JBL on why he did not like commentary initially

Former WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) recently commented on his transition from being a wrestler to commentator.

Bradshaw made his WWE debut back in 1995. After a lengthy spell with the promotion, the 55-year-old announced his retirement after losing his Intercontinental Championship to Rey Mysterio in just 21 seconds at WrestleMania 25.

He kicked off his commentating journey in 2006 when he announced on ECW's One Night Stand that he will be replacing Tazz on SmackDown.

The WWE Hall of Famer recently appeared on GAW TV and explained that initially, he did not enjoy doing commentary as he wanted to be back in the ring.

“When I first got to be a commentator … I wasn’t that good I don’t think in my mind, because I still wanted to wrestle. But, then when I went back and wrestled for a little bit, realized I was hurt … and went back to do commentary, that’s when I really enjoyed it. Because then I was just a fan, I had no desire to be back in the ring, I just wanted to call the action and do the best I could with it, and I really enjoyed it,” Bradshaw said. [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

JBL hails Vince McMahon as one of the best producers

In the same interview, the former APA member spoke about Vince McMahon as a producer.

JBL becoming WWE Champion was another storyline which was produced and directed by Vince McMahon in 2004-2005. He stated that the Chairman of the company was never rude to him.

“Vince [McMahon] gets a lot of heat over what he produces, and I loved it. By the way, Vince was never rude to me. Not one time, did not yell at me one time. Jerry Lawler says the same thing. Booker T says the same thing. Now he yelled at Michael Cole and he yelled at some other guys, but I think it was the old guys who had been in the ring for him. He just treated us differently. Even when I made mistakes, he was very kind about it, but I loved him being in my ear because he was very succinct.” [H/T WrestleZone]

Bradshaw has had a decorated career in the promotion, which includes winning the WWE, Intercontinental and the United States Championship. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020.