JBL & Ron Simmons Reflect on Their Main Event Runs, Becoming World Champions

During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famers Ron Simmons and JBL, formerly The Acolytes and The APA, spoke about their careers and becoming World Champions. Ron Simmons famously won the WCW World Heavyweight Title from Big Van Vader in 1992.

Meanwhile, JBL became WWE Champion, winning the belt from Eddie Guerrero in 2004. Below are some highlights from Insight:

Ron Simmons on His Moment of Winning the WCW World Heavyweight Title

Ron Simmons: “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.”

JBL on Getting to the Next Level After Transitioning to His ‘John Bradshaw Layfield’ Character

JBL: “I knew I’d have the opportunity. I knew because they made the character for Eddie Guerrero, so I knew I had the opportunity. They called me specifically for the match at the Staples Center in six weeks, eight weeks, whenever it was, and I just got lucky. Yeah, Brock had left the company to become UFC champion.”

Ron Simmons: “No, [JBL] didn’t get lucky. Like I said before, which is cool. I understand where he’s coming from. Well, he had put his work in. Germany, Japan, traveling all around, doing the things that people don’t get to see, living in and out of a car, sleazy ass hotels and motels and that kind of thing. He had gone through multiple partners, and in and out with a single thing. It was an absolute perfect moment for that. Any other phase, I believe, would have altered that run that he had. The timing was perfect. He was prepared for it.”

JBL: “Ron had set me up perfectly with the way that with the APA quit, and all of a sudden you needed somebody for Eddie Guerrero.Vince called me and asked me if I wanted to take a shot at it, and so I knew I had the chance. Now whether it’s going to be successful or not was up to what was going to happen in that match.

JBL on the Night He Won the WWE Title

“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.”

JBL’s WWE Title run came to an end at WrestleMania 21, where he lost the title to John Cena. Big Van Vader would eventually regain the belt from Simmons in WCW at a December 1992 house show.