Was JBL a once a lifetime talent?

[Senhor Perfect]

Always bored me tbh. whomever said he's a cheaper version of Hansen/Gordy is pretty spot on. The biggest difference is that Hansen/Gordy were much more intimidating and their work was super snug. JBL just seemed kinda lazy in ring.

 

[Red Rain]

I guess it just escapes me that a guy who's 6'7 and has a silver tongue gets lost in the tag team division and isn't discovered until he's 38 years of age.
I've never seen it happen, yet somehow it worked. They could have actually pulled the trigger as early as July 2003 when his financial book first hit shelves.
I'm not sure we'll ever see a phenomenon like that again simply because WWE labels people so early and its a tough hill to overcome.
For JBL to overcome a stigma the likes of Cody Rhodes, Ryder, Goldust (and so on) makes him entirely unique in my estimation.

Whereas the Undertaker was predominantly made on production value, JBL was entirely his own creation (some might call an extension of McMahon himself).

 

[edge4ever]

I guess it just escapes me that a guy who's 6'7 and has a silver tongue gets lost in the tag team division and isn't discovered until he's 38 years of age.
I've never seen it happen, yet somehow it worked. They could have actually pulled the trigger as early as July 2003 when his financial book first hit shelves.
I'm not sure we'll ever see a phenomenon like that again simply because WWE labels people so early and its a tough hill to overcome.
For JBL to overcome a stigma the likes of Cody Rhodes, Ryder, Goldust (and so on) makes him entirely unique in my estimation.

Whereas the Undertaker was predominantly made on production value, JBL was entirely his own creation (some might call an extension of McMahon himself).

Happens all the time with talent. Not really pushed to their maximum. And I'm surprised he didn't have a couple more world title runs.

 

[The GOAT]

I guess it just escapes me that a guy who's 6'7 and has a silver tongue gets lost in the tag team division and isn't discovered until he's 38 years of age.
I've never seen it happen, yet somehow it worked. They could have actually pulled the trigger as early as July 2003 when his financial book first hit shelves.
I'm not sure we'll ever see a phenomenon like that again simply because WWE labels people so early and its a tough hill to overcome.
For JBL to overcome a stigma the likes of Cody Rhodes, Ryder, Goldust (and so on) makes him entirely unique in my estimation.

Whereas the Undertaker was predominantly made on production value, JBL was entirely his own creation (some might call an extension of McMahon himself).

He was mainly pushed because Brock Lesnar left and put them in dire need of another top heel, Eddie didn't want to hold onto the title any longer (he didn't like the pressure of being world champion, apparently), and Kurt Angle was injured. He also played a huge part in teaching Vince out to play the stock market well, so that's a big factor in being favored, too.

I agree that Vince probably saw the character as an extension of himself as well. Vince used to say that the Million Dollar Man gimmick was who he would have loved to have played if he could have been any of the characters in the WWF, and JBL's rich Republican act was in many ways an alternate/expanded version of Dibiase's persona.