John Layfield posted the following story on Facebook about boxing legend Evander Holyfield hearing JBL trash talk him at a WWE live event.
“One of best stories ever from commentary was at Madison Square Garden with Evander Holyfield.
I had met Evander before and he was a total jerk, complete jerk to both me and Ron.
He used the religious image while he was an absolute reprehensible creature. He’s had a ton of kids by a ton of women and professes to be a model Christian. I don’t mind people being what they are, but I abhor fakes. I
can’t stand Evander Holyfield.
Soooooo……. On to MSG.
Evander is to box Matt Hardy in a ‘boxing match’ as MVP’s replacement in a Madison Square Garden event.
I am doing commentary and the whole show I am putting over Evander as this great guy, blah blah blah.
By the end of the show I am sick of myself. So during commercial I tell Michael Cole a true story of Evander and my wife at Fox News.
My wife had called me and told me she was in the ‘Green Room’ with a famous boxer but not being a sports fan she didn’t know who he was., she told me it was Evander Holyfield.
I explained to her he was one of greatest boxers of all time and told her the whole story of his career which I knew by heart as a huge boxing fan. She told me that he was ‘very nice’. I said “of course, he has had 9 kids by 9 women of course he is nice, leave now!” and of course I was joking, but half serious.
During the break I tell Michael this story, but of course I go further-I totally tear down Evander as a hypocrite and piece of garbage that I think he is. I have no idea this is being broadcast into his dressing room, I still had my headphones and mic on. Every word I say Evander hears.
Matt Hardy and MVP were in the room, ask them how tense it got. A spokesperson for Evander went to Vince and threatened to have him leave the show.
More importantly, how would you like to be Matt Hardy? He is facing the former heavyweight champion in what he hopes is a work and he now knows this guy is furious. While I was saying this Evander had one of his kids on his lap listening, and from Matt’s story he just got very quite.
Evander ended up doing business which I am sure Matt was thankful.
My headset was ringing to tell me to shut up.
After the show I went to Evander’s dressing room, not to apologize for what I said-I meant it and still do, but it was totally inappropriate for me to treat a guest of our show like that, I shouldn’t have let my personal feelings potentially screw up a show.
At his dressing room I encountered a security guard. I was expecting anything from a fight to him excepting my apology-I had no idea, but I had made my bed and I would lie in it.
I never apologized for what I said but for the venue I said it in as he was our guest. I meant what I said, but shouldn’t have said it to a guest of the WWE. The security guard looked at Evander who was less than five feet away and Evander shook his head, so I never spoke to him direct though that was my intention and he heard every word I said. And, I never apologized for calling him what I did, I apologized for doing it on a WWE show.
As I walked by the boys to Evander’s dressing room, no one knew what would happen. Ron Simmons told me, “leg dive him!’ which was my plan, it was a tense moment.
I have seen him since, I have no respect for him, but I do hate he is getting ‘punch drunk’ as no one deserves that. He is a great boxer but a rotten human being.
The next day I apologized to Vince, I was wrong to attack a guest like that. Vince said, “we almost lost him” and I responded, “we almost lost Matt” and we both laughed.
The day I almost got into a shoot fight with the former world heavyweight champ.”
