Really? His run on top was a critical and commercial disaster. If it wasn't for Eddie Guerrero it would be remembered as the worst title reign in company history.
And who says everything in wrestling needs to be judged by subjective reviews and box office? Some of my favourite CD's are probably from artists you've never heard of playing in coffee shops. Doesn't mean they're not super talented. Besides, this was a topic titled "Random out of the blue gimmicks". John going from an on its arse APA to JBL was certainly out of the blue and he himself (or because of the company, whatever way you want to look at it) achieved the most objective success out of the aforementioned gentlemen.