The JBL and Cole Show

The JBL & Renee Show, formerly known as The JBL Show and The JBL & Cole Show, was a WWE YouTube web series starring commentators John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Michael Cole.^[1] Renee Young began co-hosting the World Tour segments, which was a segment detailing the city they are filming in, showcasing various tourist attractions, before later being promoted as a third main presenter. Tony Dawson previously hosted the series as a supplementary presenter until departing the company, while Theodore Long also appeared weekly until going on strike. The series premiered on December 7, 2012, and ran until the final episode on May 15, 2015. It would air every Friday on WWE's official YouTube channel, and had been described as being "funnier than it has any right to be".^[2]

After 129 episodes and a month long absence, the show was officially confirmed to be cancelled on June 22, 2015 via Renee Young on Twitter.

History

Background

John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Michael Cole started working together on commentary when Layfield debuted as a commentator on the June 16, 2006 edition of SmackDown.^[3] They continued to work together on SmackDown and at pay-per-views representing SmackDown throughout 2006, and until December 16, 2007, when Layfield came out of retirement to feud with Chris Jericho, after costing Jericho the WWE Championship at Armageddon in Jericho's match against Randy Orton. At WrestleMania 25 Layfield would lose to Rey Mysterio in 21 seconds, and after the match he quit the WWE.

In 2012, after Jerry Lawler's real-life heart attack on Raw, Layfield would temporarily return to WWE as a color commentator at Night of Champions, alongside Jim Ross and Cole.^[4] He announced his permanent return to WWE in November.^[5]

JBL and Cole created The JBL and Cole Show to give wrestlers a platform they don't get on Raw and SmackDown. JBL described the show as a way to give wrestlers "a new outlet and see what they come up with", and "to give them a jumpstart".^[6]

Layfield and Cole also host a radio series called The John Layfield and Michael Cole Show.^[7]

Early weeks (December 7, 2012 – January 4, 2013)

The JBL and Cole Show would premiere on a Friday, taking the place of the popular former YouTube series Z! True Long Island Story.^[8] In the first four weeks of The JBL & Cole Show, Layfield and Cole would introduce various WWE wrestlers, who congratulated Layfield on "his" show, while completely disregarding Cole.

Early episodes featured celebrity guests such as musicians Flo Rida and Alex Levine (The Gaslight Anthem),^{[9][10][11][12]} and American football star Torrey Smith.^[13][14]

WWE SuperStar Search (January 11, 2013 – May 10, 2013)

Daniel Bryan was the winner of the SuperStar Search.

The WWE SuperStar Search was a 16-week, four-round tournament. On each episode of the show, opposing WWE wrestlers competed in a talent show. Each competitor had 30 seconds to showcase their talent and, to win, needed the highest amount of votes from an online poll.^[15]

1. ^ Throughout the tournament, Daniel Bryan received help from Hornswoggle, Kurly Kane and William Regal.^[31]
2. ^ Alicia Fox was a substitute for Ricardo Rodriguez.
3. ^ The contest between Bryan and Yoshi Tatsu was ruled a draw. This set up a triple threat contest between Bryan, Tatsu, and Justin Gabriel.
4. ^ Damien Sandow replaced Road Dogg after speaking to the "proper authorities".
5. ^ In the Championship Round, Sandow replaced Bryan who had been "detained at the UK border"^[32] and was victorious over Tatsu and Gabriel. He advanced to a second final where he would compete with the returning Bryan.

Cody Rhodes was at the centre of a memorable duel.

The Duel

Between June and August, after Layfield had mocked Dusty Rhodes, Cody Rhodes and Layfield took part in a rivalry when Rhodes challenged him to a "Gentleman's Duel".^[33] Rhodes received help from Hornswoggle to steal a pizza from Layfield, while Layfield attempted to find out what the duel would entail from Dusty Rhodes and Paul Heyman.

Bad News Barrett's gimmick began on The JBL and Cole Show.

The story ran for weeks, culminating with a race up the Rocky Steps and a water balloon fight, with Rhodes winning both.^[6] Rhodes' prize was Layfield's cowboy hat. In retaliation for cheating in the water balloon fight, Layfield applied superglue to the insides of the hat.

After the feud had ended, Rhodes had his moustache shaved off by Wade Barrett.^[34][35][36]

#BadNewsBarrett

Following the moustache shaving,^[37] Barrett received a segment on each show where he would deliver bad news to various wrestlers including Zack Ryder, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Tensai.^[38]

The segments eventually led to Barrett assuming the character on WWE television on December 2, 2013.^[39][40]

The Golden Boot, Clem Layfield and The Trial

On episode 57, footage of a previously un-aired bowling tournament was played by Cody Rhodes, who had won the tournament and its prize, a golden boot. Controversy soon followed as it was shown that Cody's foot had stepped over the line after one bowl, leading to the boot being taken by Bad News Barrett and held in abeyance. Cody would begin his quest to regain the golden boot, starting it by searching for JBL's "nephew" Clem Layfield (played by WWE wrestler Heath Slater). Cody would soon find Clem, who had been found and kidnapped by Bad News Barrett, and questioned him about the golden boot, which Clem knew nothing about.

Shortly after, Cody would be summoned to wrestler's court, with Zeb Colter as the judge and several wrestlers being subpoenaed to witness the event. After 5 weeks and three different Twitter vote hash tags (#FreeCody, #DropCody and #DropJBL), Cody would be voted free by the WWE Universe. Following the end of the trial, Clem Layfield would be made JBL's assistant by orders of Stephanie McMahon, while Cody and Barrett found out, via a tarot card reader, that JBL and Michael Cole were conspiring against them, forcing the two of them to stick together. Cody left the show via letter read by Barrett then blamed Renee for it.

The JBL (not Cole) Show

Logo from 2013–2014

On episode 91, Renee, Hornswoggle, Ryback, and Summer Rae quit the JBL and Cole Show. In the following episode, JBL announced the new title, The JBL Show. However, JBL had to go to the Principal's Office, awaiting him was the returning Bad News Barrett and the Principal, Mr. Belding. Meanwhile, former rivals, Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler, work together to "take over" the show so that it cannot reach 100+ episodes and surpassed Z! True Long Island Story as the longest running webshow in WWE history.

The JBL and Renee Show and cancellation

On Episode 119, JBL announced Renee Young as the new co-host and as of Episode 120, it was named "The JBL and Renee Show". Since May 15, no new episodes have been released.

On June 22, 2015, Renee Young announced on Twitter that the JBL and Renee Show had been cancelled with zero fanfare or a proper finale, with the last episode ending on a cliffhanger hyping a fight between JBL and The Bear. The shows sudden cancellation left a number of fans confused, mainly because the show was seen as one of the better web shows WWE has produced.

Cast

Main Cast

Recurring Cast

Awards

• WWE
  • Slammy Award for Favorite Web Show of the Year (2013)^[41]

References

External links

• The JBL and Cole Show on WWE.com