10 WWE Gimmicks Which Ripped Off Real People

8. The National Of Domination - The Nation Of Islam

RVD Jean Claude Van Damme
WWE/Zimbio

Ron Simmons was another 1995 implant from Atlanta who realised in fairly short order that Connecticut's grass wasn't quite as verdant as it appeared from the other side. The first 'official' African-American NWA champion was immediately and inexplicably transformed into a blue gladiator as though haunted by Jim Herd. When Simmons first saw the outfit, he assumed it was a rib.

It wasn't, and it went about as well as could be expected. As WWE began to evolve the tone of their storylines in response to WCW's burgeoning ratings lead, Simmons earned a reprieve. Ditching both the galerus and Sunny, Simmons began dressing in pan-African colours and adopted a more militaristic persona. The connection between his new pro-black Nation of Domination faction and the Nation of Islam was blatant. The taqiyahs were straight out of Louis Farrakhan's wardrobe - a man, who, handily, the leader already shared a homophonic name with.

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Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.