Grilling JR - Ron Simmons [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This month across the shows, we’re observing Black History Month and we’re doing that with deep looks at some of the biggest names in African American wrestling history. And if we’re talking about that topic, one name jumps to mind immediately. And he’s our topic today.

Ron Simmons.

Born Ronald Simmons on May 15, 1958 in Perry Georgia, Simmons attended Warner Robins High School, where he played football as a tight end and linebacker. In 1976, he was named lineman of the year, and first team All-State by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

(When did you first have the pleasure of meeting Ron Simmons and what did you think of him right away?)

Ron Simmons was considered one of Florida State's greatest recruiting victories when he signed out of high school. Simmons played four years (1977–1980) as a defensive nose guard at FSU under coach Bobby Bowden (whom Simmons described as "a second father"), earning Consensus All-America honors in 1979 and 1980.

(Can you talk about Ron Simmons’ relationship with Bobby Bowden for a second?)

The Seminoles were 39–8 during Simmons's years at the school, finishing in the Associated Press Top 20 three times ('77, '79 and '80), and earning back-to-back Orange Bowl trips after Simmons's junior and senior seasons.

In 1979 Simmons finished ninth in the Heisman voting behind the winner, Charles White of USC. In 1988, Simmons's jersey (number 50) was retired by FSU, the third time a number has been retired in school history. Simmons was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame for his accomplishments while playing at Florida State, and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

(Let’s talk about Ron Simmons’ collegiate athletic accomplishments. Is this where you first became aware of him? What was he like compared to others?)

(Tampa Bay Times projects where Simmons might end up in the 1981 draft)

Ron Simmons achieved great things in his life, as we will talk about. But, he had to overcome early troubles, too. While at Florida State, Simmons entered a plea of no contest in circuit court and was given a one-year probation for his part in the buying of stolen goods from a local store. That means he never admitted guilt but didn’t fight the charge.

The criminal justice system is demonstrably more harsh to young black men than others. We don’t know the specifics of the story or the validity to the charge. But, we include this detail because it teaches an important lesson: a mistake doesn’t ruin your chances at greatness. Don’t let it stop you.

(Do you agree with that JR?)

After his impressive college football career, Simmons was drafted by the Browns in the sixth round of the 1981 NFL draft. He only lasted two years with the team, but Simmons continued his professional career with the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League and the Tampa Bay Bandits in the United States Football League.

(Any insight or observations why Ron Simmons ended up not staying in football? Was he not big enough?)

Once his professional football career came to an end, Simmons started training under Hiro Matsuda to become a pro wrestler. In 1986, he made his debut in the National Wrestling Alliance.

Simmons joined Jim Crockett Promotions in 1986, appearing on the first show of the Great American Bash tour when he defeated The Tahitian Prince in Lakeland, Florida on July 1. Simmons wrestled only preliminary level competition that summer, but on August 7 he scored the biggest victory of his career when he defeated Ivan Koloff in St Louis. Five days later on a house show in Los Angeles Simmons defeated a young Rodney Anoa'i (Yokozuna). On September 5, the rookie defeated The Barbarian in Baltimore. On the October 24 episode of Power Pro Wrestling he became involved in his first televised angle when he was attacked by Tiger Conway Jr. and Shaska Whatley in an interview.

(What kind of early impressions did Ron Simmons make in JCP? And what was he like backstage?)

He remained undefeated in singles actions until finally losing to Ivan Koloff on a house show at the Omni in Atlanta on February 14, 1988. Simmons was dominant through the first half of the year against lower-level competition on house shows, including Whatley and The Terminator. Simmons teamed with Steve Williams at the 3rd Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup in Greenville, South Carolina on April 22, 1988. They were defeated in the opening round by Mike Rotunda and Kevin Sullivan when Simmons was hit with a foreign object. In December, he finally entered the first sustained losing streak of his career as he dropped multiple house show matches to Mike Rotunda.

(Dr. Death and Ron Simmons. That is a bad ass tag team, isn’t it? Could you call them the Unfuckwithables?)

Soon after, in March 1989, Simmons began showing signs of a heel turn as he got more aggressive in his matches, including a non-title match against fellow babyface, then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and a match on the April 29, 1989 episode of World Championship Wrestling, where he broke the rules during what was supposed to be a face vs. face match against Junkyard Dog. Simmons won the match when the referee, Ron's future manager Teddy Long made a fast count (Long was fired (kayfabe) as referee by Jim Herd immediately following this match). He completed his heel turn on the May 27 episode of World Championship Wrestling during a tag team match, where he teamed with Ranger Ross against the Samoan Swat Team as part of a tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship, leaving him in the ring alone when Long came out.

(Do you recall any particular reason for the heel turn, other than a natural evolution for the character that debuted as a good guy?)

Simmons later teamed up with Butch Reed to form Doom. In the beginning, the members of Doom were masked and only known as Doom #1 and Doom #2, managed by Woman. In their pay-per-view debut at Halloween Havoc 1989, Doom defeated The Steiner Brothers. In the "Iron Team Tournament" at Starrcade 1989, Doom finished fourth, losing all three of their matches. Doom's misfortune continued as Woman soon dropped the team to manage The Four Horsemen. Then on February 6, 1990, at Clash of the Champions X, Doom hit rock bottom when they were defeated by Rick and Scott Steiner and as a result of the stipulation were forced to unmask.

(What was the idea behind the masks? Did you like that? And why remove them?)

With new manager Long, they rebounded and defeated The Steiner Brothers for the NWA World Tag Team Championship at Capital Combat in 1990. They held the title for nine months, defeating teams like The Rock 'n' Roll Express and feuding with The Four Horsemen. Among their most memorable encounters during their title reign was a street fight against Horsemen Arn Anderson and Barry Windham at Starrcade 1990 which ended in a no-contest when Windham pinned Simmons while Reed simultaneously pinned Anderson. Doom were recognized as the first holders of the WCW World Tag Team Championship in January 1991, finally losing the titles to The Freebirds at WrestleWar in February 1991.

(What’s your first or most prominent memory of Doom?)

Subsequently, Doom broke up, with Simmons turning face and feuding with Reed, defeating him in a cage match at the very first SuperBrawl.

In May of 1991, we found an interesting story from the Observer. Apparently at the time, WCW was negotiating with Burt Reynolds for the 5/19 PPV show to do something regarding Ron Simmons. Reynolds is said to be a WCW fan because of Simmons, who played at Florida State and was a superstar in college football ten years back and Reynolds is also an FSU alumnus.

(Do you remember Burt Reynolds being a big fan of Ron Simmons and there being talks about bringing him in?)

If you’re wondering what he was making, a story from around this time said Simmons signed a one year renewal at $186,000 per year.

Simmons works a program with Stan Hansen, which had to be stiff! Then, Simmons defeated midcarders including Oz and The Diamond Studd, who would certainly not be midcarders for long. He moved on to a main event program with Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Famously, he taped segments at Florida State University training for his upcoming matches. At the Fall Brawl Clash of the Champions, a contract signing happened between the two and infamously, Luger made the remark that when he beats Simmons, he has a job in his organization as a chauffeur and then Simmons jumped across the table and they had another pull-apart.

Simmons met Luger at Halloween Havoc, losing the best-of-three-falls match one fall to two.

(Is having Luger make a remark like that getting the right kind of heat? Seems bad.)

(So the idea is being introduced here to have Ron Simmons in the main event picture. Who was a proponent of that backstage? Was there any concern about him being too new in the business?)

On January 14, 1992, Ron Simmons and Big Josh won the U.S. tag team titles from the Young Pistols. Now that’s an interesting combination… Terry Taylor & Greg Valentine won the belts from them on 2/17 in Rock Hill, SC.

Simmons spent the first half of 1992 feuding with Cactus Jack, whom he defeated via pinfall at SuperBrawl II. The company continued to build him as a top guy for 92 until August when history was made.

On August 2, 1992 at a house show in Baltimore, Maryland, a scheduled title match between Sting and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader was canceled after Jake Roberts (kayfabe) injured Sting. WCW President Bill Watts responded by holding a raffle to determine the number one contender. Simmons won the raffle and defeated Vader with a snap scoop powerslam to win the championship. By defeating Vader, Simmons became the first recognized African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion and the second African American wrestler to win a World Heavyweight title.

It’s a special moment. It had to be special for Ron but it was also probably very special to so many young viewers at home.

(When was the decision made to put the world title on Simmons? Why do it at a house show and not at a big event? What did Simmons think about getting to hold the gold?)

Metlzer said this…

The best thing about Simmons winning the title is that hopefully never again, never again, never again, do we have to hear this promotion do outdated race-baiting hype every time an African-American gets a title shot. They did interviews in the building until about 1 a.m. after the show for airing as early as this weekend, and there were implicit instructions made not to bring up the subject of race relating to Simmons winning the title.

(Had Turner come down on the racial angles since some of the earlier stuff we mentioned?)

Ron Simmons himself talked about it to Wrestling Inc in an interview.

“Anytime something groundbreaking happens, it’s always significant. During that time, I was trying to do what everyone else in this business was trying to do and that’s to be the best at what you’re doing. So, you’re never thinking about making history at that point. At that point I had no idea that I was the first black world heavyweight champion because I aspired like everyone else and that was to become champion, period. Then to have the significance of it and to have some young people walk up to me and say, ‘Hey man, I can’t tell you what that meant to me and how it impacted me and changed my life.’ That is what you can not put a price on.”

(Was it a decision that was made knowing how much it would impact the African American audience? Or do you think that was even considered?)

Simmons held the title for five months. He continued to feud with Cactus Jack, with Jack bringing in The Barbarian to challenge Simmons at Halloween Havoc.

At Starrcade, Simmons was scheduled to wrestle Rick Rude, but due to Rude being injured he faced "Dr. Death" Steve Williams instead, wrestling to a double countout that was changed to a disqualification win for Simmons when Williams attacked him after the match. His title reign ended two days later on December 30, 1992, when Vader defeated him to regain the title.

(What did you think of the opponents Ron Simmons faced as champion? There’s been a criticism that he was booked to fail. Do you think he had a successful title run?)

Afterwards, Simmons was relegated to mid-card status, eventually becoming a bitter heel who felt like the fans abandoned him after he lost the championship. Simmons unsuccessfully challenged Dustin Rhodes for the United States Heavyweight Championship and Paul Orndorff for the World Television Championship during his last months with WCW. In the spring of 1994, Simmons was working for WCW without being signed to a contract, also Simmons was briefly managed by Sherri Martel during this time. Simmons competed in the European Cup Tournament, winning his 1st round match against Marcus Bagwell but lost the next round to Sting. He would go on to feud with Sting and Bagwell, mostly competing in tag matches. His final match was a win over Scott Armstrong on the September 10, 1994 edition of WCW Worldwide.

(Do you think Ron Simmons was a missed opportunity for WCW?)

Simmons appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from late 1994 to early 1995. During that time he unsuccessfully challenged World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas at November to Remember and had matches with Mikey Whipwreck and 911.

So if you’re wondering what Ron Simmons was doing at the time...Meltzer reported he was working as a Warehouse manager for a Coca-Cola plant in or near Atlanta since his last wrestling foray. WCW was interested in bringing him back last November starting with the three-ring Battle Royal PPV but the sides didn't agree on money terms.

(It’s bad when a Coca Cola job can keep you from signing with WCW...right?)

But after that, he was on his way to the WWF.

(Who first reached out to who about bringing Ron Simmons into the company? Were you a big proponent of the idea?)

Ron Simmons debuted on the July 22, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw. His first gimmick was that of Faarooq Asad, a gladiator who wore a black and blue gladiator outfit with a misshaped helmet and was managed by Sunny. Eventually, he just became known as Farooq but for the first several months, he wore this awful outfit. It was like a cartoon gladiator.

(Go ahead and tell us how bad of an idea this was! How much did he hate it? How much did YOU hate it?)

Simmons started his first feud with Ahmed Johnson before shortening his ring name to Faarooq. The feud was started when Faarooq attacked Ahmed during a tag team match pitting Johnson and Shawn Michaels against the Smoking Gunns. When Farooq kicked Ahmed, it caused an organ injury. As a result of the injuries sustained, Johnson vacated the Intercontinental title.

Ahmed Johnson's injury was announced on Raw as being a ruptured kidney from the attack by Ron Simmons. Other reports are that it was really a severely bruised kidney and that Johnson has had blood in his urine, but they don't know exactly when it happened. Johnson also broke his nose during the six-man, presumably from a stiff kick to the face by Owen Hart. He was considered doubtful for this coming weekend...

(Was there any heat on Ron for coming in and injuring Ahmed as quickly as he did?)

A report in the Observer that stood out to me: There's a locker room joke that the guys rib Ron Simmons with. They bend over and ask Simmons to kick them in the kidneys so they can put on 30 pounds of muscle like Ahmed Johnson did after he had his kidney injured.

In the subsequent tournament, Faarooq lost in the finals to Marc Mero.

(In hindsight...it’s strange to me that Ron Simmons never won a singles title in the WWF but came so close on numerous occasions. Any feelings on that?)

In November 1996, Faarooq dropped his gladiator gimmick, parted ways with Sunny and formed the Nation of Domination (NOD), a stable loosely based on the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party, although the members of the stable were not exclusively African American. They mostly feuded with Ahmed Johnson.

At the Royal Rumble 1997, Johnson defeated Farooq by disqualification. In the Royal Rumble match, Johnson eliminated himself when he saw Faarooq in the aisle and chased after him. Later in the same match Faarooq was eliminated when Johnson returned and attacked him with a 2x4.

At WrestleMania 13 Johnson recruited the Legion of Doom in a winning effort against the entire Nation in a Chicago Street Fight.

(The Nation of Domination came about at a time when the nWo had just gotten huge and the company was introducing more factions. Just from a story perspective, I love it. What do you think of the Nation?)

Farooq was elevated to the main event picture in 1997 at the King of the Ring, challenging the Undertaker for the WWF championship. What’s interesting is, in the build up to the match, there’s so much talk about Farooq making history, including by him. It almost feels like he might be about to win the WWF championship, although he did not win.

(Was there any talk of putting the belt on him in 97? Or was this just good build to a match?)

Faarooq blamed Crush and Savio Vega for his loss and threw them out of the NOD. Both formed their rival factions, known respectively as The Disciples of Apocalypse and Los Boricuas, and Faarooq recruited more African American members for the Nation, including Rocky Maivia. The three stables feuded with one another throughout 1997.

In the Summer of 1997 Faarooq again lost a tournament final for the Intercontinental Championship, this time to Owen Hart after Stone Cold Steve Austin interfered. Austin, who had forfeited the title due an injury inflicted by Hart, wanted Hart to win so he could again beat him for the title.

But this would begin on-screen tensions between the Nation and Steve Austin.

(Let’s talk about this period of faction warfare in WWE. It seems like it was a response to what WCW was doing with the nWo but it also seems like it might have fallen short of expectations. Who’s idea was this and how do you think it went?)

(Are you looking for groups that will become popular with specific demographics here? Latinos, African Americans, bikers, Canadians, and the like?)

At the end of 97, Farooq was in matches again with Ahmed Johnson. But, a story told by Mark Henry on the Steve Austin Show indicates things turned into a shoot in the ring during a night that we may have been able to track down.

As Mark Henry told the story, Ron Simmons effectively ended Ahmed Johnson’s career after Johnson injured him in the ring. Henry recalled that Johnson put Simmons out for nine months, and that Simmons’ payback for being put on the shelf was to come back and destroy Johnson in the ring in his first match back. Apparently, Simmons had talked about kicking Ahmed’s ass a lot to Teddy Long and Long warned Mark Henry about what was coming ahead of time. Here is what Mark Henry said to Steve Austin:

“I remember it being a sell-out. For those that don’t know what a sell-out is, this is not when you sell all the tickets in an arena. I’m talking about when all the boys are standing at the curtain and they’re peeking through, because they wanna watch what’s gonna happen with their real eyes rather than watching a monitor, or being in the gorilla position. All the boys were watching, and I remember standing next to D’Lo [Brown], and D’Lo hated Ahmed Johnson, they had had a fight earlier that year where D’Lo stretched his ass. Triple H had a run-in with him, and he threatened to beat up Hunter, and he was gonna moke him. And D’Lo said, ‘Nobody’s moking nobody.’ And that’s when they got in a fight. But D’Lo’s standing next to me, he says, ‘Hey, this ain’t gonna take long.’ ... It was a mauling. Ron ran through him, his back hit the ground, Ron stomped on his stomach and then when he rolled over to try and get up, Ron kicked him in the ribs, broke three of his ribs, and I mean, it was like watching a tiger or a lion or something attack some helpless animal in the wild. And Ron pinned him, and at this time … Ahmed Johnson was over as hell during that time. The only person getting a reaction like yours [Steve Austin’s] was his. He was that over. Six months later, done. He got killed off in one night. It was that night that Ron came back and whupped his a**. His run was over, and he never was the same. He had to leave, he couldn’t be there no more.”

The last match we can find where Farooq met Ahmed Johnson was on November 15 at MSG in NYC. Farooq won. Ahmed appeared on a house show and a November 25 show where Raw was taped but he was done after the rest of the year and didn’t last long in 98. So, maybe this is the period when this went down? We aren’t sure.

(Do you remember hearing about this incident? Did Ahmed hurt Farooq in return for the original injury? And - did he make a really terrible mistake in the process?)

In early 1998, Faarooq's leadership of the NOD was increasingly challenged by Rocky Maivia, who had shortened his name to The Rock and felt he should be the leader as he was now Intercontinental Champion. In the Royal Rumble match, all five NOD members were in the ring at the same time and frequently brawled with each other, Faarooq even eliminating his fellow members D'lo Brown and Mark Henry; he was one of the final three along with the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Faarooq wanted the Rock to help him eliminate Austin but the Rock refused and eliminated Faarooq.

The following month at No Way Out, the Nation of Domination lost a 10-man tag to Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, Chainz, Skull and 8 ball when Rock submitted to an ankle lock by Shamrock. That was Ahmed’s last appearance with the company.

After the match, in story,  Faarooq and Rock almost came to blows.

(How well did Rock and Ron Simmons work together?)

At Wrestlemania XIV, Faarooq and Kama were unsuccessful in the tag team battle royal. Later in the evening, Faarooq was the only NOD member absent from Rock's title defense against Ken Shamrock. When Shamrock put Rock in an ankle lock, Faarooq ran down to the ring but decided against helping him and walked off, with the crowd cheering his decision.

The following night on Raw Is War, Rock assumed leadership of the NOD and kicked Faarooq out of the group. Faarooq spent the next several months feuding with his former stablemates.

(I thought this was a fun build. And I thought it had some interesting places to go. Unfortunately, it never felt like we got any real resolution to this. Was it hard to book some type of satisfying ending for the Farooq character while also trying to push The Rock as the next guy?)

(Where did the idea come from for Farooq to whip people with a belt or a strap?)

After being kicked from the Nation, Faarooq feuded with The Rock but failed to win the Intercontinental title. Simmons then teamed briefly with 2 Cold Scorpio. In late 1998, Simmons began teaming with Bradshaw as The Acolytes. But, they started out a lot different from most people’s memories. They were violent and they showed up sporting occult symbolism on their tights and chests. But they were managed by The Jackyl...at least, until he left the WWF, at which point they were reintroduced as members of The Ministry of Darkness led by The Undertaker.

(Where did the idea come from to team Ron Simmons and John Layfield together? They were perfect. How did they work together?)

The Acolytes recruited Phineas 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 later joined the Ministry as well.

During this time the Acolytes had two short reigns as tag team champions; they defeated the team of Kane and X-Pac but lost the title to the Hardy Boyz. At the Fully Loaded pay-per-view in 1999, they won the title back in a no disqualification handicap match against the Hardyz and Michael Hayes. Their second reign ended when they lost the title to Kane and X-Pac.

(What did you think about the whole Ministry of Darkness angle? And did you like the Corporate Ministry?)

After the Undertaker suffered an injury in late 1999, the Ministry of Darkness disbanded. Faarooq and Bradshaw continued to team with one another, and eventually adopted the gimmick of two brawlers who enjoyed drinking beer and smoking cigars. After Bradshaw began hiring out the services of the Acolytes as mercenaries and bodyguards, the tag team was renamed the "Acolytes Protection Agency" (APA). They would have makeshift offices set up in the back - usually just a door, no walls, that led to a table they drank and played cards at. And they would kick people's asses for money. Sometimes it was good guys but mostly, they beat up the heels.

(Got any good APA memories? Who came up with the idea on that?)

Around this time, Faarooq adopted his "Damn!" catchphrase. He gave an interview (Wrestling Inc) and talked about it.

“I think whenever things were going not so well in the ring, I would always say that and the people in some of the towns would repeat it when we went back,” stated Simmons. “My voice carried so well and one night we were there and I said it and they just started chanting, ‘Damn!’ So the writers caught onto it and they said let’s just try this in a scene. So Bradshaw, Booker T and John Cena were doing an exchange and they had me say, ‘Damn!’ So that’s where ‘damn’ was born. And the rest is ‘DAMN’ history!”

(How much mileage has there been out of that one?)

The team won their third tag team title by defeating the Dudley Boyz in June 2001 but lost the titles the following month to Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon when Test interfered.

The APA teamed together until 2002, when Faarooq was drafted to the SmackDown! brand. Around this time, Ron Simmons began wrestling under his real name. One of the supposed reasons for that was that there was an Al Queda training camp called Al-Faarooq.

(Do you recall if that was the reason for the change? I always liked it when he got to go by Ron Simmons, again. What did you think?)

Simmons had a brief heel run that nobody remembers when he teamed with Reverend D-Von until he left television in December 2002.  but in June 2003 he returned to WWE with Bradshaw and the APA reunited. On July 27, 2003, Bradshaw won the APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl, in a match Ron Simmons participated in (it says Farooq on history of wwe). A fun fact...Bradshaw last eliminated Brother Love to win.

In his last WWE storyline, in March Ron Simmons was fired by SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman after the APA lost a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. It was assumed that both of the APA was fired, but Heyman told Bradshaw he was allowed to stay. It was the birth of the JBL character. Simmons retired from his in-ring career, accusing Bradshaw of not being a faithful friend - in storyline.

In reality, Ron Simmons was actually fired that day. The reason given was in appropriate conduct. Around this time, he had a backstage blow up that almost came to blows with The Big Show. That would have been frightening. One report indicated it was a drug related issue he refused to seek help for that may have been the cause of the release - and may even have been the cause of the Big Show dispute.

(Do you remember what happened?)

In 2006, during a rebroadcast of the 1981 Orange Bowl on Sun Sports, Simmons stated that since his retirement from professional wrestling, he would like to continue or even improve his role within WWE.

Starting on October 23, 2006, he began making short cameos on Raw to say his catchphrase "Damn", often in awe at odd occurrences. It was over with the crowd, and we’ve talked about it already.

On the November 20, 2006 edition of Raw, Simmons was chosen by Ric Flair to replace the injured Roddy Piper at the Survivor Series to take on the Spirit Squad. He was the first to be eliminated, via countout. On the January 15, 2007 episode of Raw, he was seen in the ring with Chris Masters in the "Master Lock Challenge", which ended prematurely after interference from Super Crazy. Simmons's escaping the Master Lock, was not recognized. On the July 27, 2007 edition of SmackDown!, Simmons was named the best man for Theodore Long and Kristal's wedding.

(Does Ron enjoy getting to participate in these different skits, from what you could tell? Or did he resent never being used more prominently in a serious angle?)

Simmons also feuded with Santino Marella. On the September 10, 2007 episode of Raw, Simmons was attacked by Marella. On the September 24, 2007, edition of Raw, Simmons returned to the ring and defeated Santino Marella by countout after Marella left the ring and walked out. Simmons occasionally competed on WWE Heat, taking on enhancement guys from the town in which the show is being taped. At the end of each match, Simmons held a microphone, pulling it toward and away from his mouth while the crowd cheered him until he eventually uttered his catchphrase.

(Do you think we should have gotten a Ron Simmons/JBL feud?)

On the December 3, 2007 episode of Raw, Simmons and Bradshaw were hired by Hornswoggle to help him in a no disqualification handicap match against Jonathan Coachman and Carlito.

On Raw's 800th episode on November 3, 2008 Simmons interrupted wrestlers, who were dancing in the ring, with his catchphrase. During the 2008 Slammy Awards, he gave The Great Khali the award for the DAMN Moment of the year. Simmons was released from WWE on January 13, 2009, due to budget cuts but repeatedly reappeared on various WWE events to interrupt awkward situations with his catchphrase.

Simmons and Layfield reunited as the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) on the 1000th episode of Raw, providing their signature protection and back-up for Lita during her match with Heath Slater. After Layfield hit Slater with the Clothesline from Hell, Simmons took to the microphone exclaiming "Damn!"

(Did you like the Heath Slater angle with all of the legends? I thought he killed it. )

In 2012, Simmons was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He ended his Hall of Fame speech with his signature "Damn" once again.

On the January 19, 2015 episode of Raw, during a "Raw Reunion" segment, Simmons came out to help the nWo (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman) and The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) and John "Bradshaw" Layfield against the Ascension (Konnor and Viktor).

He has continued to appear in backstage segments and skits in recent years doing his signature catchphrase. Damn.

(What do you think Ron Simmons legacy is?)

Questions

Francis asks…Why do you think wcw did not push him as champ?

Wrestlemaniac asks...Is Ron Simmons on JR’s Mount Rushmore of the best African American wrestlers of all time?

Franci asks...Who do you see as the future Ron Simmons?

Adam asks...What is JR‘s opinion of this version of the WCW championship belt?

Kayble-kira asks….Absolutely incredible, the first mixed race champion if I’m right and that’s the correct term to use??

Do you think Ron was one of the reasons the rock got as big of a push as he did? I feel like he helped create the character that the rock became

Shea Harrison asks...1.) “Did Ron Simmons experience or witness racial prejudice and/or racial discrimination in football or pro wrestling industries?”, 2.) “If yes, who did it and how did he overcome, cope and process unjust attacks on his/his colleagues’ character & how did he get justice?”

Matt Guerra asks...Was anyone against the decision of putting the World Title on Ron Simmons in 1992?

Warren asks...Why didn't WCW do more with Ron following his world title run?

Big XTra asks...What creative genius put a 2 time all American in that ridiculous blue helmet and outfit? #askjr

Rogue Time Lord One asks...Ron Simmons, Dr.Death, and Haku are in a bar and they start fighting each other. Who’s the last man standing and how many cops does it take to arrest the three of them?

Kieronaldo asks...Was Ron ever considered for a title reign? (I think he means WWF)

Captain Chaos asks...How much damage did Ron & JBL do to the friendly tap over the years?

Adam asks...Who was the better manager for Doom: Woman or Teddy Long?

Craig asks...I don’t think the NOD gets enough credit as a faction, did you see any “+” or “-“ influence Ron Simmons would have had on the Rock on his way up?

Rex Dart asks...Jim Herd has been ridiculed for decades for the idea of giving Ric Flair an earring and a gladiator gimmick. Why does WWE get less blowback for trading the earring for a nerf helmet and actually going through with the idea for Ron Simmons?

Michael Wragg asks...Why wasn't Ron used more in a main event role in WWF? Was it heat or just a bad head of creative?

Also, can JR give us a Damn? For fun

KDR2 asks...While Ron was WCW champion did the NWA recognize him as the world champion as well being that wcw was a close affiliate? Why was there such a shortage of opponents during his reign?

Kurt Zamora asks...Which style of Spinebuster do you like better, Ron’s full impact release style or the more traditional whip around style like Arn? And who has the best spinebuster overall? I think it’s such an underrated move.

Larry Ferguson asks...Just watched an old raw 99 in lead up to survivor series. The first acolyte bar brawl. There was racial slurs aimed at ron during it. How did he feel doing this? Was he hesitant or have issue?

Taylor Cannon asks..why didn't Ron Simmons and Butch Reed have a longer run as a team

Taylor Schiffman asks...Does Jim think Ron is the best/most successful football player turned wrestler?