: The vote to Stone Cold Steve Austin. At Cyber Sunday, he issued a heated altercation towards those running alongside him, ultimately receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin. After this, he became physical as a color commentator, attacking both Batista and The Undertaker in the middle of a match as revenge after he was speared by Batista and later chokeslammed by The Undertaker after taunting them consecutively, in events leading up to Cyber Sunday. He justified these actions by explaining, "I am retired, not dead" (and that he [Layfield] should be respected). In December 2007 at Armageddon , JBL
22356-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
22518-465: The way that Jesse Ventura did before me." JBL returned to the ring on November 13, 2006, in the main event of a WWE house show in Dublin , Ireland. JBL teamed with Mr. Kennedy and King Booker against The Brothers of Destruction ( Kane and The Undertaker ), and Batista. On the December 22 episode of SmackDown! , JBL cut a promo berating Theodore Long and cursing out the fans for cheering during
22680-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
22842-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
23004-410: Was "a man of his word," and would take on anyone. Mysterio was defeated by Mark Henry and squashed by The Great Khali in non-title singles matches before facing Raw's Kane in a match, that went to a no-contest. This was leading to their title match at Judgment Day , which Mysterio won and retained the title by pinning JBL after a frog splash . On the May 26 episode of SmackDown! , Mysterio turned
23166-473: Was a victory over Tatsutoshi Goto , then had another 4 matches in the company. His last match in the company was a victory over Katsushi Takemura on September 25, 2006. Afterwards, Barton left the company. Wrestling as Mike Barton, he and Jim Steele would wrestle two tryout matches for World Wrestling Entertainment in December 2003, which were dark matches that never aired on television. They won both matches, although ultimately neither ended up signing with
23328-511: Was about to sign the contract. After a brief argument between the two, Austin hit Layfield with the Stone Cold Stunner and signed the contract to be the special guest referee. On March 31, 2012, Layfield inducted his former tag team partner and real life best friend Ron Simmons into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame . On July 23 Layfield returned with Simmons at Raw 1000 as the APA , after being called for protection by Lita . After
23490-488: Was billed as the longest in a decade, lasting 280 days. On the April 28 episode of SmackDown! , JBL defeated Big Show, Booker T, and Kurt Angle in a fatal four-way elimination match to earn a rematch for the WWE Championship, but lost to Cena at Judgment Day in an "I Quit" match . On June 12, JBL appeared at the WWE-promoted ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view as an anti-ECW "crusader." In
23652-468: Was born on December 27, 1965, in Titusville, Florida . He was a big fan of wrestling, often watching Championship Wrestling from Florida , and enjoyed seeing Eddie and Mike Graham and Jack and Jerry Brisco . Polchlopek was trained to wrestle by Caesar Barraza, Blackjack Mulligan , Tim Parker and Boris Malenko . He made his debut in 1991. In 1992, Polchlopek (wrestling as "Brett Colt") formed
23814-543: Was born on November 29, 1966, in Sweetwater, Texas . Layfield was a collegiate American football player for Trinity Valley Community College and for Abilene Christian University . At Abilene, Layfield was a two-year starter on the offensive line and was named first-team All- Lone Star Conference as a junior and senior. Layfield signed with the Los Angeles Raiders as an undrafted free agent , but
23976-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
24138-451: Was drafted to Raw . JBL and Batista then met in a match at The Great American Bash for the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL won the match by disqualification, after Batista hit JBL with a steel chair, but since a title does not change hands by disqualification, Batista retained the title. At SummerSlam , Batista defeated JBL in a No Holds Barred match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL lost another rematch with Batista on
24300-523: Was officially announced that JBL would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of WrestleMania 36 week however the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On November 22, 2020, he made an appearance at Survivor Series during The Undertaker's retirement ceremony. During WrestleMania 37 week, JBL was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020 during the 2021 ceremony following
24462-505: Was on June 9, 1997, on an episode of Raw Is War against Rockabilly , where he was defeated. He disappeared from the roster afterward. Gunn would then have a brief stint in Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling where he won their championship from Lance Diamond on May 3, 1997. Then he would drop the title to Ace Darling on September 26, 1997. Under his new manager Jim Cornette , Polchlopek recreated
24624-408: Was on the border between Texas and Mexico, where he hunted for incoming illegal immigrants to win a "Great American Award," which granted the winner number one contendership to the WWE Championship . He won, thanks to the then-SmackDown! general manager Kurt Angle , and immediately challenged Eddie Guerrero for the title. At Judgment Day , he defeated Guerrero via disqualification in a match for
24786-460: Was present at the SmackDown! announcer's table during the WWE Championship match. During this match, Randy Orton whipped a charging Chris Jericho over the announcer table where JBL was situated, and in the heat of the match, Jericho "pushed" JBL out of the way. Minutes later, an infuriated JBL kicked Jericho in the head, leading to a disqualification victory for Jericho meaning that Orton retained
24948-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
25110-539: Was released before the 1990 season began. Layfield did play in the World League of American Football , starting all ten games of the 1991 season at right tackle for the San Antonio Riders , wearing jersey number 61. Future Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was the quarterback of that team. Layfield was trained initially by Black Bart and Brad Rheingans . He debuted in September 1992 in
25272-609: Was retired as NXT general manager and succeeded by William Regal . On the January 19, 2015, episode of Raw , JBL, along with Ron Simmons (a fellow member of The Acolytes Protection Agency ), the New World Order and The New Age Outlaws attacked The Ascension and then, JBL would perform a Clothesline from Hell on Viktor . On the March 30 episode of Raw , JBL, along with Booker T and Michael Cole, were injured by Brock Lesnar after Seth Rollins refused Lesnar his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Following
25434-420: Was scoring an upset victory over Triple H by disqualification on Superstars. He also participated in the 1997 Royal Rumble match being eliminated by Steve Austin. He would defeat Triple H by countout on February 17 on Raw after Goldust chased Triple H into the crowd. Gunn would later become a jobber in 1997 losing to the likes of Faarooq , Triple H , Ahmed Johnson and Vader . His final match in this run
25596-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
25758-721: Was stepping away from the SmackDown Live commentary team to focus on humanitarian work in and out of WWE, mainly as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador. The APA made an appearance at the Raw 25 Years show on January 22, 2018, playing poker with other legends and superstars. Layfield occasionally works on commentary during the Tribute to the Troops events with the latest one occurred on December 4, 2018 (aired on December 20) in Fort Hood. On March 3, 2020, during WWE Backstage it
25920-518: Was that of a dark duo known for their unrepentant savagery against their opponents, occult symbols painted on their chest and the Necronomicon "gate of Yog-Sothoth " pentagram symbol on their black tights. Bradshaw would grow a goatee and let his hair go long. After the Jackyl left the WWF, Faarooq and Bradshaw joined The Undertaker 's new Ministry of Darkness . The Ministry went on to feud with
26082-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
26244-518: Was with CM Punk , the reigning World Heavyweight Champion . During the feud, JBL insulted Punk's straight-edge lifestyle, calling it "boring." On the August 11 edition of Raw , JBL challenged Punk to a contest he claimed that Punk would not be able to win, which was revealed to be an alcohol drinking contest where he challenged Punk to drink a shot of Jack Daniel's whiskey to prove that he would do anything to remain champion. Punk refused, not wanting to risk compromising his beliefs, before throwing
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