At one point, Ron Simmons was the WCW World Champion, and a man considered by many to be someone who could be on top of the company for years to come. Instead, in 1996 Simmons made his way to the promised land of Vince McMahon's WWF, where he would give up his babyface, legitimate athlete leanings, and instead become the gladiatorial Faarooq Asad. Only adding to the bizarre visual of Ron Simmons in a baby blue space helmet and bright blue and black singlet, was the fact that Sunny was initially chosen to be his manager, making the tandem quite the odd couple, even for the World Wrestling Federation. It wouldn't be long before 'Asad' was chopped from the name, making Simmons plain old Faarooq, and the character was made the head of the Nation Of Domination, a faction primarily set up to feud with Ahmed Johnson. Gone was the blue helmet, thankfully, and fans were introduced to a far more serious Faarooq character. Eventually, Simmons would join with Bradshaw (now JBL) to form The Acolytes, then The APA, but it's hard to imagine Ron Simmons would be getting inducted for his short-lived gladiator gimmick, which failed to connect with fans whatsoever, and made the man look like a villain from Thundercats, or similar cartoon shows aimed at kids.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
