Those beers sitting inside the APA office during WWE’s Attitude Era weren’t just props. JBL and Ron Simmons say they were legitimately drinking, and there were times WWE had to rush through filming because they were already starting to slur their words.
During a panel alongside The Godfather, JBL and Simmons were asked directly whether the alcohol seen during their famous backstage APA segments was real. The answer was yes. JBL recalled one occasion at the Staples Center when WWE officials told them they needed to film their segment immediately. Since many APA segments were taped before the show and inserted later, JBL wondered why there was suddenly such a rush.
“We’re in the Staples Center one time and they tell us, ‘Guys, we got to get this done now,’ because we used to film it before the show because we needed to edit anything, put it in the live show as if it’s live. Sometimes we did it live. Most times we tried to edit.”
JBL then asked why they suddenly needed to get the segment finished.
“I said, ‘Why? Are we going live?’ They go, ‘No, you’re slurring your words.’”
Simmons joked that neither of them realized they sounded drunk, “But to us, we sound very intelligent.” JBL agreed, “We thought we were very good.” The host then put the question in wrestling terms, asking whether the drinks were “working beer” used for television or “shooting beer” that they were actually consuming. There was no hesitation.
“It was shooting beer.”
That confession makes the APA’s famous backstage setup look a little different in hindsight. The drinking wasn’t simply decoration added to sell their characters. JBL and Simmons say they were actually knocking back beers while working, to the point that production sometimes needed to get their material filmed before they became harder to understand.
The APA became one of the Attitude Era’s most authentic acts because so much of JBL and Simmons’ real personalities made it onto television, and their latest story makes it clear the alcohol was apparently just as real as the chemistry.
What do you think about JBL and Ron Simmons admitting the APA beer was legitimate and that they sometimes filmed while drunk? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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