Lockwood in Awe of Joining Childhood Heroes in PBR Record Books with Second World Title
By: Justin Felisko
LAS VEGAS – Newly minted two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood took a seat inside the now empty locker room at T-Mobile Arena and wrapped his left fingers around a cold Coors Banquet.
Disbelief and leftover adrenaline had resulted in the 22-year-old being at a near loss for words.
It was a stark contrast compared to two years ago when the stunned 20-year-old sat on the exact same bench in the locker room wiping tears out of his eyes with an unwavering smile after achieving a lifelong dream of becoming a World Champion.
Lockwood’s second title is more historic than symbolic for the kid from the ever so small and rural town of Volborg, Montana.
At only 22 years old, and with his entire career still in front of him, Lockwood has placed his name next to the all-time bull riding greats after winning his second World Championship in four seasons at the 2019 PBR World Finals.
Lockwood is only the sixth rider in PBR history to have won multiple World Championships, and he now ranks sixth all-time in career earnings ($3,918,473.66).
“I don’t even know,” said Lockwood. “I wanted it so bad because there are a lot of guys that have one world title. You don’t even remember a lot of the guys that have one world title and that’s it. To put myself up there with my hero, Justin McBride, is unthinkable to me. That is a guy that I have looked up to forever. To say that I am along with him and J.B. Mauney, and I have six, seven eight more years.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
SETTING THE STANDARD – A HISTORY OF MULTIPLE GOLD BUCKLE WINNERS
Lockwood was 4 years old when a 31-year-old Adriano Moraes became the first PBR bull rider to win two World Championships.
“Just tough,” Lockwood said of the three-time World Champion. “He wasn’t spectacular riding (with flash), ‘Wow,’ but he just rode everything and got the job done.”
Two years later, a 6-year-old Lockwood was probably watching Finding Nemo – the famous Disney Pixar 2003 film – when Chris Shivers, 24, won his second gold buckle. Shivers was the first rider to win the PBR’s $1 million champion bonus.
“Flashy,” Lockwood said. “Shivers could make an 86-point bull ride a 92-point bull ride. He could flash everything up. That was his thing.”
Lockwood was 8 years old when Craig Morgan, Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts were topping the Billboard rankings as Justin McBride, 26, etched his name in the PBR record books with a second World Championship in 2005.
“McBride is the best ever,” Lockwood said. “He got the job done and was good at what came with riding. Sponsors, the TV. He is the best ever at putting everything that comes with bull riding together.”
In 2012, Silvano Alves became the first rider in PBR history to win back-to-back World Championships.
Lockwood was then 15 years old – a freshman at Volborg High School who was soon going to win a Class B-C 98-pound division state title in wrestling and Montana State High School rodeo bull riding title.
“Same as Adriano,” Alves said. “He got the job done, and never anything too flashy. It was plain and simple. He didn’t say much. He showed up and rode bulls.”
Then there is the aforementioned Mauney, who put a stop to Alves’ reign of dominance during Lockwood’s high school years, winning the 2013 and 2015 PBR World Championships and conquering bulls by the names of Bushwacker, Asteroid, Long John and SweetPro’s Bruiser.
“That is the greatest rank bull rider of all time, and so clutch,” Lockwood said. “Clutch at everything he has done.”
Mauney was 28 years old when he won his second buckle.
Lockwood is 22 years old today.
He still has six years to win a third world title before Mauney won his second.
How does he comprehend being of the pace that was set by the five legends previously?
“I don’t know what to say in the category of that, but I know I have years ahead of me and I can hopefully put my name up there with those guys in such a way,” Lockwood said.
“I’m on my way.”
A NEW LEGACY OF DOMINANCE IN VEGAS
Lockwood joins Alves and Mauney as the only World Finals event winners with multiple gold buckles.
In fact, Lockwood’s 5-for-6 showing at the World Finals makes him one of seven riders to win a World Finals event title and a World Championship. Only five riders have won a world title and the World Finals in the same season – Mike Lee (2004), Renato Nunes (2010), Mauney (2013), Alves (2014) and Lockwood (2019).
“That was one of my biggest goals besides a world title,” Lockwood said. “I didn’t know if in my 10 to 12-year career I would be able to say that. To get it in my fourth year, and a world title, is hard to put into words. It is all kind of a blur right now. I don’t really even know what to say.”
Lockwood had already had his World Finals moment in 2017, winning a PBR-record three consecutive rounds to begin the Finals and win the world title.
This year, though, Lockwood knew he needed to be that much better than a 3-for-6 showing when he walked into T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 6.
It was simple. He essentially had to ride every single bull and win the World Finals event average to win the 2019 World Championship.
Lockwood had just witnessed world leader Jose Vitor Leme win the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals to extend his lead atop the world standings to 749.66 points.
Prior to Lockwood winning the 2019 World Championship, no rider had ever overcome more than a 467.5-point deficit in the current points system at the start of the World Finals like Lockwood did two years ago.
Lockwood knew his chances were slim following the Velocity Tour Finals. Leme looked unstoppable, but he knew he couldn’t dwell on the situation.
“Especially after Velocity Finals, he was almost 800 points ahead coming into the first round here,” he said. “I knew I had to for sure win the Finals if I was going to win a world title.
“I didn’t want to go up to the room and pout about it. I figured the best way to go into the Finals was to say screw it and forget about the rest.”
Lockwood continuously put the pressure on Leme inside T-Mobile Arena despite him being the one with no wiggle room. One buckoff could have doomed Lockwood early on.
He began Round 1 with 86 points on Silver Back – which was the lowest ride score among Leme, Lockwood and fellow title contender Chase Outlaw on the opening night of the Finals.
Regardless, Lockwood was eerily calm after that ride.
Not a concern in the world that Leme had begun his World Finals with 88 points on Skyfall.
Lockwood knew he would not buck off in Vegas. He was that confident in himself.
Round 2 wound up being the biggest difference-maker of the week. Lockwood dominated Spotted Demon for 91.5 points – spearheading his run of four consecutive 90-point rides in Las Vegas.
Leme, meanwhile, would end up slapping Danny Boy at 1.9 seconds for ultimately his biggest mistake of the week. By the time the final championship round of 2019 arrived on Sunday, Leme had not made any other blunders, countering every Lockwood ride with one of his own, but he still trailed Lockwood by 94.75 points in the event average.
Lockwood was extraordinary in Las Vegas, putting together by far the best showing of his career.
He ripped off 90-point rides on Biker Bob (92 points), The Right Stuff (91.75 points) and Rising Sun (91.25 points). All three of those rides came before Leme had to ride in each respective round.
Lil 2 Train bucked Leme off in 4.59 seconds in the championship round, clinching Lockwood the 2019 world title and the World Finals event title. Therefore, Lockwood’s 4.95-second buckoff against Canadian Mist did not matter.
“I was pretty nervous going into the Finals, but a good nervous,” Lockwood said. “It’s funny. As soon as that chute gate opened, I felt relaxed and normal.”
Lockwood earned 2,265 world points at the Finals to finish 852.51 points ahead of Leme in the world title race.
Nine-time World Champion and 1999 World Finals event winner Ty Murray said Lockwood put forth one of the best come-from-behind stories in PBR history.
“I will put it right at the top with some of the best, overtaking Leme with this comeback,” Murray said. “He has been excellent. He was on fire. He had 100 percent confidence, and I really felt that same way when I won the Finals. They were like, ‘Which one did you want?’ and I didn’t care. When you have that feeling, it is wonderful. You feel prepared. You feel healthy. You feel good. You feel ready. I know that feeling and I can see Jess in that place. He had 100 percent confidence. I think Jose did too, other than that one bobble. He answered back. It doesn’t matter. There is going to be a winner and there is going to be a loser. That is sport. They both were dang good.
“Jess was everything and more.”
OTHER LEGENDARY COMEBACK ARTISTS TIP THEIR HATS
Throughout the PBR World Finals and in the weeks leading up to the Finals, Ty Murray and others began to compare the Lockwood and Leme showdown to that of the three-year rivalry between J.B. Mauney and Silvano Alves.
The two future Ring of Honor inductees were forced to the sidelines for the 2019 World Finals, but they were inside T-Mobile Arena watching Lockwood’s comeback bid.
They believe that, in all reality, having his back against the wall may have been the best thing for Lockwood.
Alves and Mauney were the last two men to pull off memorable, and significant, come-from-behind world title runs at the World Finals.
Mauney historically put an end to Alves’ pursuit of a third consecutive World Championship in 2013 when he won five of the final nine regular season events before going a perfect 6-for-6 to win the 2013 World Finals. Mauney overcame a 3,056-point deficit at the start of the 2013 second half.
“Shit, any time you make a comeback like that and have multiple World Championships, it is saying something,” Mauney said. “I like it. I like when the pressure is on and I am backed into a corner and had to ride them. That is when you start doing things right. When you are in that spot, you really have nothing to lose. You can put it all out on the line, and when it pays off it, looks good.
“If it doesn’t pay off, you don’t lose anything.”
Alves rode 13 consecutive bulls to conclude the 2014 season and won the World Finals event average to push himself to a record-tying third world title. Alves overcame a 516.19-point deficit at the Finals to defeat Joao Ricardo Vieira and Fabiano Vieira.
“He come here many points behind, but at Finals that is nothing,” Alves said. “I have had fun watching. This is like me and J.B. in 2013. I like this. It is good for both of them. It is adrenaline and fires up each guy.
“He is very impressive right now because he is riding good. He has a lot of confidence. He is a great bull rider here. He is very young. He is the youngest guy to win two titles. He is one of the greatest riders in the history of the PBR.”
OVERCOMING THE BROKEN COLLARBONE & A LATE SECOND HALF PUSH
Lockwood could have easily run away with the 2019 World Championship if not for a broken collarbone he sustained at the 2019 WinStar World Casino & Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, on Feb. 9.
Lockwood was the No. 1-ranked bull rider in the world at the time with a 967.5-point lead in the world standings.
When Lockwood returned to competition three months later, he was 654.16 points behind Leme.
Lockwood’s wife, Hailey, said her husband’s drive, confidence and commitment to winning a second world title never wavered during those three months away from the arena.
“It was in the back of his mind that it was possible that would be the reason,” Kinsel said. “But he also said several times he was not going to let that be the reason. It would be, he should have rode one more bull here or wherever we were the last weekend or Minneapolis. Anywhere like that, that he tried to do good and came up short. He would always say, ‘It wasn’t because of bad luck. It was because I should have rode one more there.’
“We all knew it would come down close to the wire either way. I think he also said that to stay positive as well. He wasn’t going to be a Debbie downer and say, ‘If life could have dealt me a better hand.’”
Lockwood did not waste much time getting back to the world No. 1 ranking when he returned to competition, going on a blazing summer run on the Touring Pro Division level. He then swept the Tulsa, Oklahoma, 15/15 Bucking Battle and event titles to take over the top spot in the world standings for the first day since March 24.
“I knew if I didn’t win this world title, I had no excuse,” Lockwood said. “Broken collarbone or not, there were weekends I didn’t step up and Jose stepped up. I never blamed anything on an injury. It is those rides that I rode to 7.9 or 7.8 that I didn’t finish, I would have blamed it on.”
All Lockwood did was put forth the best season of his career in the 18 Unleash The Beast events he competed at.
Lockwood went a career-high 44-for-65 (67.69%) with five event wins and a PBR-record four 15/15 Bucking Battle victories. He also set a PBR single-season record for earnings with $1,873,731.80 at all levels of competition.
Lockwood’s 14 90-point rides was the fourth-most all time.
Lockwood averaged an astounding 88.52 points per ride on the Unleash The Beast, and his riding percentage is the highest by a World Champion since Alves went 69-for-100 (69%) in 2011.
There was a moment this season, though, in which Lockwood began to wonder if maybe this wouldn’t be his year. Lockwood went 0-for-2 at the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia, as Leme extended his lead atop the standings to a season-best 1,026.66 points.
“I was like ‘Crap, as much catching up as I am trying to do, it is going to be dang tough,’” Lockwood recalled.
A major turning point came in Greensboro, North Carolina, when Lockwood ended Heartbreak Kid’s streak of 38 consecutive buckoffs on the premier series with a 93.75-point ride a week after winning the Minneapolis 15/15 Bucking Battle and placing third in the overall event.
Lockwood nearly broke his neck when he came crashing to the ground head first following the 8-second mark aboard Heartbreak Kid.
Instead of a season-ending – or life-threatening – injury, Lockwood left the arena relatively unscathed and ready for the regular-season finale.
How did he respond there?
Well, how about by riding Heartbreak Kid again – this time for a career-best 94 points – in Nampa, Idaho.
Lockwood was peaking at exactly the right time of the season and had moved to within 416.66 points of Leme’s lead.
“I know if I didn’t take Heartbreak Kid, I probably wouldn’t have ended up where I did in those events,” Lockwood said. “I kind of think that put everyone on notice like, ‘Holy shit, he rides the rank ones a little bit better than we expected him to.’
“To put my name up there with J.B. and McBride, that would ride those rank bulls like that, it was a pretty damn good feeling that boosted my confidence so much. I was kind of in that category at that point.”
McBride credited Lockwood for not remaining satisfied after he won his first world title.
The 2019 version of Jess Lockwood is a stark contrast of the 2017 edition, who posted the lowest riding percentage of any champion (43.75%), said McBride.
“Jess won a world title in 2017, and he was not nearly as good as he is now,” McBride said. “Well, he is continuing to work to get better. That is the thing. He had to understand when he won that world title in ‘17, he was damn good, but he was not nearly to his full potential. That is a hard thing to do for a 20-year-old kid. That is not an easy thing.
“The only thing harder than winning one is winning two. The only thing harder than that is winning three, and so forth. You have to keep finding that motivation. That is why I have said all along from the time Jess first came around, that he had the potential to be the best the PBR has ever seen because he was able to win one so, so young.
“To me, him winning another one this year, we will always talk about Jess being a great bull rider. Not a good bull rider. A great bull rider.”
ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE RECORD-HOLDER & PURSUING HISTORY IN 2020
Adriano Moraes waited patiently in the doorway of the locker room Sunday night as Lockwood celebrated with some of his close friends and family.
The Ring of Honor inductee eventually made his way over to Lockwood and pulled him into a bear hug, whispering a few words of encouragement and congratulating him on joining an elite class of bull riders.
Moraes then looked him the eye with the intensity of his riding days.
“Records are meant to be broken, so go out and break them,” Moraes said.
Lockwood is four years ahead of Alves, who was 26 at the time of his third championship.
A third world title is certainly on Lockwood’s mind, but he is also eyeing another Alves record.
Back-to-back World Championships.
“I am not going to let it be like 2018,” Lockwood said of his failed bid to win consecutive world titles. “I know it is hard to do it back to back, but I can promise you I won’t be halfhearted like I was in ‘18. I may not step out and win the first two events like this year, but I can promise you I won’t not want to be there like I was in ‘18.
“It is going to be hard, but I will be ready.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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