John Bradshaw Layfield is one of the few wrestlers in WWE history who found success at a much later stage in his career after betting on himself and transforming into the JBL character in the spring of 2004.
John would go on to be the longest-running champion in the history of SmackDown and have the longest WWE Championship reign, at that time, since Diesel almost a decade prior. However, it all came to an end at WrestleMania 21 in 2005 when John Cena finally captured his first championship after defeating Bradshaw in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
JBL recently appeared on UnSKripted with Dr. Chris Featherstone where he reflected on his career. In the interview, he would go on to say that defending the WWE Championship at WrestleMania was the highlight of his career.
“No doubt about it, going out against Cena, I think it was WrestleMania 21 at the Staples Center, that was such a thrill, man, to go out in the main event of WrestleMania as the champion. I’m such a huge wrestling fan and remember all the WrestleManias growing up as a kid, from WrestleMania one, two, three. I remember the buildup to the big body slam of The Giant with Hulk Hogan. So getting to be in WrestleMania, then also getting to walk out as champion, I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment that will be any more cool than that.”
Bradshaw, who retired fully at WrestleMania 25 in 2009, says that he would be open-minded about returning to WWE and he has a storyline in mind for his comeback which he is keeping close to the vest.
"I would love a return. I loved the business. I loved every second of it. I retired when I had to not because I wanted to, you know, because of the injuries. So, if I can do it, I would love to. I don't know if I physically could or not, it's been years since I've been in the ring. I think it's been around 10 or 11 years, so I'm not sure a return is feasible. But would I love one? My god, absolutely. I've got a storyline for it too, by the way. I've got a wonderful storyline."
He continued, "I'm not sharing it with anybody. I've shared it with one person. That's about it. The odds are, I would bet overwhelmingly it never happens. Because I don't think physically I can do it. But I would love to. When you're an old wrestler, you always sit around and think 'Hey what would I do if I can go back now?' So you sit around and you come up with this crazy idea, that's what that is inside my head, coming up with this crazy storyline."
You can check out the full interview embedded above.
Bradshaw was supposed to be inducted into the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame class before the global pandemic canceled all WrestleMania weekend events.
