Ronald Simmons (also otherwise known in-ring as Faarooq, born May 15, 1958) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who wrestled in numerous promotions, first in Florida, then in WCW and ECW, and most notably in WWE from 1996 to 2010, when he retired. He continues to show up at WWE events to this day, however. He defeated Big Van Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
, making him the second black wrestler to be a World Heavyweight Champion after Bearcat Wright.
As a WWE wrestler, Simmons was the leader of The Nation of Domination stable entirely composed of black men, which included Mark Henry and The Rock. He also formed one half of the Acolytes (repackaged as the Acolytes Protection Agency), the other being John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
In 2012 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
"All-American Tropes":
- The Alcoholic: In his APA days.
- Arch-Enemy: The Road Warriors, the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott, Ahmed Johnson)
- The Artifact: He kept the Farooq name for many years after his split from The Nation of Domination despite his gimmick changing. Similarly, the Acolytes were originally part of the Ministry of Darkness, but kept the name, albeit as The APA with his and Bradshaw's gimmick being effectively bodyguards for hire as opposed to acolytes of the Ministry.
- Atomic F-Bomb: 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).
- Bash Brothers: with Butch Reed, 2 Cold Scorpio, and more famously with Bradshaw
- Berserk Button: He and Butch Reed beat down Arn Anderson and Ric Flair for taking liberties with their manager, Teddy Long.
- Bowdlerise: Allegedly reverted to his real name from Farooq because Farooq could have allegedly been offensive to some Islamic groups.
- Catchphrase: "DAMN!"
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Had a six hundred pound bench press.
- Co-Dragons: To The Undertaker in the Ministry of Darkness alongside Bradshaw.
- Commuting on a Bus: Makes sporadic appearances, mainly to say his Catchphrase.
- Cool Mask: Initially when he was in Doom in WCW.
- Cool Old Guy: In his later years with WWE.
- Demoted to Extra: After The APA broke up.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: From his time in, fittingly enough, Doom.
- 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.
- Heroic Build: A given for about 70% of professional wrestlers, but is notable in the case of Ron Simmons as he apparently barely works out or trains, which irritated Triple H to no end.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.
- Hired Guns: the Acolyte Protection Agency (APA)
- Jerkass: As the leader of The Nation of Domination.
- Malcolm Xerox: As the leader of the Nation of Domination, only more violent.
- Martial Arts Headband: Which pinched his afro mullet
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Added Rocky Maivia to The Nation of Domination on the presumption that the timid, weak Maivia wouldn't be able to overshadow him the way Ahmed Johnson 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 Dragon to The Starscream, kicking Faarooq out of the group on the Raw after WrestleMania XIV and taking over the group himself.
- Only One Name: As Faarooq, he was only known as that for the most part, and his original last name of Asad was later dropped.
- Pec Flex: Once intimidated an interviewer by simply looking bored and standing still and doing this.
- Precision F-Strike: He's silent, yes. But when he sees something unexpected..."DAMN!!!"
- The Quiet One: 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.
- Ratings Stunt: 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 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 Mick Foley 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.
- Red Baron: In his gimmick of "The All-American" in his WCW singles career.
- Running Gag: "DAMN!"
- Scary Black Man: DAMN!!!
- Smoking Is Cool: In his APA days.
- Smug Snake: As leader of the Nation of Domination.
- Tag Team
- Doom, with Butch Reed
- The Acolytes/the APA, with Bradshaw.
- Tweener: Doom eventually started getting cheered like baby faces but the WCW bookers refused to officially turn them.
- Ur-Example: Ron was wrestling's first black World Champion, paving the way for The Rock, Booker T, Ron Killings, Mark Henry, Kofi Kingston, Bobby Lashley, and Big E.
- Verbal Tic: "DAMN!"
- WrestleCrap: Two inductions:
- His Faarooq Asad persona with the blue Nerf gladiator hat.
- The Gang Wars with the Nation of Domination vs. the Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas, with the Truth Commission mixed in as well.
