Making JBL champ was a bad mistake

[Brad Boyd]

When they made JBL champ smackdown numbers apparently hit new lows. I think someone might actually point out that JBL did better numbers than Eddie Guerreros reign, but fuck that. It was literally the dumbest thing ever to give this guy a long title reign. He was good and all but how good to even deserve such a long reign? He never became a champion after that. He was the guy putting over Cena... lol these two guys just make me think about WWE going on a swift decline from then on. Wasn't John Cena the chain gang guy at that time and then the the belt turned into a spinner a year later.. fast forward what 3-4 years later he's spray painting JBL is "poopy" on his limo.

 

[CakeWalker]

I mean if Eddie had worse numbers than JBL - this whole debate falls flat on its face.

 

[CakeWalker]

Also four years later - the WWE would have become PG.

 

[Lethal]

Without JBL being the "final boss," Cena doesn't hit the peak that he does in 2005. Bradshaw's reign accomplished what it needed to do.

 

[Chris]

Yes and no I think. The only reason JBL got the reign is bc the roster took a lot of hits for various reasons in 2004 and for whatever reason they didn't take any Raw stars to help. And SmackDown mostly sucked in 2004 but JBL was a highlight. So the reason smackdown sucked was the reason JBL got his title reign but he made the most of it and if it weren't for him SmackDown would have been even worse IMO.

 

[Hoss]

JBL is the best thing to happen to wrestling in the 21st century.

Evidence: I liked him

 

[RLStern]

IWC liking JBL’s run as champion is proof that they shouldn’t be taken serious and are a niche.

Drew record low rating, nobody was entertained

 

[Brad Boyd]

IWC liking JBL’s run as champion is proof that they shouldn’t be taken serious and are a niche.

Drew record low rating, nobody was entertained

Look at this way. Check the ratings for Smackdown in 2004. The lowest rated Smackdown while Eddie was champion was 2.8 while JBl was champion the lowest rated smackdown was 2.5. Numbers started to go up in 2005 in the 3s. Who knows if Eddie would've gotten better numbers if he was champion for that length though. I say this because I've heard the argument that Eddie drew less as champion than JBL but when you point out the ratings it's a whole different story.

 

[Deezy]

Ratings talk

 

[Brad Boyd]

Later on Batista would top that record. I don't know if that was entirely his fault. But Smackdown got a 1.7 in 2005 during his reign while I think 2.5 was the record low on Smackdown during JBLs.

 

[Buffy]

I actually didn't mind JBL being the WWE Champion right after Brock left. Since Brock left the company, JBL was the new big heel on Smackdown. You couldn't go to Big Show for that since he was taking time off for awhile. You couldn't go with Kurt since he was being the GM at the time. JBL was the heel that they needed to spark some fuel. I loved his feuds with Eddie Guerrero, Undertaker, Big Show soon later and John Cena. He was that kind of heel that you wanted to see get his ass kicked because he was good and also a faction to back him up at any given time. It was good for business on Smackdown. I can care less about the ratings on this topic either.

 

[RDK]

JBL pretty much made Cena putting him way over with some increidble heel work

I'd say that makes him a success given Cena carried the company for the following decade

 

[CakeWalker]

John Cena was made because of JBL.
JBL got a reward for a career as a dedicated worker.
Fuck the ratings!

 

[King Kota]

Jbl was the perfect heel champion

 

[Jimmy King]

JBL was the perfect heel because he was the heel that you wanted to see get his comeuppance, and his feud with Cena was great because he was a great foil to babyface rapper Cena.