As a fan of creativity in every realm, I often wonder, “What was I doing when…?” Genius is often happening right around us. Unfortunately we may not know when, where and how this genius is being put together.
It was around this time a year ago that wrestling’s resident genius had an idea that would push his credibility to the limits. But his roll of the dice put something much more at risk than his credibility. This gamble put our manhood on the line.
A year ago, the wrestling world was waiting to see how it would “all begin again.” The draft lottery, the end of He-Who-Must -Not-Be Named’s brief run in the WWE, Brock’s prospects in the NFL and another hiatus by Stone Cold had many of us wondering about the future of our pastime. But it was a small and little discussed decision that ended up changing the wrestling landscape forever.
No one thought that the break up of the Acolytes Protection Agency would produce a champion that would elevate himself to one of the top three champions of all time. No one except Vince McMahon. This time, Vince produced perfection and now “god” is spelled J.B.L.
The impressive reign of JBL is nearly eight months long. He’s survived a Last Ride Match against Undertaker, defeated Booker T at Survivor Series, won an exhausting Fatal Four Way at Armageddon and a brutal Triple Threat Match at the Royal Rumble.
This blurb from WWE.com only begins to touch upon the greatness that has been JBL for the past 8 months. JBL did what no one expected in his match with Eddie Guerrero at the Great American Bash. Latino Heat was extinguished and has not regained one single degree of that heat since. For those of us with short term memory problems. Eddie was on fire heading into his match with JBL. Eddie capped a fantastic 12 months where he won tag gold, the U.S. title, and by winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar. Many of us scratched our heads, cursed our TV’s and boycotted the product when we found out that newly single wrestler, “Bradshaw” was getting a title match.
Bradshaw’s prior claim to fame was being the first hardcore champion with a specialty belt. I am sure that you remember the title he wore with the long horns protruding from the face of the title. But I digress. Bradshaw was good as partners with Ron Simmons but he never showed that he had “it.”
But it is usually hidden from the prying eyes of fans looking for potential spoilers. My sister that only watched wrestling to see the Rock’s bared chest peeked to UPN to see if the Rock was making his return one Thursday. What she saw was the creation of a legendary champion. This episode of Smackdown! showed Bradshaw playing the role of border agent. Stick erect, hat tilted, flashlight firmly in hand, JBL chased and yelled at American hopefuls as they tried to make their way to the promised land. She got so angry that she herself flooded the WWE’s inbox with how disgusted she was. She forgot that she was watching a show. And that’s how good JBL is. Racy and funny, that’s what makes a segment great. But the buck does not stop there. JBL found a way to insult everyone from here to Asia and back. The Germans almost lynched him after his goose-stepping incident. At that time JBL took the wrestling world back to the 80s when we all thought that wrestling was real. The number of columns that flooded the internet replicated the flood that made Noah famous. Column after column, email after email. JBL had proven himself a great heel. He is not the kind of heel that HHH is. HHH gets envy boos. JBL gets hate mail. There is a difference. You get emotions that you did not know exists when JBL opens his fat mouth. He is a politician in spandex. A bigot in calf high boots. JBL is the new way to spell GOD.
At No Way Out. JBL will inevitably successfully defend his title. He never wins legitimately but he does not cheat either. He frustrate us like none before. Jericho’s championship run was smeared with pathetic attempts to cheat. JBL fins every loophole in the system. The Great Wall of China could be placed in his way and he will find a way around it. A general manger has never tried to unseat a champion the way Teddy Long has tried to remove JBL from his reign. Fatal Four Ways, Triple Threats, banishment of his cabinet from ringside. JBL, like a god says, no problem.
No one has done more with less. No one has overcome a previous character the way Bradshaw has. No one remembers that his head was covered in long, stringy, black hair. Or that beer was his best friend. JBL gets a reaction that no other wrestler has gotten for a long time. Pure hate.
So the next time you try to write the word “god” remember that its proper spelling is JBL.
