Former WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfied (aka JBL) will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020, according to a new report from Wrestling Inc.’s Raj Giri. Layfield wrestled in the WWE from 1995-2009, first as a tag team wrestler in the New Blackjacks and Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) and later as a singles star and world champion. Layfield’s greatest success came in 2004 when he won the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero and held it for 280 days before dropping it to John Cena at WrestleManai 21.
Layfield retired from in-ring action in 2009 after losing the Intercontinental Championship to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania XXV in just 20 seconds. He had multiple stints as a color commentator for WWE programming up until 2017. His APA tag team partner Ron Simmons was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
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So far the only inductions into the Class of 2020 are Batista and the New World Order (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman). However The Bella Twins, Jushin “Thunder Liger” and Davey Boy Smith (aka British Bulldog) have all been rumored for this year’s class.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in,” Batista said when his induction was announced. “And I was thinking about it because I mean, it seems like a long journey, but it also feels like yesterday when I started my career. And it also feels … because I’m still working so much, it doesn’t feel like an end of a journey.”
“And I said that at WrestleMania last year: It’s the end of my in-ring journey, but it’s not the end of my journey with the WWE,” he added. “I will always be connected with them, I’ll always be affiliated with them, I hope that I will always have a good relationship with them. So it doesn’t really feel like an ending for me, it feels like, kind of, I’m right in the mix. … All I can say is it feels good, it’s just satisfying. I feel like I accomplished something. I feel like it was all worth it.”
WWE’s next pay-per-view, Super ShowDown, takes place on Feb. 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Check out the full card for the show below:
- WWE Universal Championship: Bray Wyatt vs. Goldberg
- WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Carmella/Naomi
- Raw Tag Team Championships: Seth Rollins and Murphy vs. The Street Profits
- SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The New Day vs. The Miz and John Morrison
- Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (Steel Cage)
- AJ Styles vs. Andrade vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Erick Rowan vs. R-Truth vs. Rusev (Gauntlet Match)
