WWE Backstage: 5 Takeaways from this week's episode (March 3rd, 2020)

#3 Welcome to the Hall of Fame, JBL

John Bradshaw Layfield

Former WWE Superstar, JBL was revealed to be the newest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. He joined the show and claimed that "it's always been my dream" to make it to the HOF and that the "the reality (of his career) has far exceeded the dream."

He was quick to praise several of his contemporaries, saying that the "biggest break of my career was meeting Ron Simmons." The duo went on to success as a tag team and when JBL went solo, he met another foe who helped him out in Eddie Guerrero. JBL claimed that his "character was not working" but all of "the heat" he had from crowds was because of Eddie Guerrero. "If it wasn't for Eddie, I wouldn't be going into the HOF," he added.

Since he was such a great villain during his era, he was asked about possibly wanting to do things differently. He bluntly answered "no because you want them (the fans) to believe that you're that villain" and that he wasn't interested in anyone cheering him. JBL claimed that "if you have a heel section cheering for you, you're failing as a heel." He added that "the art of being a heel is being something unredeemable."

John Cena appeared in a pre-taped video and claimed that "without you (JBL) there is no me (Cena)" since the former franchise won his first World title from the rich heel. JBL revealed a story about when Vader was on his way out of WWE and wanted to give him the rub. Since Vader had done the same back during the earlier stages of his career, Layfield wanted to do the same for someone, and it turned out to be the 16-time Champ. "When it was my turn, I was so fortunate to do it for someone like John," he claimed.