12 Wrestlers Whose Ring Names Outlasted Their Gimmicks

Ron Simmons wasn’t fooling anyone when he arrived on Monday Night Raw in 1996 dressed as a gladiator. Announcer Jerry Lawler’s first observation about the mysterious newcomer was, “He looks like Ron Simmons!” Though the Federation invested dozens of dollars into his helmet and imperial theme music, the newly-named Faarooq Asad’s laughable 1st-century gimmick would last only a few months before he formed the Nation of Domination.

Amazingly, the Faarooq Asad name fit the new persona, that of a black militant leader of a Nation of Islam-esque group, much better than the original gladiator persona. It’s a good thing Vince didn’t try to bring Simmons into the Federation as “Spartacus” or something dumb like that (Note: that was actually former WCW President’s idea for Ric Flair).

After being kicked out of the Nation in 1998, Faarooq teamed with the proud Texas redneck Bradshaw to form the Satanic tag team of The Acolytes, which would evolve into the Acolytes Protection Agency, the beer-drinking, hell-raising muscle-for-hire group that we all know and love. But even though Faarooq gambled, drank beer, and smoked cigars just like Ron Simmons, everyone kept calling him Farooq, albeit without the extra “a”, until his release in 2004.