17 WWE Returns Confirmed For Raw 25th Anniversary Show

7. Ron Simmons

Steve Austin
WWE

To say Ron Simmons 'burst' onto Monday Night Raw in 1996 would be slightly disrespectful to Ahmed Johsnon's kidneys considering they suffered that exact fate after an almighty boot from the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion and future APA bar brawler.

Weathering those early storms, Simmons' Farooq character morphed into one of the company's top heels as leader of the vicious Nation Of Domination, before shifting personalities yet again during the Attitude Era after a supporting role in Undertaker's Ministry Of Darkness paired him with fellow struggler Bradshaw.

Experience huge success as part of the popular 'Acolytes Protection Agency' act, Simmons carved out a latter day role as a literal walking punchline. Expect his deep-voiced 'DAMN!' exclamation to puncture some farce on January 22nd.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett