JBL went off-script after being told to hurt opponent, leading Jim Ross to make firing decision

John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) wrestled at a WWE developmental territory in the early 2000s alongside APA partner Ron Simmons, aka Faarooq. In a recent podcast episode, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled how a pre-match conversation led to a promoter being fired.

Layfield and Simmons joined forces to face then-rookies, Charlie and Russ Haas. The promoter allegedly disliked the Haas brothers' "arrogant" behavior and instructed the APA to "rough them up" during the match.

On Something to Wrestle, JBL said he went against orders and decided to lose the match instead. He also called WWE's former talent relations executive, Jim Ross, who immediately cut ties with the promoter.

"The promoter comes to us and says, 'Hey, these guys are young, athletic guys. They're kinda full of themselves. You guys know what to do,'" JBL stated. "And I said, 'What do we do?' And I know what he's talking about, but what a d**k to ask us to do something like this to a bunch of promising young kids." [1:23:57 – 1:24:16]

The APA was widely viewed as one of the toughest tag teams of their generation. Despite their reputation, Layfield clarified that they were safe in-ring performers and did not purposely hurt up-and-coming opponents.

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How JBL changed the finish with Charlie Haas

At the time, JBL was a former WWE Tag Team Champion and an established name in the company.

The wrestling legend wanted to make a point to the promoter by letting an emerging talent beat him clean via pinfall:

"I told Charlie, I said, 'Hit me with whatever you have for a finish or close to it,'" JBL said. "He hit me with it and I said, 'Do not get off me,' and I held him on top of me and I did the one, two, three, did the job right in the middle of the ring. So we not only didn't do what was asked, we put them over like a million bucks and we let them beat us right in the middle of the ring. And when I got back we called JR [Jim Ross] and that promoter was fired pretty much on the spot." [1:25:05 – 1:25:29]

Russ Haas passed away in 2001 aged 27 after suffering a heart attack. Charlie Haas appeared on the main roster between 2002 and 2010 and is best remembered for his tag team partnership with Shelton Benjamin.

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Please credit Something to Wrestle and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.