10 Things We Learned From Ron Simmons On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Podcast

9. Dusty’s Diversity Met Resistance

Ron Simmons Steve Austin Broken Skull Sessions
WWE.com

Bill Watts crowned Ron Simmons WCW World Champion, but Dusty Rhodes laid the groundwork for that industry-shifting moment. Ron told Austin that Dusty wanted to diversify the NWA's roster when he broke into the company in 1986. Unfortunately, higher ups at Turner didn't feel the same by the late-80s.

That led to frustration on Simmons' part, and he ended up travelling back and forth between the US and Japan to keep busy. Austin genuinely didn't know that, or that it took Watts getting hired to bring Ron back onside. His "head coaching attitude" instantly appealed to Simmons, because he came from a disciplined sports background.

Bill stuck to his guns and was dead set on crowning Ron the first black World Champion in a major company. That's something the future Faarooq will always be thankful of - he could see that both Dusty and Watts put their necks on the line with corporate suits.

It paid off.

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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.