June 28, 2004 Observer Newsletter: JBL CNBC firing turned into an angle, tons of news

The John Layfield situation remained controversial all week, with the pro wrestling mentality surfacing its head as the week went on.

On Smackdown, his firing from CNBC was turned into a storyline, which must have made some people unhappy, since the interview in the ring contained many negative things about the network that didn’t end up airing.

The main things edited out, apparently from UPN not wanting it on the show, was Bradshaw saying CNBC’s ratings might as well be in the witness protection program, and that without him, CNBC was little more than the stock market ticket. Some criticism of CNBC did appear, but UPN was said to have been negative about it. What did air was probably his best promo, as far as delivery went, ripping on the fans, although all the cracks on the liberal news media made no sense because wrestling espouses conservative viewpoints (I’ve never been comfortable with it, thinking when you play ideological politics in the babyface/heel role you’re alienating parts of your audience).

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