The first African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion,
WWE and College Football Hall of Famer are all Titles that describe on man and
his name is Ron Simmons. Before his, in ring career as a professional wrestler,
Simmons was a two-time Consensus All-American in football at Florida State
University (1979, 1980) as a Nose Guard under legendary coach Bobby Bowden he
was considered one of the greatest recruiting victories coming out of high
school. Prior to that, he was All-State and linemen of the year in the state of
Georgia (1976). Simmons was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in
1981. He went to appear for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL and later that year
he played for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL before finally wrapping up his
football career with the Tampa Bay Bandits of the defunct USFL (1983-1985)
where he met future pro wrestler Lex Luger.
Simmons was trained in pro wrestling by Japanese legend Hiro
Matsuda and he made his pro debut in 1986. Simmons and Butch Reed formed the
tag team known as Doom in 1989 where they became the NWA World Team Champions
in 1990 battling the like of the Four Horsemen, Rock n Roll Express, and The
Steiner Brothers. After an end to the Doom tag team, Simmons went on to be a
singles star which included winning the WCW World Heavyweight Title in 1992,
making him the first African American Champion of that organization defeating Big Van Vader.
Simmons
was also won the PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) Most Inspirational Wrestler of
the Year in 1992. After a brief stint in ECW, Simmons made his WWF(E) debut in
1996 as Farooq Asad. The Farooq gimmick was short-lived (thankfully) and
Simmons formed an All black stable the Nation of Domination which was loosely
based on the Nation of Islam stable included Kama Mustafa aka The Godfather,
D’Lo Brown, Mark Henry, and a budding young Rocky Miavia aka The Rock. In 1998
Simmons teamed with Bradshaw to form the Acolytes as members of The Ministry of
Darkness where he became a three-time WWE Tag Team Champion. The early 2000’s
The Acolyte Protection Agency was open for business was Simmons would begin
using the catchphrase DAMN! As comic relief.
Simmons and Bradshaw went from ominous dark figures to card playing,
Cigar Smoking, Bar Brawling protection for hire. Simmons retired from active
competition in 2010 and was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2012.
Breaking barriers in the ring and on the gridiron Ron Simmons is the perfect
example of hard work and determination…DAMN!!
Comments
Post a Comment