John Bradshaw Layfield Wrestled Money Shortages And Pinned Down Financial Success

December 11, 2010 John Layfield's book "Have More Money Now" which was published in 2003, caught my attention years ago when he had been on CNBC giving financial advice and even contributed to Fox News. John Layfield is also known as "JBL", and was a professional wrestler; it was different seeing a professional wrestler in a suit giving a serious commentary about finances.

Layfield's story is a little different. He never had to overcome being in debt, but he did go through many years of not having very much money. In fact there were plenty of times when he had no money. When he had to quit playing football he got into professional wrestling. However, wrestling for him was far from the glamour you see on television. He was paid $3.00 for one match when starting out. Sometimes he made $10.00 or $25.00 for a match. He gives a great account of the struggles he went through while trying to make it in the wrestling business.

John Layfield doesn't mention in his book if he consciously made choices when he was younger that stopped him from accumulating debt. He just didn't spend money he didn't have. As Layfield says many times in the book when referring to delayed gratification "have when you have". If he had to live in a tent or go without heat he would do it. He only bought the necessities he needed with the money he had. Many of the promotions he worked for would provide him some kind of meager accommodations while he wrestled for them, but he wasn't making much money at all back then. By living only on whatever cash he earned John Layfield saved himself from the problems of accumulated debt. MB