Wrestlers And Football...

[Angry Pope]

I don't know how many of you watch wrestling. Some of the wrestlers seemed to have played college football.

Here is JBL....

John 'Bradshaw' Layfield

When this wrestler and former football player talks stocks, you'd better listen

DAVID TARRANT


He is the J.R. Ewing of the wrestling world – a character not far from reality, says John Layfield, a Sweetwater, Texas, native known to legions of wrestling fans simply as Bradshaw.

There is certainly a little of the brash tycoon in Mr. Layfield, 38.

He was an All-American offensive lineman at Abilene Christian University. He spent three years with the Oakland Raiders and the Canadian Football League until a knee injury ended his career. Although football paid well, he spent every cent and was left virtually broke with no source of income.
Determined to change his ways, the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Texan turned to professional wrestling, and he learned everything he could about finances. He was the World Wrestling Entertainment champion for nine months, through last month. His wrestling persona evolved from sadistic cowboy Justin Hawk Bradshaw to the bad guy he is now – or heel in wrestler parlance.

After word got out about his stock-picking abilities, he started showing up on finance shows on CNN and Fox News. He wrote Have More Money Now: A Common Sense Approach to Financial Management (World Wrestling Entertainment, 2003; $15)

No stranger to controversy, Mr. Layfield was quickly dropped by CNBC as a financial analyst in June 2004, after complaints surfaced that he imitated a "goose-stepping Nazi" and made a stiff-armed salute during a WWE event in Germany. He insists he was just playing a role – in this case the narrow-minded, bigoted, anti-immigrant rich guy Bradshaw.

The incident didn't keep the wheeler-dealer from jumping into politics as co-chairman of Smackdown Your Vote!, a nonpartisan effort to encourage young people to vote. He says he could entertain the idea of running for office someday.

It wouldn't be the first time a wrestler found himself in a governor's mansion.

Why wrestling?

I grew up a wrestling fan in Sweetwater, Texas, watching wrestling with my grandfather. I used to watch the shows from the Sportatorium on TV every Saturday night. When they came to Abilene and Sweetwater, I went. The Von Erichs were huge, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hanson, all the old guys like that.

Tell me about your current character.

This is the most fun I've ever had. It's pretty much a takeoff on J.R. Ewing. I grew up loving the Dallas show. I've always wanted to play this type of character. It's the old cattle-oil baron that's made a lot of money, and right when you want to like him, he does something so dastardly. I was doing a lot of different stuff on financial shows and politics. It just fit.

How did you go from a wrestler tossing chairs at people to a buttoned-down financial guru who appeared on TV business shows and wrote a book giving investment advice?

I think "guru" may be a little too complimentary. I read hundreds of financial books. When I finally got some money in wrestling, I started investing. Fortune magazine was doing a story on Mick Foley [a fellow wrestler], and he mentioned that I was good at picking stocks. Someone at CNBC saw that, and they invited me on their show. I studied for two weeks. I was scared to death. But I did OK, and they invited me back, and I started doing more and more.

Do you regret the Germany incident and the way it cost you your place on CNBC?

That was probably the craziest thing I have ever been a part of. I had it written into my CNBC contract that I portrayed a bad guy in wrestling. This to me was akin to firing a guy as a waiter at Del Frisco's because he was the phantom in the Phantom of the Opera. Or holding Anthony Hopkins culpable of cannibalism for playing Hannibal Lecter. It was simply a bad guy being a bad guy so that people would root for the good guy. No different from Larry Hagman playing J.R. Ewing. ... I am very upset at CNBC for not having any guts and hanging me out to dry, and currently I am not doing financial TV because of them.

What are you doing in the media now?

I host my own radio program, the John "Bradshaw" Layfield show, which is syndicated in about 100 markets, including about six stations in Texas. None in Dallas – I'm working on that. I focus on business and current events.

How did you get involved in politics?

It just evolved. After Sept. 11, I went down to Ground Zero and visited a lot of the firefighters – the whole WWE did. I've been to Iraq four or five times. Plus George Bush being president. I thought he did a good job as governor, and I was really behind him and outspoken and that brought me into politics. I got to speak at the Republican Convention last year.

As co-chair of Smackdown Your Vote!, how do you feel about the youth vote in the last election?

We said we'd increase it by 4 million, and I think it was up by 7 or 8 million. We didn't tell anyone how to vote. We just said to vote. We think it's not just a right but an obligation.

Have you given any thought to running for political office?

I'd love to do something in Texas in politics. We're such a great state. If I really thought I could make a difference, I would do it in a heartbeat. I'm never going to rule it out.

You live in New York. Why do you keep a home in East Texas?

The main reason is my father and mother live here. I love the East Texas area. The fishing is just phenomenal. I'm probably 15 miles from Cedar Creek Lake. My great-uncle invented the Layfield Lure, and they have a huge collection at the fish hatchery in Athens. I may be bringing out a new line of lures this year.

Your mind is always working, isn't it?

I travel a lot, and I'm always thinking of things where I don't have to work.

A true fisherman.

Exactly.

 

[Angry Pope]

Steve "Dr Death" Williams...

Williams first become noteworthy on the sports scene when he competed in football and amateur wrestling for Lakeside High School in Colorado. He was so impressive that he was soon given an athletic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, joining the football team as an offensive lineman. He became well-known for his ability to smash down the defensive line in front of him, gaining the nickname of "Dr. Death" that followed him throughout the rest of his career. Throughout four years of college, Williams anchored the Oklahoma offensive line, protecting his quarterback with ruthless agression. He was named an All-American in 1982. Williams was also building a solid reputation as a mat wrestler, earning All-American honors there as well. When he graduated in 1982, Williams was approached by the owner of the Mid-South Wrestling organization. Williams began testing the waters of professional wrestling, but was also still interested in his first sport. as he soon signed with the USFL, joining the New Jersey Generals. However, Williams was unable to control his temper during his stay with the league, being cited on multiple occasions for playing too rough. He was cut from the team in 1983. By then, though, Williams was already considering other options.

 

[Angry Pope]

Ron Simmons....

Ron Simmons

Biography

BORN: May 16, 1959
BIRTHPLACE: Perry, Georgia
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6'1"/235 pounds
POST FSU: Pro Wrestling
FSU LETTERS: Football 1977-1980


Ron Simmons, the greatest defender in Florida State's history and FSU's first two-time consensus All-American nose guard (1978-1979), anchored the center of the defense that took FSU to a pair of Orange Bowl appearances in 1979 and 1980, resulting in FSU's highest national rankings ever at that time. During his career, Ron totaled 25 quarterback sacks and 44 tackles for loss - both Seminole records at the time. He is the lone Seminole Defender to have his number (50) retired. Ron was inducted to the Seminole Hall of Fame in 1986.

Following a career in the United States Football League with the Tampa Bay Bandits and then the Canadian Football League, Ron turned to professional wrestling in 1986 after a leg injury ended his career in football. First working with World Championship Wresting, earning the title of WCW heavyweight champion in 1992 (and the first black champion in WCW's history), Ron is now with World Wrestling Federation and one-half of the Acolytes tag team, as "Faarooq Asad".

 

[Angry Pope]

The Rock...

Johnson received various atheletic scholarship offers from several universities
before choosing to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The
University of Miami football program did not openly recruit Johnson; he had to
face try-outs to join the program. In 1991, he was part of the Hurricanes’
National Championship team.



Considered a candidate for the NFL, Johnson’s hopes of a football career was
challenged by a severe back injury. After college, Johnson signed a three-year
contract with the CFL instead. However, he was cut from the program after a
year. It was then that Johnson decided to follow in his father’s and
grandfather’s footsteps by pursuing a professional wrestling career.

 

[Crossbones]

Yep, in fact, Brawshaw and Ron Simmions used to be a tag team partnership. Simmons I belive has since retired from wrasslin' but Bradshaw (now referred to as JBL) is some new big thing in the WWE.

The Rock (Johnson) is legendary and has since moved on to a nice career in the movies! I read Johnson's book about his struggles at the University of Miami and his subsequent try at the CFL. His father was a wrestler and he eventually gave it a try and became one of the Super Stars of the sport even to this day although he doesn't participate in the ring any longer.

 

[Angry Pope]

Rock is probably my favorite. He is a real nice guy too.

 

[Angel]

I cannot stand JBL>.....Since there is no "I" in team....I don't see how he could have ever played football...self-centered idiot!!