"The fight's gonna happen in the back" - JBL recalls unexpected reaction after WWE finish caused disagreement
John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) says he expected to have a real fight with The Public Enemy after their WWE Sunday Night Heat match in 1999.
The APA (Bradshaw and Farooq) were supposed to win after putting a member of The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) through a table. However, seconds before The Public Enemy made their entrance, they informed the APA that they were not going ahead with the planned finish.
Due to the last-minute confusion, the APA decided to have 100 percent offense against their uncooperative opponents. WWE referee Jimmy Korderas eventually stepped in and ended the match without a winner.
Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Korderas said he anticipated a real fight breaking out between the two teams backstage. JBL thought the same before he surprisingly received a post-match handshake from The Public Enemy.
“We thought the same thing,” JBL said. “We thought, ‘Well, the fight’s gonna happen in the back.' We went back to Gorilla [backstage], we wait for them right there, we assume that’s where the fight’s gonna happen, and they came back through, said ‘thank you,’ shook our hands, and left.”
JBL previously discussed the incident on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. He said Farooq reacted to The Public Enemy’s remark by saying, “They don’t want to do the finish? We’ll take the finish to them.”
Jimmy Korderas told JBL why he ended the match
JBL’s podcast partner, WWE legend Gerald Brisco, worked in various roles during his 36 years with the company.
Jimmy Korderas said Brisco advised him through a headset to bring an early end to the match between the APA and The Public Enemy.
“There was no tagging,” Korderas said. “It was like a Texas Tornado match where anything goes. You guys were knocking the living snot out of these guys. Finally, after a couple of minutes of this, I don’t know, Mr. B [Gerald Brisco], you can tell me if you were enjoying what was going on, but all of a sudden Gerald says, ‘Erm, Jimmy, you may want to think about ringing the bell to end this thing any time now.’ And I went, ‘Ding, ding, ding.’”
The Public Enemy are best known for their spell with ECW in the 1990s. They only competed in seven televised matches for WWE in early 1999 before receiving their release.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.