The WWE has been home to a multitude of memorable duos and factions, but few are as beloved as The APA. Ron “Faarooq” Simmons and John “Bradshaw” Layfield both came into WWE unsure of what the future would bring, but that all changed when their paths finally crossed, resulting in a pairing and more importantly a brotherhood that turned out to be unlike anything else in professional wrestling. WWE is giving fans an inside look at how Faarooq and Bradshaw came to be a team and ultimately put their own spin on the Attitude Era in WWE Untold: The APA, though it also reveals how two people found something they didn’t realize they needed in each other and became brothers for life.
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Simmons and Layfield needed each other but not from just a wrestling perspective. Simmons’ brothers were moved by his aunts at an early age, so he didn’t get the chance to grow up with them for the majority of his life, living with his grandmother, who happened to be a huge fan of wrestling. Layfield would discover his love of wrestling thanks to his grandfather, and both would pursue sports, though they still held a love for wrestling, and eventually both would make their way into the industry.
By the time Layfield got to WWE, Simmons had already experienced success as a World Heavyweight Champion and more recently the leader of the Nation of Domination (thankfully leaving that gladiator gimmick in the dust). The Faarooq name would stay though, and after Simmons’ time in the faction came to a close it was time for something new.
Simmons and Layfield had already become friends in the locker room and were actually already traveling together, and this meant a lot to Layfield, who was struggling to find his place in WWE and even admits that he thought at one point he should just head back to Japan and enjoy a career there. Their personalities were natural complements to each other, and they just connected, with Simmons saying “it couldn’t have been a better match if we’d been Siamese twins.”
With WWE not having anything for Simmons and Layfield saying he was floundering, a duo was born, though it’s admittedly a trip to see them debut as the Acolytes in comparison to what they would become. Debuting as part of the Ministry of Darkness in the ring, hearing them talk about it all shows the APA was right near the surface the whole time, with Layfield drawing Teletubbies on Simmons’ chest and Simmons showcasing that powerful presence that would eventually become their hallmarks.
They would go on to become Tag Team Champions, and this would just cement the bond between them. “Not only having success with a guy as a tag partner that you care a great deal about, but now you’ve become World Tag Team Champions with him, and when that moment happened for us, becoming Champions, it brought us even closer,” Simmons said.
The partnership would continue to flourish, and it was the camaraderie between the two in their off-time that would pave the way for The APA. Simmons revealed that people “were willing to pay us to come on the road with us just so they could take part in our exploits outside of the ring man.” Neither he nor Layfield saw the next piece of the puzzle coming though, which came about because of Layfield’s birthday celebration. Vince and Shane McMahon would come into the hotel after a night full of drinks and partying. They thought they were surely fired after that encounter, so much so that Simmons asked Layfield about his contacts in Japan.
It all worked out though because Vince thought it was so entertaining that he wanted it on television, and Simmons and Layfield were immediately on board. You can see in all the footage just how their real-life friendship allowed them to flourish in these roles, bickering back and forth like an old married couple in one scene and high fiving after a bar brawl in another. It was magic and showcased their hard-hitting style but also their knack for comedy and their willingness to take on ridiculous ideas and work them into their characters and the overall premise.
Look no further than the APA’s office door for proof of this, which was a standalone door without any walls around it. That didn’t keep the pair from yelling at people who didn’t use it or at least knock (including one very memorable exchange with The Rock), and it’s that embracing of the silly that makes it all work. It’s also interesting that Simmons nixed creative’s idea of adding a racial inequality element to their pairing and story at one point. Layfield completely agreed with him, saying “he said this was not about race, and he said if you make it about race then it becomes about race. This is about two good friends.”
All the success the APA experienced is also what makes the ending to their run work so well. It’s always interesting to see what goes into breaking up a group that fans enjoy, especially before they are necessarily ready to see them go. It’s also revealing that while Layfield wasn’t a huge fan of writing Simmons off television, he did end up loving the ending itself, which turned Bradshaw into a heat magnet and someone fans loathed with one segment. It all worked so well only because of the genuineness of their friendship, and Simmons knows how important that is.
“The wrestling fan, they can tell if you really care about each other man,” Simmons said. “It’s a feeling people get from you, and then through the screen they can tell how you feel about each other.”
It’s apparent that Layfield and Simmons were more than just tag partners or a fun wrestling act, and it comes through loud and clear when they talk about each other. “You can learn how to be a champion from a lot of people,” Layfield said. “You don’t learn how to be a man from a lot of people, and I’m not sure I’ve lived up to what Ron has taught me, but he certainly taught me how to become a better person and be a man. There’s no doubting anything about Ron. He was all about fairness, about equality. Ron is one of the best guys I’ve ever met.”
“He made up in me man something that I always wondered what that was like, to have a brother,” Simmons said. “To come up with, have fun with. To talk about the good times as well as the bad, to share things with. He filled that void for me, and I’ll never be able to repay him for that, and I don’t think he knows how much that meant to me and still means. That’s how close we are.”
Perhaps the best summation of The APA comes from Simmons, who says “I absolutely love the partner I was with. Right, he’s in my family. He’s my brother.”
For wrestling fans, The APA is known for brawls, cards, and good times, but for Simmons and Layfield, it means even more, and after watching WWE Untold, it’s easy to see why.
You can watch WWE Untold: The APA this Sunday on the WWE Network.
Let us know your favorite memory of The APA in the comments and as always you can talk all things WWE with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
