WWE fined legend for drinking too much during APA segment, JBL recalls
John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) often appeared in drinking segments with fellow APA member Ron Simmons, aka Faarooq, during WWE's Attitude Era. The Hall of Famer recently recalled how Big Boss Man once got in trouble after a segment with the legendary tag team.
Big Boss Man, real name Ray Traylor, worked for WWE between 1988 and 1993 before returning for another spell with the company between 1998 and 2003. He won the tag title with Ken Shamrock and held the Hardcore Championship four times.
On Something to Wrestle, JBL said former WWE writer Tommy Blacha once instructed the APA to sober up before filming a backstage skit. He also revealed that Big Boss Man received a fine because he drank too much ahead of a bar fight segment:
"The time where Tommy Blacha, we're in the Staples Center, where he says, literally, 'Guys, you gotta get it right. You're slurring your words,'" JBL said. "We'd sat back there and just got hammered. We found Hornswoggle one time. He drank too much. Boss Man got fined one time for drinking too much during a bar fight scene at the Friendly Tap. So, yeah, there were a lot of instances back then!" [1:26:13 – 1:26:33]
The APA captured the tag title three times between 1999 and 2001. In 2004, JBL won the WWE Championship after becoming a singles competitor.
JBL on Vince McMahon's role in APA's drinking segments
In the late 1990s, WWE stars were permitted to drink after shows. However, they were discouraged from drinking at hotel bars alongside other wrestlers in case they made the company look bad.
One day, JBL was summoned to speak to then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon after he broke the unwritten rule of drinking at the television hotel. To the APA member's surprise, McMahon had no issue with his behavior and wanted his character to drink on WWE programming:
"I walk in and he goes, 'You look terrible,'" Layfield recalled. "I said, 'I'm lucky to be alive!' I said, 'I feel worse.' And he goes, 'I'm gonna put that on television.' I said, 'What?!' He said, 'I'm gonna put that on television.' I said, 'Put what on television?' He said, 'You and Ron sitting around drinking. Banter. That's what men do. That's what men do! I love it. That's what we're gonna do.'" [12:26 – 12:46]
In the same episode, JBL revealed that an iconic WWE Hall of Fame tag team did not like each other in real life.
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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.