I conducted a telephone interview with John Bradshaw Layfield on Dec. 14 to discuss WWE’s fifth annual Tribute to the Troops broadcast on Christmas Eve (9 p.m., USA Network).

In addition to talking about the special tribute show that was taped earlier this month in Iraq, Layfield also briefly discussed politics and his wrestling career.

When asked about a possible return to the ring, Layfield downplayed it because it would have spoiled the surprise of him interfering in the Randy Orton-Chris Jericho WWE title match on Dec. 16 at the Armageddon pay-per-view, and his announcement that he was joining the Raw active roster the following night.

You have been given credit for getting the ball rolling on the Tribute to the Troops shows. How did it come about?

I was over there one summer right after the invasion of Iraq. It was a miserably hot summer, as all of them are over there. It was 137 degrees one day. I was sitting there talking to Ron Simmons and I thought, “This would be great if we could come over here at Christmas and do something like the Bob Hope-type USO Christmas Special. So when we got back, I approached Mr. [Vince] McMahon and [WWE executive producer] Kevin Dunn and told them what I thought would be a good idea and what I thought we could do, and they took it from there. Within a few weeks, the thing was done and we’ve been going over there ever since. This is our fifth year to be going over there.

Have you ever had any trepidation about traveling to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan during a war? Have you had any scary moments?

Yeah, we’ve had a couple. We had one this year. We were landing in Tarmiya, and we didn’t know it was a hot zone we were landing in. We thought we were landing in a secured base and we weren’t. We were landing in an unsecured area and actually had to get through town to get to where the small secured area was. When we landed, there were Iraqis everywhere – on rooftops all around us. And there were dead dogs everywhere. When they get too close to the base they have to be shot because most of them are rabid, and they’re more akin to hyenas in Australia than they are to dogs here in the states. It just looked like something out of Apocalypse Now. As we looked at this, we’re realizing that we’re landing in a hot zone. And we get off the chopper and they’re telling us to “get in single file, move along, hurry, keep your head down,” and bombs are going off everywhere. They’re our bombs – smoke bombs. They’re shielding us just in case there’s a sniper in the area that wants to shoot us. As we’re running through all this, we’ve got to run through a barbed wire maze to get into the little secured area that they have inside of a building. Ron Simmons turns around to me in that James Earl Jones voice and says, “You know, I’d have mailed them an autograph.” That alleviated the moment. When you’re like that you pretty much understand that you don’t have control of your own situation.

Are there servicemen that you’ve met on these tours and kept in touch with?

Yeah, in fact I got an e-mail yesterday from a soldier. Quite a few still keep in contact with me. He told me that his wife is expecting their second baby. He’s headed back to Iraq. And I’ve actually seen some soldiers and, unfortunately, ran into them later at Walter Reed there in D.C. and found out that they had lost a leg or lost an arm. That’s really saddening any time, but when you’ve met them it really makes it personal to you.

For those of us who will never be in the Middle East with the troops, what insight can you give us about them that we won’t get from the news?

The main thing is the morale of these guys. It is just phenomenal. I’ve been over there when they’ve gotten their leaves extended; I was there right as they captured [Saddam] Hussein. I was there when they actually killed Uday and Qusay [Hussein]. So I’ve been there during a variety of emotions for these troops. These guys get shot up; they want to go right back to battle. These guys are soldiers. It’s got nothing to do with politics. It’s got nothing to do with any of their agendas. They are doing what they are told and they believe in what they are doing as soldiers. It’s just a phenomenally honorable existence that these guys have.

You mentioned politics, which I know is a subject that you are interested in. You wouldn’t be the first wrestler to run for public office. Have you ever considered it?

Oh sure, I’ve considered it. I would only do it if I could make a difference. That’s not some altruistic belief, but that’s the truth. I look at these politicians now, and I’ll tell you what, if Bush and Kerry are the two best politicians we have to run for president, we’re screwed. I just don’t think our best are in politics. I think these guys are inept. I think they’re wasting our money, they’re wasting our time, and I’m not sure I would be any different to be a part of that. Not that I would have the agenda these guys have, which is basically that they don’t want to work for a living, but I just don’t think I can make a difference. I think I’m better served being in the free markets, because I believe the free markets will get us off foreign oil, the free markets will encourage trade. I just have a very dim view of politicians in general.

With that in mind, are you backing anyone for president in ’08?

You know, I’m not. I’m having a hard time choosing. I’m not a big believer – and it’s not because they’re Democrats – in Hillary and Obama. I think people really liked Bill Clinton. They’d like to see him get elected, but Hillary’s just a different animal. Mr. Obama – there’s no experience there to really measure what he can do, and I don’t like some of his anti-business stances. I just don’t think the Democrats have really offered a very good ticket. And people are so against President Bush right now – they want a change – that if the Democrats had put up anybody that was decent, they’d win this thing in a landslide. I’m just not sure. I think Giuliani did a good job with security, and I think Mitt Romney has done a great job with private business. I just don’t know enough about either one of those two candidates, nor even John McCain, to be able to endorse one of them. I like Bill Richardson on the Democratic side, and if I had to choose, I think I like John McCain on the Republican side.

Let’s switch gears to wrestling. Have you given any thought to coming back as a wrestler, even if it was for just one match at WrestleMania?

Sure, I’ve considered it. I’m feeling better. My back is not bothering me. I retired because I had to, not because I wanted to. The temptation to get back in the ring is very much there. It’s not that I was a great wrestler or anything like that, but I’m not coming back just to come back and do something. I don’t want to come back and people say, “Who’s the old fat guy?” I’m not interested in doing that. I talked to Stone Cold [Steve Austin] about this a lot, and it’s the same reason he hasn’t [come back] – it’s because he’s not sure that he can come back for more than one match and be the Stone Cold of old. Not to compare myself to Stone Cold in any way, but I feel the same way. If I thought I could come back and do it correctly and do more than one match and make it worth people watching it, then I would, and I’m not sure I can.

I always thought that the JBL character could have had a big run as a babyface if there was a strong foreign heel to go against, much like Sgt. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik in 1984. Was that ever talked about?

You’re exactly right. It was discussed a bunch. A lot of people thought I had that run in me left. Once my heel run got over with, I think the plan was to do something similar to that, that there was going to be a run as a babyface at the end of my career once you had some foreign threat. Unfortunately, it never materialized because my health gave out on me and I had to retire.