Did JBL ever wrestle after retiring from WWE?

JBL is one of the WWE personalities that fans love to hate due to his in-ring character. Although he retired from active competition in 2009, he returned two years later and started his commentator career in 2013. However, he was still involved in some exciting moments in the ring.

John Bradshaw Layfield announced his retirement after Rey Mysterio defeated him at WrestleMania 25 in only 21 seconds for the Intercontinental Championship. After the short bout, he grabbed the mic and yelled, "I Quit" at the crowd. Still, he returned to the Red brand in 2011 as a guest referee for Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole's match at WrestleMania 27. In 2012, John filled Jerry Lawler's spot on the commentary team and officially re-joined the company later that year as part of the SmackDown team.

Although he was already working as a commentator, he entered the 2014 Royal Rumble match at the 24th spot. Bradshaw stood up from his chair, and just as he entered the ring and gave Cole his suit, he was immediately eliminated by Roman Reigns. Layfield then continued commentating on the match.

He returned to action again in 2015 on a special episode of RAW. Alongside Ron Simmons, APA returned with NWO and The New Age Outlaws, where they took out The Ascension. In March of that same year, Brock Lesnar attacked multiple people that included multiple personalities, one of them being JBL.

The former Intercontinental Champion stepped away from the promotion in 2017 to focus on humanitarian work. However, he appeared on a special RAW 25 years episode the following year with Simmons, where they played poker backstage. He was later inducted into the Hall of Fame class of 2020.

JBL returned to WWE programming with a new role

Last month, fans saw Baron Corbin get into JBL's limo during an episode of the blue brand. In the latest RAW episode, the partnership between the two was made official, with the Hall of Famer revealed as Corbin's ringside manager.

Speaking on RAW Talk, Layfield revealed he was impressed with the former SmackDown Superstar and shared that Corbin was the only reason he returned.

"Me returning has nothing to do with the fact that this is the emergence, the debut of the modern day ‘Wrestling God’. The era of dominance, this man is a cornerstone, this is what you build a company on. So this has nothing to do with my return, I came back for one reason and one reason only and that is because this man, this man is here."

If there's anything JBL has proven throughout his career, it is that he is talented both inside and outside the ring. It will be interesting to see how his partnership with Baron continues on the upcoming shows.