|
|
Post by mikey1974 on Jun 5, 2015 21:20:01 GMT -5
so in 1996 Ron Simmons was finally ready to debut in the WWF. after a hugely successful run in WCW ( becoming both Tag Champ and World Champion), he spent a couple years on the independent circuit and in ECW. but he was ready for Vince's spotlight! would would McMahon do with this former collegiate standout, legitimate bad-ass, and the first black World Heavyweight Champion in the industry?! indeed, many of us salivated at the possibilities!! what we got.....was, in essence, Black Spartacus, managed by Sunny, under the name of "Farooq Assad" :  this gimmick was so cheesy, so stupid.... even an immediate push into a program with Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson couldn't save it ( of course, it didn't help that Farooq legitimately injured Ahmed, putting an abrupt end to the feud). thankfully they saw the error of their ways, and within a couple months he had been repackaged as a Malcolm X type leader of a militant group, which actually worked out really well. but for the life of me, I cannot understand how Vince ( and/or russo) thought this would be a great idea, and a character that would get over. |
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Jun 5, 2015 23:46:55 GMT -5
Again, this proves my theory that Vince McMahon isn't a genius like people in the business claim him to be. For Vince has gotten lucky with most and failed with a lot. This right here is a prime example of a fail.
The funny thing is, that I remember Faarooq being in ECW up until April of 1995 and then all of a sudden.... gone! And then to see him show up in July of 1996 wearing that ridiculous outfit was just shocking - but not in a good way.
Then I remember him having that program with Marc Mero, and he was set to face Mero at the October In Your House, but Ahmed returned to injure him and then 4 weeks later he is on Survivor Series as this black militant. Which of course was better suited for Ron. Just putting him with Savio and Crush wasn't. The only black guys in his group were just guys who stood at ringside and occasionally got their ass handed to them - prime example is D'Lo Brown taking the Pearl River Plunge on top of a car outside during WWF Shotgun Saturday Night.
I know about a year ago on here there was talk whether Ron Simmons was suited to be WWE Champion, and I said "yes" and that he should have won it from Undertaker at King of the Ring 97. I still think he could have had at least one title reign, but maybe it was already too late for Ron then, who knows. Vince and the WWE were looking for newer, younger talent, and Ron even got screwed out of his Nation role when The Rock took it over, then he found a second life in the APA with Bradshaw.
But maybe the WWE did get all they could get out of Ron Simmons then. Maybe if Ron came to the WWE in 1994 when he left WCW instead of going to ECW to be with Scorpio and them, maybe then the WWE could have used Ron better. Who knows?? Still a class act though, and was a great WCW Champion.
|
|
|
|
Post by k5 on Jun 6, 2015 0:19:45 GMT -5
i enjoyed ron in his wcw and ecw run. actually just watched him lose the title to douglas last night.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Jun 6, 2015 0:37:37 GMT -5
i enjoyed ron in his wcw and ecw run. actually just watched him lose the title to douglas last night. That was such a strange time frame for ECW too. All the top guys on the card were WCW guys from 1992 - 1993. You had Shane Douglas, Ron Simmons, 2 Cold Scorpio, Brian Pillman came in for a show to tag with Douglas, Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan was there. Good era though for ECW! |
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 18, 2024 3:22:05 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2015 5:10:47 GMT -5
Yeah this was nuts. I remember the vignettes vividly. I remember turning around and saying to myself WTF have they got Simmons wearing?!?
oh man....at least he didn't suffer this tripe for long. While I don't agree Farooq should have been WWF Champ he should have been a multiple time IC holder IMO.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Jun 6, 2015 9:46:40 GMT -5
Yeah this was nuts. I remember the vignettes vividly. I remember turning around and saying to myself WTF have they got Simmons wearing?!? oh man....at least he didn't suffer this tripe for long. While I don't agree Farooq should have been WWF Champ he should have been a multiple time IC holder IMO. Well Ron is the master of being in the finals of an IC Title tournament at least. 1996 against Mero 1997 against Owen I also think maybe Vince didn't know what to do with him - and like many during this time - was because he didn't have a plan for them. Vince probably knew that if he didn't get that talent, WCW would. So Vince would just grab who he could at the time so WCW doesn't have them, and then figure out something for them. |
|
|
|
Post by He Hate Me on Jun 6, 2015 9:52:47 GMT -5
Ross actually said on one Raw in October 96 that it was ridiculous that Vince had Farooq wearing that headgear, back when Ross was doing his anti-Vince gimmick.
|
|
|
|
Post by marino13 on Jun 6, 2015 10:52:01 GMT -5
I firmly believe Vince has a wall full of ideas. Some good, some bad. They spin his chair and throw a dart. Wherever it sticks is the gimmick you get. And no matter how bad it is, it's your fault if it doesn't work.
|
|
|
|
Post by Himmy! on Jun 6, 2015 10:56:47 GMT -5
Just awful. He was awesome when he was winding down with the APA though. That was a lot of fun.
|
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 18, 2024 3:22:05 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2015 11:51:49 GMT -5
Yeah this was nuts. I remember the vignettes vividly. I remember turning around and saying to myself WTF have they got Simmons wearing?!? oh man....at least he didn't suffer this tripe for long. While I don't agree Farooq should have been WWF Champ he should have been a multiple time IC holder IMO. Well Ron is the master of being in the finals of an IC Title tournament at least. 1996 against Mero 1997 against Owen I also think maybe Vince didn't know what to do with him - and like many during this time - was because he didn't have a plan for them. Vince probably knew that if he didn't get that talent, WCW would. So Vince would just grab who he could at the time so WCW doesn't have them, and then figure out something for them. Yeah there's was heaps of that going on for both sides. Look at Bischoff signing The Quebecers, Genius & Rick Martel? |
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 18, 2024 3:22:05 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2015 13:17:36 GMT -5
That gimmick was ass.
|
|
jeffro2000
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 16, 2011 14:23:29 GMT -5
Posts: 1,858
|
Post by jeffro2000 on Jun 6, 2015 14:50:22 GMT -5
I agree with hbkbigdaddycool on this one. It is just more proof of the idiocy of McMahon at times.
This is 1996, you are seeing what WCW is doing to you and the trend of reality based storylines.
Post NWO, you give us this, the Sultan, flying f'n nuns, flash Funk, make Austin a mute following his ECW promos, fake Diesel and Razor, Sal Sincere, and I am sure there are more.
I will always feel, could be very wrong, that the talents, and other voices, won out here and Vince eventually allowed guys to be themselves (Austin,HBk,Rock,Foley).
Not saying Vince is an idiot. He hit it big with Hogan and expansion. But he has made a ton of mistakes, and only when pushed to extinction, did he change his ways in 97 or so.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheSystem 1.5 on Jun 6, 2015 14:53:17 GMT -5
I firmly believe Vince has a wall full of ideas. Some good, some bad. They spin his chair and throw a dart. Wherever it sticks is the gimmick you get. And no matter how bad it is, it's your fault if it doesn't work. It's sad how much of a possibility this has of being true... |
|
|
|
Post by mikey1974 on Jun 6, 2015 15:36:15 GMT -5
I agree with hbkbigdaddycool on this one. It is just more proof of the idiocy of McMahon at times. This is 1996, you are seeing what WCW is doing to you and the trend of reality based storylines. Post NWO, you give us this, the Sultan, flying f'n nuns, flash Funk, make Austin a mute following his ECW promos, fake Diesel and Razor, Sal Sincere, and I am sure there are more. I will always feel, could be very wrong, that the talents, and other voices, won out here and Vince eventually allowed guys to be themselves (Austin,HBk,Rock,Foley). Not saying Vince is an idiot. He hit it big with Hogan and expansion. But he has made a ton of mistakes, and only when pushed to extinction, did he change his ways in 97 or so. agree with all this. it kinda started in 1996, but mainly in 1997, when some of the talent started to "push back", for lack of a better term, and started to complain - Bret, Shawn, Hunter, Taker, Mankind, Austin, Jim Ross, jim Cornette, and Vince Russo were the ones who spearheaded this, having the nerve ( or balls as it were) to tell Vince "No", or tell him some of his ideas sucked. since the 80's, Vince had basically surrounded himself with a buffering group of "Yes-Men", and it was very, very hard to get through to him. a lot of guys were just happy to be there, or happy to have the job, and would take whatever was given to them, no complaints rendered. hell, Vince wanted Foley to come in as "The Mutilator", complete with medieval-style outfit and chain mail! Austin was the Ringmaster - bad in and of itself - but almost became Chilly McFreeze or Baron Von Ruthless when he suggested a more "stone cold" type of character! as much hate as they got - and some of it rightfully so - Russo,Shawn and Hunter used their backstage pull to go end around Vince's stooges and tell the man directly that he was out of touch, WCW was kicking their asses, and his ideas sucked! |
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 18, 2024 3:22:05 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 5:09:50 GMT -5
I agree with hbkbigdaddycool on this one. It is just more proof of the idiocy of McMahon at times. Post NWO, you give us this, the Sultan, flying f'n nuns, flash Funk, make Austin a mute following his ECW promos, fake Diesel and Razor, Sal Sincere, and I am sure there are more. . Mute Austin was pre nWo man as was the KOTR speech but yeah I totally get what your driving at man. |
|
|
|
Post by cmiller79 on Jun 7, 2015 5:24:50 GMT -5
This was definitely not one of vinces better ideas
|
|
|
|
Post by mikey1974 on Jun 7, 2015 5:55:17 GMT -5
I agree with hbkbigdaddycool on this one. It is just more proof of the idiocy of McMahon at times. Post NWO, you give us this, the Sultan, flying f'n nuns, flash Funk, make Austin a mute following his ECW promos, fake Diesel and Razor, Sal Sincere, and I am sure there are more. . Mute Austin was pre nWo man as was the KOTR speech but yeah I totally get what your driving at man. one thing to remember - even post KOTR speech, it seemed Vince STILL had no plans for Austin! a month later, he was fighting an about-to-depart Yokozuna in the Free For All before SummerSlam,, wasn't even on the IYH Mind Games card in September, and wrestled Hunter in a meaningless match at the October IYH Buried Alive event. it took Bret Hart coming back and wanting to work a program with him for Austin to truly get recognized and get over in the WWF. |
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 18, 2024 3:22:05 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2015 6:14:33 GMT -5
Mute Austin was pre nWo man as was the KOTR speech but yeah I totally get what your driving at man. one thing to remember - even post KOTR speech, it seemed Vince STILL had no plans for Austin! a month later, he was fighting an about-to-depart Yokozuna in the Free For All before SummerSlam,, wasn't even on the IYH Mind Games card in September, and wrestled Hunter in a meaningless match at the October IYH Buried Alive event. it took Bret Hart coming back and wanting to work a program with him for Austin to truly get recognized and get over in the WWF. Very true on all points.....but he wasn't mute Austin post nWo. He was talking after KOTR and before it |
|
jeffro2000
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 16, 2011 14:23:29 GMT -5
Posts: 1,858
|
Post by jeffro2000 on Jun 7, 2015 7:44:00 GMT -5
Yeah, I knew Austin was talking by then, but I just lumped him in there with the other bad decisions during this time. That is why I said post ECW for him.
The landscape changed when Hall/Nash left in May 96, and it too WWF a while to change, and continued giving us bad gimmicks.
|
|
|
|
Post by k5 on Jun 8, 2015 11:10:41 GMT -5
i enjoyed ron in his wcw and ecw run. actually just watched him lose the title to douglas last night. That was such a strange time frame for ECW too. All the top guys on the card were WCW guys from 1992 - 1993. You had Shane Douglas, Ron Simmons, 2 Cold Scorpio, Brian Pillman came in for a show to tag with Douglas, Cactus Jack, Kevin Sullivan was there. Good era though for ECW! i was too young at the time to watch it, but i've managed to obtain a lot of the early ecw hardcore tvs and it's a great experience traveling through the years. it was certainly an odd time that probably had something to do with heyman's vision beginning to show and ties with wcw competitors. it blows my mind how informed the ecw crowd were on wrestling's behind the scenes going-ons; they're always aware of if someone's heading to one of the big W's! going back and watching 80s and early/mid 90s wrestling at this point is both a great enjoyment but also one that causes sadness...'pro wrestling' really did get impacted by vince's sports entertainment vision. i enjoyed late 80s through to the 90s wwf/wcw, but everything just got too big too fast it'd seem and a lot of aspects of the sport got rushed. matches became framed around television timing and so forth, it just lost it's organic appeal. i've been watching a lot of smw and i find that they did the best balance of the tv age with combining old classic wrestling matches and characters. |
|
