Ron Simmons and John Layfield talk forming APA, backstage set, WCW and WWE title wins, and more

Ron Simmons and John “Bradshaw” Layfield sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Minneapolis, Minnesota to discuss the formation of the APA, how the door became a part of their backstage set, Ron Simmons’ historic world title reign, John Layfield winning the WWE Championship as JBL, how “Damn!” became Ron’s catchphrase, JBL’s rivalry with Eddie Guerrero, the most brutal Clothesline From Hell and more!

Ron, at what point did you know that Damn had gotten over?

Ron: When we were working together, and I’d pull a muscle or do something, or somebody would do something stupid in the ring, and I’d just stand there, ‘Damn!’ Because something that just happened that we didn’t agree on, or I didn’t agree on, right? So the people, and we would go back to the towns each time. So the people in the first 10 rows could hear me. They just start saying, ‘Damn.’ So I look at them and I said, ‘Hey, man, what the hell are they saying that for?’ He said I think you say that when something screws up or something goes wrong. So the writers they got wind of it right and said, ‘Look, the next time that Booker T and John Cena were having an exchange in Chicago, just walk out there simply say, ‘Damn’ after they finish with their exchange.’ When I did that, the people sat there for a moment, then they just went crazy, and that’s when Damn was born.”

Ron, when you won the World Championship, there is pure joy. Take me back to that moment

Ron: “Listen, and this is true. Okay, I don’t think there are many months that I don’t go back and just look at that clip. Because it’s one I can honestly say that in this business, like I said earlier, that it was a real moment in this business. That’s why I came across as it was, as it did with the boys, with myself, with the fans. In this climate we’re in now, where we’re telling everything about this business, which I still can’t bring myself to do, although everything has been said, I still got a problem with saying stuff. That’s just the way I was taught. This was a guarded fraternity, and you were very lucky to get in it. Because if you weren’t accepted by the guys, you weren’t gonna make it. I still struggle with doing that today. But for me, man, it was coming in on a spontaneous thing, being told at the last moment that something like this was gonna happen. No one knew it, no one at all. That’s where you got the realism of it because no one would have never suspected that at a house show.”

JBL: “We do appearances now probably once or twice a month. The only reason I do them is because I want to see Ron. I want to go spend the weekend with Ron. We either watch college football, do something. We just have fun sitting at the table, talking to fans the whole time. I have a lot of fun with Ron, and I miss Ron and being around the camaraderie of the boys and all that. But at these appearances, I don’t think there’s been one, and I don’t know how many we’ve done, that some fan has not come up to Ron and said that moment when you beat Vader was one of the most important moments in my life, and I can’t tell you every single autograph session every weekend. Somebody, at least one person, will come up and tell Ron how much that meant to him, that he was the one that broke that barrier, and that meant the world to them because wrestling was their thing. They needed Ron.”

Has there been talk of putting the APA in the Hall of Fame together?

Ron: “I don’t see why not. Why wouldn’t it be?”

JBL: “You need a table and a door in the Hall of Fame.”

Is there someone that took a particularly stiff clothesline from hell?

JBL: “Oh yeah, Shane McMahon, almost killed him. Shane told me you got to hit me harder than you’ve ever hit anybody in your life. Ron goes, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it!’ So, I mean, we’re at SummerSlam. Shane’s running around. He’s running full speed. I’m like, you got to be kidding me! I hit him so freaking hard. I never hit anybody like that in my life. But he told me, he was threatening me. ‘All right, you got to hit me. You got to hit me. You got to hit me.’ It’s all he kept telling me all day was you got to hit me the hardest clothesline I ever hit. I hit him, and as soon as I did, Ron goes ‘We’re fired.'”

Ron: “I just told him, ‘Go back there and start packing. I’m just gonna go back in and start packing my sh*t.’ The only thing I just recall seeing was this part of Shane [his head] disappearing so fast. I was just standing there shaking my head like it’s been a good run. It’s been a good run, man. Nice knowing you.”

What did Shane say when you got back?

JBL: “Oh, Shane thought it was the greatest thing ever! Shane’s nuts. Shane thought it’s the greatest thing ever. ‘Oh, that’s awesome! That’s awesome! It’s so good.'”

Ron: “It was good to see his ass back there still moving! That’s what I was glad to see!”
We talked about Ron winning the world championship. What was that night like for you, John, when you won the world title?

JBL: “It was a dream come true. I’d always wanted to be the guy. I’d always dreamed of it, and I’d been the man in smaller territories and things like that. I just didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance, and fortunately, Ron helped boost me into that position, and a lot of mentoring that Ron had obviously helped me as well. But all of a sudden, I got this title, and a lot of it happened. Taker told the story in Chicago when I got fired from CNBC, and I cut the promo instead of going out there and begging for mercy and saying I’m sorry. I went the opposite way and said, ‘Anybody who doubts me as a great American would be like calling Mother Teresa a whore.’ It’s about as strong as it could be. You couldn’t say anything I said back then now, and Undertaker was standing back there with Vince. Taker has told the story as well. And he said, ‘Am I going to put the title on him?’ Taker says, ‘You think?’ That was what did it was that promo in Chicago. I knew that was sink-or-swim night, and then I had the right guy with Eddie Guerrero. The perfect guy.”