Malcom Bivens and JBL shared a moment in 2004 that set Bivens up for eventual success in WWE and is, perhaps, the greatest moment in JBL's WWE Hall of Fame career.
The July 1 episode of SmackDown from 2004 was significant in that it was the first time JBL, John Bradshaw Layfield, addressed the WWE Universe as WWE Champion. Bradshaw would go on to hold that championship until WrestleMania 21 when he would lose the title to John Cena.
That WWE Championship reign would go down as the longest WWE Championship reign in SmackDown history at the time and was the longest in ten years since Diesel had held the championship from 1994 to 1995.
Now, as revealed on The Bump, it is very clear to see what gave Bradshaw the ability to hold the title for so long and it all started on day one.
That particular episode of SmackDown was taped on June 29, 2004, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In attendance, that evening, was a young Malcolm Bivens and as it was revealed on today's episode of WWE's The Bump, Malcolm and Bradshaw shared a handshake that will go down in history as one of the most epic handshakes in WWE history, even greater than the legendary Mega Power handshake between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.
Reflecting on that moment, Malcolm Bivens would say that he was a huge fan of JBL and this table of his that would go on to be known as The Cabinet.
Who knew @Malcolmvelli was on #SmackDown in 2004?!
— WWE (@WWE) December 22, 2021
As @JCLayfield would say ... WE LOVE IT!
-- @WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/dD0yTfxNAl
"It did [set Bivens up for greatness]. Also, that was a big-ass camera that I had. I think that was a Panasonic but yes, at that time I was a big fan of JBL, still am, The Cabinet. That was my jam. That was my jam. Orlando Jordan, The Basham Brothers. Man, I remember that show vividly. Yeah, I had the time of my life. I think I was, I don't want to date myself. I think I was 16- 17 years old. Yeah, and I slipped him a business card on the low, y'all didn't see it. You know, I was broke back then, so I just wrote on a piece of paper," said Bivens.
Now, Malcolm Bivens leads his own stable, which is arguably already as well-known as The Cabinet, Diamond Mine.
You can catch Diamond Mine every Tuesday on WWE NXT. Fightful has live coverage of WWE NXT 2.0 as it airs on the USA Network, beginning every Tuesday at 8 p.m. eastern time.
