Last night, John “Bradshaw” Layfield announced his immediate departure from the Smackdown commentary booth, a position that he has held since July of last year.
“After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown announcer to dedicate more continuous time on the work I have done since 2010 with at risk kids and communities,” JBL wrote. He said that he will continue his relationship with WWE in the meantime, appearing on shows such as Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania, and other big pay-per-views.
Bradshaw said that he will be focusing on Beyond Rugby Bermuda, an organization he founded in 2010 to help at risk kids.
“I’m proud to say that in addition to being Smackdown’s longest reigning WWE champion, I inspired WWE’s Tribute to the Troops over 10 years ago. WWE has been my partner in all my philanthropic works and this new deal with WWE ensures that will continue. WWE has made my dreams come true and helped me become a global name. And now, WWE is helping me use that name to make a difference,” he concluded.
Layfield returned to commentary in 2012 doing Raw until he moved to Smackdown when the WWE Draft happened. Smackdown now has Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton as the commentary team and it’s more than likely that a third individual will be added to replace JBL.
