Finances and finishing moves: whether he's discussing his ring career or a hot mutual fund, people listen when this WWF star talks - Interview: Bradshaw - wrestler Bradshaw, also known as John Layfield - Brief Article

BRADSHAW LOVES TO DRINK beer and kick butt. He loves using the clothesline from hell to get his point across to anyone who gets in his way in the ring.

Outside the ring, Bradshaw, a.k.a. John Layfield, also likes to mix it up--with the financial community. Long considered the WWF locker room's financial guru, Layfield takes investment publications and a laptop with him on the road. His TV is stuck on CNBC, and he'd rather watch an analyst break down price-to-earnings ratios than watch one break down a touchdown pass.

With his buy-and-hold stock philosophy, he's done extremely well, maintaining substantial portfolio gains the last four years. His acumen has caught the eyes of the financial world, leading to regular appearances on CNBC's "Squawk Box," CBS's "Market Watch," and at E-Trade's Web site. He is also working on an upcoming book that combines his vast bank of wrestling stories with common-sense tips for financial success.

Recently, WRESTLING DIGEST caught up with Bradshaw to discuss the secrets to his success in the ring and in his portfolio.

WRESTLING DIGEST: The economy may be down, but business has been pretty good for the APA. [The interview took place before the APA'S was disbanded.--ed.] Despite not much television time, APA is still very popular with the fans. How do you think you are able to maintain such a good presence with the fans despite, not much recent exposure?

BRADSHAW: I think fans enjoy us when we are on TV and can identify with what we do. Most people like to play cards and drink beer. We like to fight, too. That's a pretty nice job to have. We're on TV enough that our faces stay fresh. We appreciate the fans and the support we get. I think we work well with the fans because we are believable. Wrestling characters are extensions of personalities. In the story, Faarooq and I are friends and business partners. That's not far from the truth. In real life, we're traveling partners and Ron Simmons is my best friend.

WD: A lot of people think you deserve a singles run. Is that something you'd like to try?

B: You're always looking to move up in the card. I love teaming with Ron and doing what we're doing. We're doing what we're told and trying to set an example for the younger guys that if you do what you're asked and are a loyal employee, things will eventually pay off for you.

WD: You, especially, have earned a reputation as a backstage leader. Do you see yourself that way?

B: I just try to show the guys that you have to show up every week and do your job. There's going to be parts of the job you don't like. That happens in any job. But there's no sense in complaining about it. That only makes things worse. As far as being a leader, a lot of guys ask me about money and about how to make their checks go further. I don't go out looking to give advice, but if guys come to me, I'm happy to help in any way I can.

WD: You've recently become a lot more visible through your financial success. Is that something the WWF started promoting or did it happen by chance?

B: I'd love to say that I just started making so much money that I couldn't be ignored. But that's not how it happened. Someone was doing a story on the WWF and was interviewing Mick Foley. Mick happened to mention in the story that I invested money and was sort of the go-to guy about money in the locker room. Right after that, I did an interview with the Dallas paper about it, and then I started some of the CNBC shows. I really enjoyed "The Squawk Box," and it's gone from there.

WD: Fans hear so much about wrestlers who are penniless after their glory days. A wrestler putting away money and being smart with what he makes kind of breaks the stereotype. Were you at all motivated by what you saw happen to some of the older guys?

B: No question it motivated me. I've been that older guy that didn't have any money. Thankfully, I got a second chance. I played one full season of football in the World League, but I had a hard time playing. The knee injuries were catching up to me. I knew my time was limited, and I knew the NFL didn't want me back. I had gotten a nice bonus when I signed with the Oakland Raiders out of college and made enough in the World League to be fine from year to year. But after I got cut from the World League and had my football career end, I had $27 in the bank and needed to find a new career. Thankfully for me, I was still young and healthy enough that wrestling was an option. I told myself that if I had the chance to make decent money again, I wasn't going to squander that opportunity.

WD: How did you get started investing?

B: I first started investing in the fall of 1997 right after the Asian crisis, where the Asian stock market plummeted and all the tech stocks were hit really hard. The market was still in a huge bull period. The first stocks I bought were Oracle and Applied Materials, which just got crushed in that thing. It turned out that I was very lucky in buying both of those at the points I got in. It was a low for a number of years and those have been my two best returning stocks.

WD: Do you have any one overriding investment philosophy?

B: I'm a buy-and-hold guy. You have to be patient with these things. I'm not the kind of person that can watch the market everyday and worry if my stock goes down. I get into stocks for the long term. If you stay in a stock for five years, for example, you're going to make money on it. Some people have that patience, some don't.

WD: There has been a lot of talk in the wrestling community about your upcoming book. How did that come about?

B: I've had the idea for a while, but only recently started putting things on paper. In late 2000, I called a writer friend of mine and told him I had an idea for a book and wanted to run it by him. We met and decided to move forward with an outline. The WWF liked what we put together, so we started writing. It's taken awhile because it's going to be different than any of the other biographies that the WWF has done. This isn't a biography. It's got wrestling stories in it, but the wrestling stories are used to underline financial truisms. It's entertaining and moves well, but you're also going to learn something.

The Bradshaw Bio

REAL NAME:             John Layfield
HEIGHT:                6'6"
WEIGHT:                290 pounds
DATE OF BIRTH:         November 29, 1967
HOMETOWN:              Austin, Texas
FINISHING MOVE:        Clothesline from hell
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:     Federation tag-team champion
                       (three times)
PRO WRESTLING DEBUT:   September 23, 1992
ATHLETIC BACKGROUND:   All-America offensive tackle at
                       Abilene Christian. Training camp
                       invetee of Oakland Raiders. Played
                       one season for the San Antonio
                       Texans in World League American
                       Football (now NFL Europe)
FORMER CHARACTERS:     John Hawk," "Texas Hawk," "Justin
                       Hawk Bradshaw," "Blackjack
                       Bradshaw," "Death Mask," and
                       "Vampiro Americano"

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group