[1992-12-19-WCW-Saturday Night] Up Close w/Ron Simmons

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Simmons is in a sailor's hat for some reason. Could "Sailor" Ron Simmons have been a winning gimmick? A shame this run on top didn't work, but I think one of the big problems is that the push felt cynical -- even by wrestling standards -- and he wasn't built up enough first. They should have spent a year getting him ready. And Simmons can be a really good interview, but this isn't an example of that.

[El-P]

Simmons was a much better heel anyway I always thought. The Faarooq character had so much potential in WWF in 97, I would have loved to see him get a run with the belt at that time.

[Tim Evans]

I thought it was a police cap? OK interview but yeah he's better as a heel.

[shoe]

Loss pretty much hit everything right on the money.

[BackToBionic]

Throwing my hat in (...heh) to say I thought it was a general's hat and he was channeling Maurice Starr.

 

But yeah, I hate pandering babyface Ron Simmons. Always seemed wrong.

[El-P]

Simmons push on top was nice for the initial pop. But reality is, it didn't work, on any level. Simmons just isn't that good of a worker, and to me his work went down during this period. I enjoyed him much more during the Doom days. And he's getting boring there...

[PeteF3]

The build for this match has been better than I remembered. Too bad the "match" part never comes off.

[WingedEagle]

Simmons with a weird captain's hat on. Simmons just isn't strong on the mic here. Trying to build for a title match with Rude at Starrcade, but this isn't hiding your champ's weakness or emphasizing his strengths.

[garretta]

Ron tried to be almost too articulate here, and ended up sounding like he was talking around the issues at hand. He needed to be in promo mode to be effective verbally: short answers, delivered with conviction and volume. He doesn't come off as dumb by any means, but he's not in Rude's class as a talker.

 

If I'd been in Watts' shoes, I would have made just how Rude got the x-rays part of the hype for the match. I'm not quite sure of the details, but I would have played up the idea that Simmons had been betrayed because someone he'd trusted (in this case, his doctor) fell under Rude and Medusa's influence. Could it happen again? Even if nothing ends up happening, you have the idea of Rude not only getting a win over Simmons in the ring, but being inside his head. As it is, Ron pretty much no-sold the shoulder injury as a possible factor in the match, which made the whole x-ray angle pointless.

 

I would have loved to have seen Simmons-Orndorff in a program instead of just one throwaway match. Paul still had plenty left in the tank as a potential challenger, although I completely understand using Rude, who was totally on fire at this point.

 

I think the hat Simmons was wearing might have been a policeman's cap.