Ding-Dong, the Witch Is Dead: JBL OUT

Peace, dickhead
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The biggest news in wrestling that broke over the weekend had to do with an earsore in the Smackdown Live! announce booth. John Layfield, better known as JBL, is leaving an active role as commentator to work on being a brand ambassador or some shit. As of right now, Corey Graves is replacing him on Smackdown, while Nigel McGuinness will move up to replace Graves on 205 Live and Main Event. The changes are effective starting tonight.

Even ignoring the social aspects of JBL's continued employment, this news is an absolute godsend for viewers of WWE and Smackdown in particular. Layfield by a comfortable margin was the worst commentator WWE has had since the days of Mike Adamle and the death spiral of Taz's WWE run. He was louder than his colleagues, bellicose to a degree that damaged the narrative, and mean-spirited to a degree even harsher than the most heelish heel color commentators. Conversely, Graves not only is among the best commentators WWE has had in history, he reunites with Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton, his partners from the salad days of NXT. Smackdown's Greek chorus will improve significantly.

As for JBL, he's not being fired or let go for disciplinary reasons. In fact, his quitting of the company reaches back to 2016, according to SI Extra Mustard writer and Paul Levesque's most useful idiot Justin Barrasso. He made sure to emphasize that Vince McMahon "refused to acquiesce to public pressure" to let JBL go after the public bullying incident with Mauro Ranallo, and he also noted that Layfield wasn't the primary person of interest with respect to Ranallo's episode. Honestly, I'd be more likely to believe that he wasn't verbally or physically pushing Ranallo around if the denials didn't come from a co-opted reporter, but hey, WWE is going to stick to its story.

He's been working without a contract since last October, and travel would appear to be the main reason why Layfield wants some time away from the company. Travel can be a bear for anyone, even a soulless cretin like JBL. Regardless of whether his exit from WWE was forcible or with the door wide open for a comeback later down the line, the truth is that the company improves immeasurably with him away from the product, at least in its presentation. Layfield leaving far from solves the company's problem with bullying since the motherfucker in charge is a bully at his core. But at least I don't have to listen to Layfield's windbag ass anymore on Tuesday nights. Praise be.