58 Facts About Ron Simmons

Ronald Simmons was born on May 15,1958 and is an American retired professional football player and professional wrestler.

Ron Simmons played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was recognized as an All-American.

Ron Simmons played professionally for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits.

In WCW, Ron Simmons was a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion; as the first African American to win the title, he is recognized by WWE as the first Black world champion in professional wrestling history.

Ron Simmons was a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion with Butch Reed and a one-time WCW United States Tag Team Champion with Big Josh.

Ron Simmons was one of the most prominent stars in the WWF in the early Attitude Era.

Ron Simmons was a sporadic world title contender between ECW and the WWF, and led the Nation of Domination stable in the latter promotion.

Ron Simmons was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

Ron Simmons was considered one of Florida State's greatest recruiting victories when he signed out of high school.

Ron Simmons played four years as a defensive nose guard at FSU under coach Bobby Bowden, earning consensus All-American honors in 1979 and 1980.

In 1979 Ron Simmons finished ninth in the Heisman voting behind the winner, Charles White of USC.

In 1988, Ron Simmons's jersey was retired by FSU, the third time a number has been retired in school history.

Ron Simmons was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame for his accomplishments while playing at Florida State, and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Ron Simmons later had a brief career in the National Football League, selected in the sixth round of the 1981 NFL Draft.

Ron Simmons played for the Cleveland Browns in 1981 and 1982, and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits from 1983 to 1985, and it was in Tampa where he was a teammate of future professional wrestler Lex Luger.

Ron Simmons joined Jim Crockett Promotions in 1986, appearing on the first show of the Great American Bash tour when he defeated The Tahitian Prince in Lakeland, Florida on July 1.

The rookie Ron Simmons defeated the likes of a young Rodney Anoa'i and The Barbarian.

Ron Simmons remained undefeated in singles actions until finally losing to Ivan Koloff on a house show at the Omni in Atlanta on February 14,1988.

Ron Simmons was dominant through the first half of the year against lower-level competition on house shows, including Whatley and The Terminator.

Ron Simmons teamed with Steve Williams at the 3rd Annual Jim Crockett Sr.

Ron Simmons later teamed up with Butch Reed to form Doom.

Subsequently, Doom broke up, with Ron Simmons turning face and feuding with Reed, defeating him in a cage match at the very first SuperBrawl.

Ron Simmons defeated midcarders including Oz and The Diamond Studd, then unsuccessfully challenged Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc, losing the best-of-three-falls match one fall to two.

Ron Simmons spent the first half of 1992 feuding with Cactus Jack, whom he defeated via pinfall at SuperBrawl II.

Ron Simmons won the raffle and defeated Vader with a snap scoop powerslam to win the championship.

Ron Simmons continued to feud with Cactus Jack, with Jack bringing in The Barbarian to challenge Simmons at Halloween Havoc.

At Starrcade, Ron Simmons was scheduled to wrestle Rick Rude, but due to Rude being injured he faced "Dr Death" Steve Williams instead, wrestling to a double countout that was changed to a disqualification win for Ron Simmons when Williams attacked him after the match.

Ron Simmons unsuccessfully challenged Dustin Rhodes for the United States Heavyweight Championship and Paul Orndorff for the World Television Championship during his last months with WCW.

Ron Simmons competed in the European Cup Tournament, winning his 1st round match against Marcus Bagwell but lost the next round to Sting.

Ron Simmons would go on to feud with Sting and Bagwell, mostly competing in tag matches.

Ron Simmons's final match was a win over Scott Armstrong on the September 10,1994 edition of WCW Worldwide.

Ron Simmons debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in September 1994.

At November to Remember in November 1994, Ron Simmons unsuccessfully challenged ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas.

At Extreme Warfare in March 1995, Ron Simmons defeated Hack Meyers then issued a challenge to 911, who came to the ring and chokeslammed Ron Simmons.

Ron Simmons made his final appearances with ECW in May 1995.

In January and February 1995, Ron Simmons wrestled in Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of its "Fighting Spirit" tour.

Ron Simmons made a second tour with NJPW in May and June 1995, again teaming with American wrestlers such as Arn Anderson, Mike Enos, and Steve Austin.

Ron Simmons began working as a warehouse manager for a Coca-Cola factory on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1996, Ron Simmons returned to professional wrestling, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation.

Ron Simmons made his debut on the July 22,1996, episode of Monday Night Raw.

Ron Simmons started his first feud with Ahmed Johnson before shortening his ring name to Faarooq.

In late 1998, Ron Simmons began teaming with Bradshaw as The Acolytes, a violent tag team sporting occult symbolism on their tights and chests.

Around this time, Ron Simmons began wrestling under his real name, as the terrorist group Al-Qaeda had a training camp called Al-Faarooq.

Ron Simmons had a brief heel run when he teamed with Reverend D-Von until he left television in December 2002, but in June 2003 he returned to WWE with Bradshaw and the APA reunited.

Ron Simmons retired from his in-ring career, accusing Bradshaw of not being a faithful friend in storyline.

In 2006, during a rebroadcast of the 1981 Orange Bowl on Sun Sports, Ron Simmons stated that since his retirement from professional wrestling, he would like to continue or even improve his role within WWE.

Ron Simmons was the first to be eliminated, via countout.

Ron Simmons occasionally competed on WWE Heat, taking on jobbers from the town in which the show is being taped.

On Raws 800th episode on November 3,2008, Ron Simmons interrupted wrestlers, who were dancing in the ring, with his catchphrase.

Ron Simmons was released from WWE on January 13,2009, due to budget cuts but repeatedly reappeared on various WWE events to interrupt awkward situations with his catchphrase.

Ron Simmons would wrestle in the independent circuit from 2008 to 2012.

Ron Simmons wrestled his final match on March 17,2012, teaming with former WWE wrestler Brian Christopher defeating PG-13 J C Ice and Wolfie D at Crossfire Wrestling in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ron Simmons was credited in the tribute as being the first African American world heavyweight champion in WCW.

Ron Simmons was acknowledged as a memorable character in WWE's "Attitude Era".

Ron Simmons ended his Hall of Fame speech with his signature "Damn" .

In 2012, Ron Simmons was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

In 2014, Ron Simmons made several appearances for Maryland Championship Wrestling's "Autumn Armageddon" tour.

Ron Simmons appeared at the Raw 25 Years show on January 22,2018 and attended the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.