From the Vault: Mauney’s last five event wins
Tune in on RidePass at 8 p.m. ET to watch J.B. Mauney's most recent Unleash The Beast victory.
PUEBLO, Colo. – It may now be more than a year since two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney stepped foot onto the now Can-Am shark cage as event winner, but the future Ring of Honor inductee is looking forward to making his way back on top during the second half of the 2020 Unleash The Beast.
Mauney has been rehabbing and recovering from offseason reconstructive shoulder surgery and is on pace for a return to competition at Last Cowboy Standing at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 20-21.
When he does return, there will be at least one PBR record within his grasp. One of those is sole possession of the PBR record for most event wins.
The 32-year-old is currently tied with fellow two-time World Champion Justin McBride for the most event wins in PBR history at 32. This total does not include Mauney’s three 15/15 Bucking Battle victories nor his 13 wins on the Touring Pro Division level.
Mauney earned his 32nd victory last year at the Bad Boy Mowdown in North Little Rock, Arkansas, despite dealing with a broken left leg and a torn ACL/MCL.
Fans can watch Mauney’s gritty effort in Little Rock on Monday night on RidePass at 8 p.m. ET for FREE.
Today, PBR.com’s From the Vault series takes readers back to Mauney’s last five event wins.
Mauney continues to overcome injuries in pursuit of history (Little Rock, Arkansas, 2019)
Two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney slid off his riding vest and slouched back in a folding chair inside the locker room at Verizon Arena.
Mauney leaned his head back and let out a grimacing exhale following his 3-for-3 event victory at the Bad Boy Mowdown.
“Finally,” he said before pausing.
An exhausted and exasperated Mauney had replaced the intense, hollering Mauney from 24 hours earlier following his 88.25-point ride on Hou’s Bad News.
“I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck,” he added with another gasp for air. “My leg still hurts like hell. My knee hurts.”
Quite frankly, Mauney’s injuries since his last premier series victory on April 9, 2017, in Billings, Montana, may make him wish he had been hit by a 40-ton 18-wheeler instead.
Mauney has sustained a slew of serious injuries in the 692 days between his two event victories.
Mauney has pedigree to overcome 1,000-point deficit (Billings, Montana, 2017)
J.B. Mauney loves to compare bull riding to a light switch.
When he is on, J.B. Mauney is ON.
When he is off, the two-time World Champion is OFF.
Mauney did more than just turn his bull riding light switch back on this past weekend in Billings, Montana.
He ripped the entire light switch out of the wall when he rode 2016 World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser for 94.25 points for his first win of 2017.
Mauney: ‘I’m wild and Western’ (Nampa, Idaho, 2016)
J.B. Mauney says he can’t remember a time in his life where he actually wore a tie. The two-time World Champion certainly won’t be arriving to the SAP Center in San Jose, California, with a briefcase and laptop either on Friday night.
Mauney tried the businessman approach to bull riding last month in Charlotte and wound up breaking a rib when Who Dey stepped on him and cost him a chance at his first Built Ford Tough Series event win of 2016.
No, Mauney did not actually try to ride with a shirt and tie in Charlotte. Rather, he attempted to make a “smart” pick instead of following his gut instinct to select Jared Allen’s Air Time.
It is why it came as no surprise to see Mauney step up onto the shark cage last weekend at the Ford Idaho Center and select the rank, and nearly impossible to ride, Stone Sober with the ninth pick of the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.
Mauney has chance to eliminate more contenders in Louisville (Tucson, Arizona, 2015)
J.B. Mauney doesn’t see the point in slowing down, especially knowing how close he is to a potential second world title.
The current world leader has confirmed he will be going to this weekend’s BlueDEF Velocity Tour Finals in Louisville, Kentucky, as he tries to build on his 3-for-3 victory last weekend in Tucson, Arizona, during the Built Ford Tough Series regular-season finale.
“I feel like when I am riding good there is no point in staying home” Mauney said. “There are points and money up for grabs in Louisville and I got the invite to go. I wasn’t going to turn it down. It is only seven hours from the house. I have nothing else to do.”
Mauney’s free-arm movement a major benefit (Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2015)
The Express Employment Professionals Classic quickly became J.B. Mauney’s to lose once he rode Buck Autism for 91.25 points to win Round 1 on Friday night.
Mauney is once again running on full cylinders like so many other times in his 10-year career and his second consecutive week with a 90-point ride gave him 58 career 90-point rides.
He nearly got number 59 on Saturday night when he capped off his second victory in a row, and third this season, with an 89.75-point ride on DaNutso.
The two round wins added to Mauney’s Built Ford Tough Series-leading nine round wins, which has contributed to 26.11 percent of his world points this year.
Mauney has been able to whip his free arm to much success throughout his career, and it is partially why he is averaging 87.14 points per ride in 2015.
“It probably has to do with my style,” Mauney said about his 90-point success. “I whip a lot more than I should. I don’t do it on purpose. It is just my riding style and sometimes it benefits me and sometimes it gets me thrown off making moves.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko