Did JBL deserve being WWE champ?

[Essential1]

As much as I like him as a commentator I must say looking back I thought it seemed desperate for them to make him champ. It made me feel like they were running out of ideas or that he was promised this big push years ago and then they gave him the chance at the last minute once Faarooq hung up the boots.

It would of made sense if he had been pushed properly but he went from jobber to money man JBL and suddenly we were supposed to buy him as a main eventer. It's the kind of stuff you would expect them to do in the IC title division.

[Hit Girl]

No, not at all.

[salz4life]

When they first began the push, I was unsure..... but he played that role so well that I think he definitely deserved the run.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

JBL wasn't really a "jobber" per se ("Jobber" and "midcarder" are not interchangeable, no matter what WWE says now). He was always somewhat credible once the Acolytes became the APA. And he had a finisher that was booked as deadly. He was just using that deadly finisher on higher profile opponents.

[Sparkybob]

Well he went from not being able to win tag team matches on heat to being able to stand toe to toe to eddie a month later. I love Jibble but it was obvious that push was the wwe trying to make a main event heel as quick as possible. Plus Eddie wanted JBL to do well so he can take the pressure off of him from being champ and caring the show.

[Beav]

He was great, one of the best heels of the era. Plus he was company loyal. He earned it... eventually.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Jan 30, 2013 15:17:16 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

Well he went from not being able to win tag team matches on heat to being able to stand toe to toe to eddie a month later. I love Jibble but it was obvious that push was the wwe trying to make a main event heel as quick as possible. Plus Eddie wanted JBL to do well so he can take the pressure off of him from being champ and caring the show.

But then again Eddie himself was a career midcarder as well until he got the upset victory over Lesnar. So it wouldn't be too hard for another career midcarder to put up a decent fight. And if JBL had not been a career midcarder, we probably wouldn't have been able to buy Cena beating him a year later.

[Push R Truth]

Who actually deserves it and what the hell does deserve even mean in a predetermined sport?


In my opinion, you don't really know until after they lose it. If the title is in a roughly equal or higher status... yes.

So with that said, my answer is Yes. JBL did the title justice.

[S-Chrome]

At first, I was skeptical. But through the fall of 2004, he made me a believer as he grew into the main event heel role exponentially. So, yeah, I think he deserved it.

[Unocal 76]

SmackDown needed a main heel with Brock leaving and Big Show out for a few months.

[Essential1]

Who actually deserves it and what the hell does deserve even mean in a predetermined sport?

Deserve...

Well was he over enough? was he built up enough prior to the dominance he had in 2004. I'd say no and he shoudn't of been the WWE champion so soon after being a lower midcarder.

[Sparkybob]

Jan 30, 2013 15:18:39 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Jan 30, 2013 15:17:16 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

Well he went from not being able to win tag team matches on heat to being able to stand toe to toe to eddie a month later. I love Jibble but it was obvious that push was the wwe trying to make a main event heel as quick as possible. Plus Eddie wanted JBL to do well so he can take the pressure off of him from being champ and caring the show.

But then again Eddie himself was a career midcarder as well until he got the upset victory over Lesnar. So it wouldn't be too hard for another career midcarder to put up a decent fight. And if JBL had not been a career midcarder, we probably wouldn't have been able to buy Cena beating him a year later.

Correct if I am wrong but Bradshaw never beat or was in solo programs with main eventers during the 2002-2003 era right? So I think that could be part of it since the wwe never showcased Bradshaw as this main eventer. Then BAM in one showed Bradshaw turned into JBL and interfered in Eddies match and starting his title feud. So they did push his character out of necesity yes, but still the wwe forced the crowd to accept Jibble as this humungous threat a couple weeks after he lost in fatal 4 way tag match on Mania. Eddie on the other hand was part of the smackdown six and at least the general crowd was used to seeing eddie look tough in big matches. Plus being extremely over with the crowd tends to help by pass not having so much credibility.

Plus Cena had built a lot of credibility by the time he got to Jibble. He beat show at the prior mania, beat Booker in a best of 5, lasted to the final 2 at the rumble and then beat Angle at No way out to get the title shot. That surely is more singles accomplishments that Bradshaw had.

I do think that JBL deserve the championship in retrospect, but it is not unfair to say that it took people a while to see JBL as an actual main eventer.

[Bub (BLM)]

He was the best heel in the company, Triple H be damned. He definitely deserved it. He was also the perfect guy to put Cena over as champ, so it all worked out.

[543Y2J]

Jan 30, 2013 15:48:45 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

He was the best heel in the company, Triple H be damned. He definitely deserved it. He was also the perfect guy to put Cena over as champ, so it all worked out.

This

[Deleted]

His first 6 months as champion were utterly horrendous.

That series with Undertaker produced some of the most dire 'Taker matches ever. And the Booker match at Survivor Series has to be one of the most boring WWE title matches of the decade, right up there with HHH/Kozlov 4 years later.

He got better from Armageddon onwards but not enough for me to forget how much I hated the first half year and ever be able to look back on the reign favorably.

[Straight Edge Scrotum]

Yes, he absolutely did. JBL was a hilarious champion.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Watch him wrestle Eddie Guerrero. Those matches are astonishing. Yes, he deserved it.

[BHB]

I hated it at first but now I love it.

I love when a guy whose been on the roster for years is able to break through to the top. It's a shame that Regal ruined his chance to do that :-(

[dpg]

When he first became champ he bored me so badly I stopped watching smackdown completely. His push was so huge it was like a freight train, plus his matches were sloppy and god awful. Him, plus a few other things, stopped me watching WWE so much.

[donbot]

In retrospect he did. He was a company man for the better part of the decade. I just he got built up up in the IC/US title division first. That way, when he enters the main event scene, it would be alot easier to buy. Surprisingly enough, he didn't feel out of place(to me) being in the WWE championship match against John Cena at Wrestlemania 21.