JBL Dismisses Claims Vince McMahon Considered Giving Raw’s TV Slot To WCW

WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield has dismissed persistent rumours that Vince McMahon ever seriously considered handing over the Monday Night Raw TV timeslot to WCW following the purchase of the company in 2001.

Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast with host Conrad Thompson, JBL said that although McMahon mentioned the idea, he never believed it was a genuine possibility.

“I always knew Vince would change his mind,” he explained. “I would have bet everything I had that Vince would have changed his mind, and I’m not sure Vince did anything more than give that a little bit of lip service. I don’t believe any of that. I believe Vince said it, and I heard him talk about it.”

JBL also shared his thoughts on why the much-hyped WCW invasion storyline ultimately disappointed fans. Running from March to November 2001, the angle saw several WCW talents appear on WWE programming but failed to live up to expectations.

“We had Booker, we had Dallas, and we had a few of the guys that were great hands, Sean O’Hara and Palumbo; those guys were terrific workers,” he said. “But we didn’t get the NWO, we didn’t get Bret, we didn’t get any of those guys, so I just don’t think it would ever work.”

JBL highlighted that the absence of WWE’s top names early on hurt the storyline’s chances, noting that he and Ron Simmons, rather than main event stars, led the initial charge.

“Look at the WCW invasion angle. Who was the lead against it? Me and Ron. We weren’t your main event guys either,” he said. “Because of that, you could look at it and say, ‘It’s not going to work.’”

Several major WCW stars chose not to join WWE immediately, opting instead to sit out their lucrative Time Warner contracts.

Which Fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Did JBL Say Once Jumped Out Of A Moving Plane?

JBL recalled how Rocky Johnson, the father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, once jumped out of a moving plane. He recalled how Gerald Brisco decided to go into the private aircraft’s bathroom before take-off to smoke marijuana. This caused the cabin to fill up with smoke, which made Johnson believe the plane would imminently explode. Johnson then opened the vehicle’s door whilst it was taxiing toward the runway and leapt out of the craft.

H/t to ITRWrestling.com