John "Bradshaw" Layfield had a long career in professional wrestling, the vast majority of it spent with the WWF/WWE. When known as Bradshaw, he was a member of the incredibly popular tag team APA alongside Ron Simmons, aka Farooq. After that, he transitioned to a heel businessman character named JBL and went on to become the WWE Champion.
But while he's famous as one of the greatest heels in the ring, he's also infamous for being a notorious bully behind-the-scenes, something JBL has blamed on his heavy drinking during that era.
10 Billy Silverman
If you don't remember Billy Silverman, it would be hard to blame you. Billy was a referee with WCW at the time Vince McMahon bought the company and became part of WWF. Unfortunately, his tenure with the company was short. JBL was upset that Billy upgraded his plane ticket to first class. It seems like an odd thing to get upset about but there are some weird political and cultural foibles backstage in wrestling. What makes even less sense is that JBL forced him to smuggle liquor across the Canadian border as punishment. Billy cites JBL's harassment as the main reason for his departure.
9 Blue Meanie
This was one of JBL's most undeniable acts against another wrestler because he did it during a pay-per-view. JBL was not a fan of the ECW stalwart, The Blue Meanie. At ECW One Night Stand in 2005, all the wrestlers were in the ring for a massive brawl.
JBL took the opportunity to legit hit The Blue Meanie, inflicting some serious damage. The twist on this story is that the two men have reputedly become quite good friends in the many years since that incident.
8 Charles Robinson
The long-tenured and highly respected Charles Robinson has spent decades as a referee across WCW and WWF/WWE. He's one of the refs fans are genuinely excited to see in the ring. But when he came over from WCW, things were not easy for Charles in WWF. Like Billy, he experienced harassment from WWF talent, naturally led by JBL. Reputedly, JBL was the ringleader of a group of wrestlers who striped Charles down, gagged him, and paraded him around backstage.
7 René Duprée
René Duprée had a short but productive run with WWE. At the age of 19, he was the youngest superstar to become a Tag Team Champion but he was gone from the company by 23 thanks to JBL.
Duprée has alleged that JBL would constantly torment the French Canadian superstar, using both ethnic and homophobic slurs against him. JBL's usual repertoire of hazing may have also been included but using that kind of language would have taken things to a darker place.
6 The Miz
There are few superstars more divisive than The Miz, in part thanks to his early days as a reality TV star. He joined the WWE in 2004 and has worked with the company ever since, holding multiple championships including the WWE Championship.
Unsurprisingly, ever since the awesome one made his WWE debut, JBL was the person least happy about The Miz's position in the company. He felt the young wrestler hadn't paid his dues and didn't deserve to share the ring with wrestling greats. JBL stepped up his bullying, not allowing Miz to use the dressing rooms. It was, at best, a petty and jealous move.
5 Joey Styles
There are a few magical moments when JBL got his comeuppance for his actions, one time at the hands of Joey Styles. The talented ECW announcer spent some time with WWE after the end of the extreme wrestling promotion.
On a tour of Iraq in 2008, JBL chose Styles as his new target, maybe because he thought him to be weak and vulnerable. He harassed Joey non stop until the announcer had enough and popped him one. Some reports have said Joey actually knocked JBL out.
4 Mark Henry
If there was ever anyone to not bully, it would be the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry. Apparently, JBL didn't get the note. As Mark was new to the business and generally an easy going guy, he was immediately on the radar of guys like JBL. Reputedly, JBL would throw Mark's suitcases in the shower and talk trash to him perpetually. At one point, Mark thought about beating the crap out of JBL but Owen Hart talked him out of it.
3 Steve Blackman
Unfortunately for JBL, Owen Hart wasn't around to save his ass on this one. Steve Blackman was a mainstay of the WWE for several years. He was also a legit martial artist, and not someone most people would screw around with. That didn't stop him, though, and JBL brought out his usual playbook, which included endless homophobic comments.
Blackman tried to warn him off but JBL didn't listen to him and Steve beat the crap out of him in an airport. Blackman once said the only thing that prevented him from inflicting serious harm on JBL was getting tangled up in a suitcase.
2 Justin Roberts
Now an announcer with AEW, Justin Roberts was with WWE as an announcer for quite some time. His autobiography detailed his reasons for leaving, a large one being JBL's constant harassment. While there were others involved, JBL was the main perpetrator by far according to his Roberts' book. The abuse included name calling, stealing Roberts' passport and telling Roberts to kill himself virtually every day. That's not a healthy work environment.
1 Mauro Ranallo
Widely regarded as one of the top announcers in both wrestling and MMA, Mauro certainly has his fair share of fans. If you guessed that JBL isn't one of them, you would be correct. Mauro has been an advocate for mental health issues for years, and has been incredibly open about his own. This didn't stop JBL from abusing the man, to the point that Ranallo left his SmackDown gig behind. Mauro has said JBL wasn't the reason for the departure but many fans believe he's just trying to be a good guy about it. Since then, Mauro has moved to NXT and JBL left his full time role with the WWE.