The JBL and Cole Show

The JBL and Cole Show is a WWE YouTube web series starring commentators John Layfield and Michael Cole. Renee Young began co-hosting the World Tour segments, which is 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 Teddy Long also appeared weekly until going on strike. The series premiered on December 7, 2012, and airs every Friday on WWE's official YouTube channel, and has been described as being "funnier than it has any right to be".
==History==
===Background===
John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Michael Cole started working together on commentary when Layfield débuted as a commentator on the June 16, 2006 edition of WWE SmackDown. 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 quit the WWE.
In 2012, after Jerry Lawler's real-life heart attack on WWE Raw, Layfield would temporarily return to WWE as a color commentator at Night of Champions, alongside Jim Ross and Cole. He announced his permanent return to WWE in November.
Layfield and Cole created The JBL and Cole show to give superstars a platform they don't get on WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown. Layfield described the show as a way "to give these superstars a new outlet and see what they come up with", and "to give them a jumpstart".
Layfield and Cole also host a radio series called The John Layfield and Michael Cole Show.
===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. In the first four weeks of The JBL & Cole Show, Layfield and Cole would introduce various WWE Superstars and Divas. The various Superstars and Divas would congratulate Layfield on "his" show, while completely disregarding Cole.
Early episodes featured celebrity guests such as musicians Flo Rida and Alex Levine (The Gaslight Anthem), and American football star Torrey Smith.
===WWE SuperStar Search (January 11, 2013–May 10, 2013)===
The WWE SuperStar Search was a 16-week, four-round tournament. On each episode of the show, opposing WWE SuperStars 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.
1. Throughout the tournament, Daniel Bryan received help from Hornswoggle, Kurly Kane and William Regal.
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" and was victorious over Tatsu and Gabriel. He advanced to a second final where he would compete with the returning Bryan.
===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". 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.
The story ran for weeks, culminating with a race up the Rocky Steps and a water balloon fight, with Rhodes winning both. 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.
===#BadNewsBarrett===
Following the moustache shaving, Barrett received a segment on each show where he would deliver bad news to various superstars including Zack Ryder, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Tensai.
The segments eventually led to Barrett assuming the character on WWE television on December 2, 2013.
==Awards and Accomplishments==
*WWE
**Slammy Award for Favorite Web Show of the Year (2013)
==External links==
Category:WWE webcasts