Line #5 Wrestling/RonSimmons


1	[[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ronsimmons_7215.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:195: As [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Champion]]]]
3	''[[{{CatchPhrase}} DAMN!]]''
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5	Ronald Simmons (also otherwise known in-ring as Faarooq, born May 15, 1958) is a semi-retired American [[ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestler]] who wrestled in numerous promotions, first in Florida, then in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/{{ECW}}, and most notably in Wrestling/{{WWE}} from 1996 to 2010, when he retired. He continues to show up at WWE events to this day, however. He defeated [[{{Wrestling/Vader}} Big Van Vader]] for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Title]], making him the second black wrestler to be a World Heavyweight Champion after Bearcat Wright.
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7	As a WWE wrestler, Simmons was the leader of Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination stable entirely composed of black men, which included Wrestling/MarkHenry and [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]. He also formed one half of Wrestling/{{the A\|PA}}colytes (repackaged as the '''A'''colytes '''P'''rotection '''A'''gency), the other being Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield.
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9	In 2012 he was inducted into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame.
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12	!! "All-American Tropes":
13	* TheAlcoholic: In his APA days.
14	* ArchEnemy: Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors, the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Wrestling/{{Scott\|Steiner}}, Wrestling/AhmedJohnson)
15	* TheArtifact: He kept the Farooq name for many years after his split from Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination despite his gimmick changing. Similarly, the Acolytes were originally part of the Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness, but kept the name, albeit as Wrestling/TheAPA with his and Bradshaw's gimmick being effectively bodyguards for hire as opposed to acolytes of the Ministry.
16	* '''AtomicFBomb''': '''DAMN!''' It's so powerful, the people he shouts it at jump ''all the time'', even though they know it's coming (indeed, they start cringing and bracing for impact the moment he lays eyes on them).
17	* BashBrothers: with Butch Reed, [[Wrestling/TooColdScorpio 2 Cold Scorpio]], and more famously with [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]]
18	* BerserkButton: He and Butch Reed beat down Wrestling/ArnAnderson and Wrestling/RicFlair for taking liberties with their manager, Wrestling/TeddyLong.
19	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Allegedly reverted to his real name from Farooq because Farooq could have allegedly been offensive to some Islamic groups.
20	* CatchPhrase: "DAMN!"
21	* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Had a six hundred pound bench press.
22	* CoDragons: To Wrestling/TheUndertaker in the Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness alongside [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]].
23	* CommutingOnABus: Makes sporadic appearances, mainly to say his CatchPhrase.
24	* CoolMask: Initially when he was in Doom in WCW.
25	* CoolOldGuy: In his later years with WWE.
26	* DemotedToExtra: After Wrestling/TheAPA broke up.
27	* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: From his time in, fittingly enough, Doom.
28	* {{Flanderization}}: Reduced to simply showing up to say "DAMN!" It got to the point where the only words he said were "DAMN!" and/or words that rhymed with it.
29	* HeroicBuild: A given for about 70% of professional wrestlers, but is notable in the case of Ron Simmons as he apparently [[HardWorkHardlyWorks barely works out or trains]], which irritated Wrestling/TripleH to no end.
30	--> '''Triple H''': I'm naturally slender, so I've worked hard for my gains over the years. I find this to be true of most people... save Ron Simmons. He looks amazing, but he's a genetic freak. I doubt he's ever worked out a day in his life.
31	* HiredGuns: the Acolyte Protection Agency (APA)
32	* {{Jerkass}}: As the leader of Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination.
33	* MalcolmXerox: As the leader of the Nation of Domination, only more violent.
34	* MartialArtsHeadband: Which pinched his afro mullet
35	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Added [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Rocky Maivia]] to Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination on the presumption that the timid, weak Maivia wouldn't be able to overshadow him the way Wrestling/AhmedJohnson had. Instead, Maivia shed the nice-guy image, renamed himself "The Rock," drew even more intense hate heat than he had as a baby {{face}}, and went from being Faarooq's [[TheDragon Dragon]] to TheStarscream, kicking Faarooq out of the group on the ''[[Wrestling/{{WWERaw}} Raw]]'' after ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XIV'' and taking over the group himself.
36	* OnlyOneName: As Faarooq, he was only known as that for the most part, and his original last name of Asad was later dropped.
37	* PecFlex: Once intimidated an interviewer by simply looking bored and standing still and doing this.
38	* PrecisionFStrike: He's silent, yes. But when he sees something unexpected..."[[RuleofThree DAMN!!!]]"
39	* TheQuietOne: Ron only says "DAMN!" after his semi-retirement, and it's the only thing he ever currently says in his occasional appearances on WWE programming.
40	* RatingsStunt: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools A positive example;]] the public murder of {{kayfabe}} lead to several questions about pro wrestling, like why WCW had so many black wrestlers who weren't champions. Yes, Simmons was respected in the locker room but it took an [[MediaWatchdog NAACP]] complaint to get Doom the tag team titles. When former UWF boss "Cowboy" Bill Watts took over as head of WCW in 1992, he was more than happy to take Simmons' career further, since as Wrestling/MickFoley wrote, "One of Bill's trademarks was creating a black babyface and building the company around him. When the Cowboy looked at Ron Simmons, I think he heard cash registers ring. Ron had all the qualities Bill loved: he was big, he was black, he could talk, he was a legitimate tough guy, and he'd been a legitimate sports athlete." Simmons would go on to become the second ever officially recognized black world heavyweight champion, and the first for a National company like WCW.
41	* RedBaron: In his gimmick of "The All-American" in his WCW singles career.
42	* RunningGag: "DAMN!"
43	* ScaryBlackMan: [[RunningGag DAMN!!!]]
44	* SmokingIsCool: In his APA days.
45	* SmugSnake: As leader of the Nation of Domination.
46	* TagTeam
47	** Doom, with Butch Reed
48	** The Acolytes/the APA, with Bradshaw.
49	* [[WildCard Tweener]]: Doom eventually started getting cheered like baby {{face}}s but the WCW bookers refused to officially turn them.
50	* UrExample: Ron was wrestling's first black World Champion, paving the way for [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]], Wrestling/BookerT, Wrestling/RonKillings, Wrestling/MarkHenry, Wrestling/KofiKingston, Wrestling/BobbyLashley, and Wrestling/{{Big E\|Langston}}.
51	* VerbalTic: "DAMN!"
52	* Website/{{WrestleCrap}}: Two inductions:
53	** His Faarooq Asad persona with the blue Nerf gladiator hat.
54	** The Gang Wars with the Nation of Domination vs. the Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas, with the Truth Commission mixed in as well.
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Context Wrestling / RonSimmons