John Layfield took up several gimmicks in WWE before striking gold as one-half of the Acolytes/APA in the Attitude Era. But Faarooq ultimately retired from in-ring competition, leaving Layfield to go out on his own. Unfortunately, he struggled to get over with fans at first before taking on his JBL gimmick, which many believe saved his career.

During a recent appearance on the "Something To Wrestle" podcast, Layfield recalled when he first pitched the JBL character to Vince McMahon.

"I know I pitched Vince the idea a couple of years before," he recalled. 

But Layfield pointed out that McMahon often mulled over pitches for years before implementing them. He recalled how several major names got injured around the same time, including Kurt Angle and Big Show, so WWE needed a believable heel to go up against Eddie Guerrero.

"And Vince was the one that gave me the call, he goes, 'Got an idea for a character — JBL,'" he revealed. "Vince loved the character. I always thought Vince saw me as what he would be if he could get into the ring. I always thought my character was what he would be if he was a wrestler full-time." 

Layfield recently looked back at his feud with Guerrero as JBL and explained why he believes that he owes 100 percent of his career to the late "Latino Heat," pointing out that the character would not have gotten over without that feud.