Ron Simmons

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[El-P]

The lesser half of Doom.

[Dylan Waco]

Another guy who was a lot better than Takada.

 

Simmons is interesting to me because he was someone who I liked a lot as a kid, but other people I knew absolutely loved him. His push to the top was awkward and probably occurred at the worst possible time and I don't know that he ever really recovered from it. At the end of the day his ceiling as a star was probably upper mid-card, so that may have been doomed (pun intended) no matter what. That said he is a guy who I have become progressively higher and higher on as a worker over the years.

 

I think the Fantastics v. Eddie/Simmons match was really, really good considering how much time it got. I really liked the 2/3 Falls match with Luger a lot. The Vader title change is a great match. I recently watched the Cage Match with Butch Reed and it is a great match too and Simmons is right there with Reed in that match.

 

Going further I love Doom as a team, to the point where I'd rate them among the most underrated teams of the late 80's and early 90's. I'd personally put them above many of the vaunted teams of the era (Hart Foundation, Demolition, British Bulldogs, et.). I really enjoyed them both as heel roughhouses working control segments, guys reacting to babyface offense, wild brawlers, and guys trading bombs with people like The Steiners.

 

I was a mark for the APA/Acolytes too, though I'm not sure they added many matches to Ron's resume.

 

At the end of the day he's one of about fifty guys I am considering for my last spot, largely because I think we underrated him for years.

[DR Ackermann]

Simmons was remarkably good fairly quickly. The fact that he got into wrestling relatively late in life and adapted so quickly is really impressive to me. If you go back and watch him in the late 80s & early 90s while keeping in mind that he debuted in 1986 I think people would be really surprised by how good he was. He was still rough around the edges at times but he grasped how to work very quickly. You could tell that he worked hard and took his wrestling seriously. However, as good as he got early on I don't think he ever got much better than that. I think he was at his best in a tag setting. I see Simmons as an underrated guy who I could call really good but not great.

[Wade Garrett]

I always enjoyed Simmons. I'm a mark for guys who bring cred whether it be amateur backgrounds, pro, or even street. Simmons did that.

 

I agree with you on his team with Reed. While he was never the singles worker Reed was at his peak he was on par in the tag setting with Reed. I think they are the best WCW team in 1990 beating out the Steiners. The MX were a better team but weren't profiled or even a team the entire year. I would also place them above the WWF teams you mentioned and then some. I really feel they were split to soon. I think they coulda had a face run in full in the Fall of 90 vs. Flair, Anderson, and Windham. Ya don't have to change a damn thing about them either. Maybe split them later into 1991 after they continue a face run through the first half of the year. If they get super over don't split them. Turn the Steiners cause they were heels anyway.

 

I think after a split you may be better off keeping Simmons a heel or very rough around the edges before moving him into a series vs. Luger (who I don't think shoulda flipped in 91) in the Fall. Then maybe the face turn in 92 depending how things pan out. I think Watts blew it though with Simmons mainly because Simmons needed momentum and much more airtime + program prior to a title run. Test the waters with him against Rude or even Anderson at the time.

 

I like Simmons a lot and will consider him no doubt.

[El-P]

Another guy who was a lot better than Takada.

Well you got a laugh out of me, so that was worth it.

 

I dunno. Good power worker when he was part of Doom, which was probably his peak as a worker. I like Doom quite a bit.

Amounted to not much in single sadly. A few good matches there and there. His Faarooq stint was dull as hell in the ring, with shitloads of boring matches. The APA is ridiculously overrated, like every WWF team of that period. The New Blackjacks were better.

 

To me he's an underachiever ocnsidering his athletic ability. Pretty good worker.

[DR Ackermann]

Was Simmons ever the best worker in any standout match?

[JerryvonKramer]

I loved a lot of Doom matches in 1990. They are much better after they lose the masks, and literally at the point where they seem like the best thing ever, they split them up.

[goc]

Doom was a huge revelation to me when I watched the Butch Reed comp I have. I could see putting Doom on a top 25 tag team list, even as short as their run was. I couldn't see Ron Simmons on a top 100 wrestlers list though.

[cheapshot]

I totally lost interest in Ron Simmons when he worked ECW in 1994. This original Farooq Asad run in 1996 wasn't much either. No where near top 100 for me as a single.

[elliott]

What is the best Ron Simmons match? Aside from Doom. 

[Reel]

Has to be Vader title change, right? Maybe the Luger Clash match. Other than that, is it the WrestleMania 13 6-man or is there some standout APA match I can't remember?  

[NotJayTabb]

I loved the Havoc 91 2/3 falls match against Luger last time I saw it, remember thinking that Simmons looked great in it and Lex played cowardly heel really well.