JBL and Ron Simmons didn’t just play tough guys on WWE television. JBL says Simmons once legitimately stepped between him and a group of men holding knives during a bar fight in Canada.
The story came up while JBL and Simmons were explaining how close they already were before WWE turned them into the Acolytes and eventually the APA. JBL recalled being at a bar in Red Deer, Canada, when he got into a fight and punched another man. That decision quickly became a much bigger problem when several people pulled knives and trapped JBL against a wall.
“We’re up in a bar one night and I get into a fight in a corner. When I do, a bunch of guys pull knives on me, and they got me stuck up against the corner. So I’m going, ‘Oh, I’m going to die in Red Deer, Canada. This sucks.’”
JBL said Simmons was on the opposite side of the bar when he noticed what was happening. Instead of staying out of it, Simmons came charging across the room.
“Ron’s on the other side of the bar, and Ron comes running across. I mean running. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that guy really is Superman.’”
Simmons admitted one important detail about his heroic entrance.
“And I’m drunk.”
JBL said Simmons grabbed a beer bottle from a nearby table before putting himself directly between JBL and the men holding knives. Then came the line JBL says he has never forgotten.
“Right before he gets in front of me, he grabs a beer bottle off the table. I got all these guys with knives, got me stuck up against the wall because I’d punched their buddy. Then Ron hops in front of me, between me and the knives, and he cuts the promo that, to this day, I’ve never heard anything as good as this promo. It’s the greatest promo I ever heard.”
“And I’m going to hit the first white [guy] that moves.”
JBL initially loved Simmons’ threat until he looked around and realized he had a problem.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, what y’all going to say now?’ And I look around and go, ‘I’m the only white guy in here. Why would he hit me?’”
After JBL stood there confused about whether Simmons had just threatened him too, Simmons finally looked back and cleared things up.
“Not you.”
According to JBL, the other men eventually decided Simmons and JBL were too crazy to bother with and told them to get out of the bar instead of continuing the confrontation.
The APA’s bar-fighting reputation became a huge part of their WWE characters, but stories like this explain why the gimmick felt so natural. In this case, JBL says Simmons was willing to run straight toward multiple armed men just to protect his friend.
What do you think about JBL’s story of Ron Simmons stepping between him and a group of men holding knives? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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