| Ron "Faarooq" Simmons |
| Faarooq Height: 6’2” Weight: 291 lbs. Real name: Ron Simmons Hometown: Perry, Georgia Pro debut: October 1986 Finishing move: Dominator (Inverted Front Powerslam) Favorite quote: "Damn!" Other aliases: Doom #1 (WCW), Faarooq Asad (WWE), "The All American" Career highlights: NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion, MCW Southern Tag Team Champion (w/Bradshaw), NWA/WCW World Tag Team Champion (w/Butch Reed), OVW Southern Tag Team Champion (w/Bradshaw), WCW United States Tag Team Champion (w/Big Josh), WWE World Tag Team Champion (3) (w/Bradshaw) Trained by: Hiro Matsuda Simmons returned to prominence several years after the end of his football career when he was recruited by Japanese professional wrestling Hiro Matsuda. Simmons trained under Matsuda and debuted in October 1986. Ron Simmons teamed up with Butch Reed to form Doom. Doom defeated The Steiner Brothers for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and would be recognized along with Reed as the first holders of the WCW World Tag Team Championship in January 1991. On August 8, 1992, a scheduled title match between Sting and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader was cancelled after Jake Roberts injured Sting. WCW President Bill Watts responded by holding a raffle to determine the number one contender. Simmons won the raffle, and went on to defeat Vader to win the Championship. By defeating Vader, Simmons became the first ever African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Simmons held the title for over four months, during which time he consolidated his reputation as a stiff wrestler. His reign ended on December 30, 1992 when Vader defeated him to regain the title. Simmons appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling from late 1994 to early 1995. During that time he unsuccessfully challenged ECW World Television Champion Shane Douglas at November To Remember 1994 and had matches with Mikey Whipwreck and 911. Simmons joined the World Wrestling Federation and made his WWF debut on the July 22, 1996 episode of RAW is War. His first gimmick was that of Faarooq Asad, a gladiator who wore a black and blue gladiator outfit with a misshaped helmet. Simmons briefly feuded with Ahmed Johnson before changing his ring name to simply Faarooq. As Faarooq, Simmons and his manager, Clarence Mason, formed a stable known as the Nation of Domination. The Nation of Domination was loosely based on the Nation of Islam, although the members of the stable were not exclusively African American. After Simmons threw the White American Crush and the Puerto Rican Savio Vega out of the Nation, Vega and Crush formed their own rival factions, known respectively as the Disciples of Apocalypse and Los Boricuas, and the three stables feuded with one another throughout 1997. In early 1998, Simmons's leadership of the Nation of Domination was usurped by The Rock, and he spent several months feuding with his former stablemates. In late 1998, Simmons began teaming with Bradshaw as Hell's Henchmen. They were managed by The Jackyl until he left the WWF, at which point they were repackaged as members of the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and were renamed the Acolytes, as they acted like acolytes to the Undertaker. The Acolytes recruited Phenius I. Godwinn and Mabel to the Ministry by kidnapping and brainwashing them (renaming them Mideon and Viscera, respectively), and feuded with the Undertaker's rivals, such as D-Generation X and The Brood, the latter of which would later join the Ministry as well. After the Undertaker suffered an injury in late 1999, the Ministry of Darkness disbanded. Simmons and Bradshaw continued to team with one another, and eventually adopted the gimmick of two brawlers who enjoyed drinking beer and smoking cigars (much like The Crusher and Dick the Bruiser before them). After Bradshaw began hiring out the services of the Acolytes as mercenaries and bodyguards, the tag team was renamed the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA). The APA teamed together until 2002, when Simmons was drafted to the SmackDown! brand of the WWF (by then renamed World Wrestling Entertainment). Faarooq had a brief heel turn when he teamed with Reverend D-Von until he retired in December 2002, but on June 2003 he returned to WWE with Bradshaw and the APA reunited. In his last WWE storyline, he was fired by former SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman after he disrespected Heyman (due to the WrestleMania XX issue between Heyman and Stone Cold Steve Austin during that night). At first the APA would be fired, but it turned out to only be Faarooq. Ron left the WWE (kayfabe) with hatred against Bradshaw because of him not being a faithful friend. During that event, Heyman told Layfield that it was time for him to break out on his own again. This made Layfield turn heel again. Simmons retired from wrestling after this incident but continues to make appearances for the WWE in a promotional capacity. In 2006, during a rebroadcast of FSU vs Oklahoma in the 1981 Orange Bowl on Sun Sports, Ron stated that since that time he has retired from wrestling action, but would like to continue or even improve his role with the WWE. In October and November of 2006, he began making short appearances on RAW only to say his catchphrase "Damn!". On the November 21st edition of WWE RAW, Simmons was chosen by Ric Flair to replace the injured Roddy Piper at the Survivor Series. |
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