1 00:00:09,930 --> 00:00:10,930 Hello. How's it going? 2 00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:12,050 Good. How are you? Good. 3 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:14,070 How you doing, guys? 4 00:00:14,130 --> 00:00:15,109 Good. Good morning. 5 00:00:15,110 --> 00:00:16,110 Good morning. 6 00:00:18,510 --> 00:00:21,430 So is this just me, or are you interviewing Ron also? Okay. 7 00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:28,210 How's Florida State doing this year? Man, don't mention them. 8 00:00:28,990 --> 00:00:29,990 Terrible. 9 00:00:31,170 --> 00:00:33,210 Can you talk about filming those bars? 10 00:00:33,950 --> 00:00:37,650 Often we're at, watch you guys tear up those bars and everything. 11 00:00:38,250 --> 00:00:39,250 Was that real? 12 00:00:39,310 --> 00:00:41,490 Tim White was the owner of the Friendly Tap. 13 00:00:42,150 --> 00:00:45,690 And listen, we must have tore his bar for about six or seven times. 14 00:00:46,810 --> 00:00:48,510 I'm going to kick your ass. 15 00:00:49,150 --> 00:00:54,590 So much for happy hour. And he had those Nanitude televisions. 16 00:00:55,470 --> 00:00:58,710 They replaced them all with HD televisions on Vince McMahon's bill. 17 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:01,890 We renovated the entire Friendly Tap. 18 00:01:02,570 --> 00:01:05,970 He remodeled his pool table. He did the doors. 19 00:01:06,870 --> 00:01:11,050 He will even be standing behind the scene, run, don't forget the back 20 00:01:11,290 --> 00:01:12,290 tear it up too. 21 00:01:13,070 --> 00:01:16,470 We'll start asking him, hey, listen, if we're going to be tearing your bar up 22 00:01:16,470 --> 00:01:18,570 this much, man, you're going to have to start paying us. 23 00:01:19,310 --> 00:01:21,830 So we had to shake his ass down too. 24 00:01:23,570 --> 00:01:27,510 We had one take because it was live and guys were going to get busted open. 25 00:01:28,110 --> 00:01:32,290 We had a fake wall one time. I had Bull Buchanan, and I was about to throw him 26 00:01:32,290 --> 00:01:34,510 through the wall, and he said, wrong wall. I said, too late. 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:41,420 Thank goodness he found it funny. 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,720 That's where the real APA came into effect, all right? We were the real 29 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:48,900 brother. There wasn't nothing fake about us. 30 00:01:57,620 --> 00:02:02,120 I'm a guy that had come up the hard way. My mother died when I was eight. My 31 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,740 father just drifted off, took a right turn, and never saw him again. 32 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:11,320 Coming out of a small town of Warner Robins, Georgia, I wasn't fortunate 33 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:17,660 where I was going to be able to share the upbringing with my brothers because 34 00:02:17,660 --> 00:02:21,280 aunts had to come and get them and take them out of my life, and I had to stay 35 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,680 behind. We're going to move into our first match. Bob Armstrong, who has 36 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,660 the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship tournament, is seen now as he battles 37 00:02:29,660 --> 00:02:32,160 tough Hungarian Chris Markoff. 38 00:02:32,380 --> 00:02:36,160 My grandmother was a big, and I mean a big fan. 39 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,500 of professional wrestling, and her favorite was Bob Armstrong. 40 00:02:40,060 --> 00:02:46,000 Listen, if you didn't shut up when Bob Armstrong came on the TV, it was not a 41 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,920 spanking. What I call a whooping, okay, was in the future for you. 42 00:02:50,340 --> 00:02:53,820 Professional wrestling at its very best. World class championship wrestler. 43 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,320 Look at that streak in that Von Erich kid. My earliest memory was watching 44 00:02:58,320 --> 00:02:59,320 wrestling with my grandfather. 45 00:02:59,540 --> 00:03:02,440 I always told him I want to be a wrestler one day and I want to be world 46 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:03,440 champion one day. 47 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,020 Grew up in Seawater, Texas. 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,280 So we had two sports. We had football and spring football and football with 49 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,420 King. Well, actually, baseball was my first look, you know. I started to grow. 50 00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:22,640 And that's when the coaches started to notice me being more of a football 51 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:24,960 player, you know, than a baseball player. 52 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,960 And I found out, hey, you know, this hitting people ain't that bad. You know, 53 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:30,260 kind of like this thing, you know. 54 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,900 Played at Florida State University from 1977 to 1980. 55 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:41,740 1979, I was ninth in the Heisman Trophy. I don't think there's another true 56 00:03:41,740 --> 00:03:45,680 nose guard that has ever done that. 57 00:03:46,060 --> 00:03:49,480 And I have the privilege of also being in the College Football Hall of Fame. 58 00:03:49,820 --> 00:03:55,800 When I grew up in Sweetwater, everything I did, I idolized the football players. 59 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:00,120 Everybody did. And, you know, to have my picture there, even though I'm holding, 60 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:04,080 which is not good, but wasn't called, by the way. 61 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,800 I played at Sweetwater, Texas, ended up making All -State, and then went to 62 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:13,620 Abilene Christian, a college right near my home, and I ended up making All 63 00:04:13,620 --> 00:04:17,300 -American there, consensus All -American, and the All -Century team for 64 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:21,200 Christian. I come out of college drafted by Cleveland, right, in the sixth 65 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,360 round. I did everything I could to try to make that football team, but it 66 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:26,259 work out. 67 00:04:26,260 --> 00:04:31,280 I got a call from the USFL when that was starting up, Tampa Bay Vans. 68 00:04:32,030 --> 00:04:36,230 I came back there, played with a couple of teammates, man, Lex Luger being one 69 00:04:36,230 --> 00:04:40,450 of them. Now we go all the way back to my love of professional wrestling. 70 00:04:40,850 --> 00:04:45,530 I watched this with my grandmother years back, and someday had, hey, you know 71 00:04:45,530 --> 00:04:49,510 what? I think I'd like to do that, and I probably could do it. Luger, of course, 72 00:04:49,550 --> 00:04:51,370 the Southern heavyweight wrestling champion. 73 00:04:51,750 --> 00:04:57,610 I had seen Luger make that transition, and he was looking phenomenal, man. 74 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,520 I gave him a shout -out, man, and said, look, you know, I'm still in pretty good 75 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,940 shape. I think I'd like to give this thing a shot. 76 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:09,320 He said, Ron, this is a great opportunity right now because at that 77 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:14,600 time, there wasn't many black men pursuing a career in professional 78 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,880 made that transition, and my career gradually took off. I'm paying my dues, 79 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,720 working my way on up, and I mean, you know, paying them. 80 00:05:22,060 --> 00:05:27,120 Okay, working with some of the guys that I've admired on TV over the years when 81 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,740 I was playing football, still tuning in, watching the program, you know, Rick 82 00:05:30,740 --> 00:05:34,520 Flint. Simmons had his jersey retired at Florida State University. 83 00:05:34,940 --> 00:05:36,100 Bring in the Dragon Steamboat. 84 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,480 Ron Simmons certainly has all the physical tools. Now finding myself in 85 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,080 with these guys, man, hey, now I'm living another dream. 86 00:05:43,420 --> 00:05:46,220 The World Tag Team Champions. 87 00:05:47,220 --> 00:05:49,260 1992, the arena was Baltimore. 88 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:55,740 I come waltzing in just as I normally do. I'm told by Bill Walsh, I'm going to 89 00:05:55,740 --> 00:05:57,820 be up for the world championship tonight. 90 00:05:58,200 --> 00:05:59,200 What? 91 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,660 Tonight? Me? 92 00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:02,340 How? Why? 93 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:08,960 And his exact words to me at that point was, hey, why not you? 94 00:06:11,540 --> 00:06:15,720 Tonight, we're going to make history here, okay? 95 00:06:32,460 --> 00:06:39,320 the reason those words resonate with me is because he had the guts to do what no 96 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:45,080 one else did and that was put a black man in there for the world championship 97 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:50,920 and not only put him in there but hey i'm gonna be champion never let anyone 98 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:55,820 tell you that they've been in this business that hey having that belt 99 00:06:55,820 --> 00:06:57,800 your waist don't mean anything it means 100 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,940 I can't put it in words, man. This is just emotion. I am telling you, this is 101 00:07:09,940 --> 00:07:14,720 dream come true. And I am very proud to be standing here representing the people 102 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:15,880 as the heavyweight champion. 103 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:20,400 So I hung around professional football for a few years. And then I was playing 104 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,020 in the World League. I had a great time, but then I got cut. 105 00:07:24,430 --> 00:07:28,210 I thought, I still have a chance while I'm young enough to do what I always 106 00:07:28,210 --> 00:07:29,910 wanted to do, and that was be a professional wrestler. 107 00:07:30,270 --> 00:07:33,990 Got started wrestling. Wrestled in Texas, Japan, moved to Europe for a 108 00:07:33,990 --> 00:07:37,290 years, and finally made it to WWE in December of 1995. 109 00:07:37,850 --> 00:07:41,470 I went to meet with Vince for the first time up at Titan Towers. 110 00:07:41,810 --> 00:07:45,830 He said, we got this idea of Justin Bradshaw. So I said, well, how about we 111 00:07:45,830 --> 00:07:46,830 Justin Hawk? 112 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,040 Because I've been wrestling under the name John Hawk. That way I could keep 113 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,480 name and go back to Japan when eventually I would get fired at WWE, I 114 00:07:53,540 --> 00:07:56,600 after two or three years. So it was built preservation. 115 00:07:57,100 --> 00:08:00,060 And eventually I said, okay, we're going to name you Justin Hawk Bradshaw. And 116 00:08:00,060 --> 00:08:03,420 that's how you got the name. And I have no idea where that name came from. I 117 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:07,300 don't mind it. People call me Bradshaw to this day. Justin Hawk Bradshaw. 118 00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:10,240 Making his debut here in the World Wrestling Federation. 119 00:08:10,700 --> 00:08:14,060 Bob Holly in a chronic compromise. Oh, goodness position. 120 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:15,440 Look at that. 121 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:17,190 Justin Hawk Bradshaw. 122 00:08:17,430 --> 00:08:20,850 Talk about an attitude. This man has a real bad one, doesn't he? 123 00:08:21,950 --> 00:08:24,430 I was lost. I was in this incredible machine. 124 00:08:24,830 --> 00:08:29,230 I remember it was WrestleMania XII where Bret and Shawn had that incredible Iron 125 00:08:29,230 --> 00:08:30,330 Man match in the pond. 126 00:08:30,550 --> 00:08:35,049 And I remember sitting there watching that and thinking, I'm not sure I belong 127 00:08:35,049 --> 00:08:37,250 here. It was such an incredible spectacle. 128 00:08:38,870 --> 00:08:42,549 I just thought I needed to go back to Japan and finish out my career there. I 129 00:08:42,549 --> 00:08:44,950 was really despondent about the whole thing. 130 00:08:45,690 --> 00:08:46,790 know if I was going to make it or not. 131 00:08:53,050 --> 00:08:59,950 Had some contractual difficulties besides just get out of it at that 132 00:08:59,950 --> 00:09:03,010 stop. Let me ask you something. What's going on here in the World Wrestling 133 00:09:03,010 --> 00:09:06,790 Federation? Michael Hayes has started working with Vince and guess what? 134 00:09:07,210 --> 00:09:10,390 Told Vince that, hey, man, let's give this guy a chance, you know? Give him an 135 00:09:10,390 --> 00:09:15,190 opportunity, you know? I had several things in my mind, you know? I've been a 136 00:09:15,190 --> 00:09:20,850 brawler, you know, I'm a football player, you know? So all of that kind of 137 00:09:20,850 --> 00:09:27,830 out the door when Vince introduced this character to me of what he had in mind. 138 00:09:27,910 --> 00:09:33,710 He says, I see you as Farouk. Who the hell is Farouk? 139 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:36,820 What is a Farouk? 140 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,960 I'm speechless at this point. 141 00:09:40,420 --> 00:09:45,040 And then to top everything off, there's this leather blue helmet. 142 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:51,320 If it was made out of metal like a real Roman soldier or something, I'd be okay 143 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,140 with that. You know, shiny armor or something. But it's leather, man. 144 00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:59,160 Okay? And I'm like, oh, my God. How do I get out of this? 145 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:01,360 I can't. Right? 146 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:11,300 When you're thrown with challenges like this, this is what makes you better. So 147 00:10:11,300 --> 00:10:15,100 I took that character and I said to myself, I'm going to make the most out 148 00:10:15,100 --> 00:10:16,700 it. I'm going to make this work. 149 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,260 He morphed on over into other avenues. 150 00:10:20,500 --> 00:10:21,479 All right. 151 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,740 He went into the nation. 152 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,960 The nation of domination that he's put together has really lit a fire under 153 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,480 Baruch. I'm extremely proud of myself for being a man. 154 00:10:33,689 --> 00:10:38,710 taking the character on, not bitching and griping about it. We are taking 155 00:10:38,710 --> 00:10:42,890 matters into our own hands. When I get to swinging these fists and kicking 156 00:10:42,890 --> 00:10:46,290 feet, you understand that, don't you? Right. Hey, bro, you know, I'm the 157 00:10:46,290 --> 00:10:47,850 original thing, all right? 158 00:10:48,370 --> 00:10:49,970 I've never quit nothing in my life. 159 00:10:51,590 --> 00:10:55,670 Ron was just a guy in the dressing room just like I was. Now, he was not just a 160 00:10:55,670 --> 00:10:59,730 guy. He was the former first black heavyweight champion, and he was a 161 00:10:59,730 --> 00:11:00,730 already. 162 00:11:02,380 --> 00:11:07,920 We had a lot in common. We both played football, both wrestled the same type of 163 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,400 style, and we just immediately became friends. We were traveling together long 164 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,020 before we were ever tag team partners. 165 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:25,220 We not only shared things in common, brother, we had personalities that were 166 00:11:25,220 --> 00:11:29,300 similar to each other. We both enjoyed having a beer or two or three. 167 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:30,740 Four or five. 168 00:11:31,780 --> 00:11:35,840 We enjoyed, you know, out -of -the -ring life, okay? 169 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,760 Back then, we didn't have cell phones. We didn't have Internet. So guys had to 170 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:41,760 talk to each other. 171 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,380 So I was working in Macon the other day, right? 172 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,860 Like working in a igloo? 173 00:11:48,620 --> 00:11:50,400 A cold igloo? 174 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,900 We suffered from a lack of responsibility. We didn't have social 175 00:11:55,900 --> 00:11:58,740 didn't have a way to really call home except for a pay phone. 176 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:06,400 It couldn't have been a better match if you had absolutely, brother, if we'd 177 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:07,400 been signing these twins. 178 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,920 That's how close things worked out with that. 179 00:12:13,260 --> 00:12:17,160 I think you just had Ron Simmons in a dressing room, and believe it or not, 180 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:18,260 didn't have anything for him. 181 00:12:18,460 --> 00:12:21,220 At least that's my opinion, which I thought was a shame. 182 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,860 For me, I can understand why you didn't have anything for me. I was just kind of 183 00:12:24,860 --> 00:12:25,860 floundering. 184 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:27,980 And I think they just kind of put us together. 185 00:12:36,940 --> 00:12:41,340 Jackal getting on headset. Jackal, obvious question, why are you here? 186 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:47,600 Jim Ross, it's my pleasure to introduce to you the Acolyte. 187 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,780 Hey, look at this. This is Farooq and Bradshaw now. 188 00:12:53,460 --> 00:12:57,060 Acolyte. Well, what are Acolyte? They're my Acolyte. 189 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:03,840 I don't know what the acolytes were. They were from the book The 190 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,800 believe. It was like two old almost devil worship guys, I think, and they 191 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:09,900 the symbols on their chest. 192 00:13:11,020 --> 00:13:14,980 I used to draw the symbols on. I remember I'd draw a Teletubby on Ron 193 00:13:14,980 --> 00:13:17,260 just for the heck of it. He didn't care. He just laughed. He thought it was 194 00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:18,260 funny. 195 00:13:18,330 --> 00:13:21,910 We went with Undertaker in the Ministry of Darkness. It kind of made sense then 196 00:13:21,910 --> 00:13:25,190 that we had this dark side to us. And I don't know if that was the fault making 197 00:13:25,190 --> 00:13:28,050 us the acolytes. They were to put us with the Undertaker. 198 00:13:29,770 --> 00:13:33,150 That's the Undertaker. Look, there's the acolytes. 199 00:13:33,410 --> 00:13:35,310 It's the entire Ministry of Darkness. 200 00:13:35,610 --> 00:13:37,130 What are they up to? 201 00:13:37,410 --> 00:13:38,650 Have you seen the boss, man? 202 00:13:39,310 --> 00:13:40,310 No, I haven't. 203 00:13:40,950 --> 00:13:44,010 Well, if you see him, give him this message. 204 00:13:45,170 --> 00:13:46,170 Hey! 205 00:13:47,210 --> 00:13:51,250 Ron really helped me a lot. And tagging with him, it's just you have this 206 00:13:51,250 --> 00:13:57,290 steady, steady force that Ron always was on. He was so good in the ring. 207 00:14:00,410 --> 00:14:00,850 He 208 00:14:00,850 --> 00:14:11,270 just 209 00:14:11,270 --> 00:14:15,370 had a presence that you can't, I don't think you can even learn. 210 00:14:15,850 --> 00:14:18,250 It was incredible being out there with Ron Simmons. 211 00:14:19,550 --> 00:14:21,330 People like to use the word stiff. 212 00:14:21,830 --> 00:14:22,830 Well, yeah. 213 00:14:23,290 --> 00:14:27,150 It wasn't no secret about it. We were going to work stiff. That's the way we 214 00:14:27,150 --> 00:14:31,230 work. You were going to know that you've just been in a professional wrestling 215 00:14:31,230 --> 00:14:36,370 match. Oh, Bradshaw is hammering away with a chair. 216 00:14:37,270 --> 00:14:39,850 Well, Ron is a legit tough guy. He's unf***ing withable. 217 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,060 We wrestled hard. We wrestled tough. And we expected it back the exact same way. 218 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,460 Public Enemy came in, but they came in that day about 5 .30. Now, you're 219 00:14:57,460 --> 00:14:58,740 supposed to be there about 1 o 'clock. 220 00:14:58,940 --> 00:15:01,360 And when they did, I mean, that's just a sign of disrespect. 221 00:15:03,140 --> 00:15:10,080 They come to me as their music is playing and said, that spot with the 222 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:11,200 we don't want to do that. 223 00:15:11,450 --> 00:15:15,670 Well, okay. So if you don't want to do this, you don't want to take the table, 224 00:15:15,790 --> 00:15:16,790 guess what? 225 00:15:16,850 --> 00:15:18,750 Ron goes, all right, we'll take the table to them. 226 00:15:19,030 --> 00:15:20,630 This is not going to be pretty. 227 00:15:22,630 --> 00:15:26,010 Let's show you how things could be. 228 00:15:26,670 --> 00:15:29,150 Boy, bodies flying all over the place right now. 229 00:15:29,950 --> 00:15:31,570 Sometimes it has to get to that. 230 00:15:31,810 --> 00:15:34,350 You know, and it's unfortunate, but it happens. 231 00:15:36,610 --> 00:15:39,350 They're not stopping, Terry. They don't care about the belts. 232 00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:41,260 I don't know what to say. Oh! 233 00:15:41,700 --> 00:15:47,900 He barely missed the mat. The Dominator. How much more can any team take? 234 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,660 I had no idea what their mindset was for saying they wouldn't do a finish, but 235 00:15:52,660 --> 00:15:53,680 they didn't offer an alternative. 236 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:55,000 It was crazy. 237 00:15:55,940 --> 00:15:57,120 Wasn't stiff then. 238 00:15:57,460 --> 00:15:58,760 It was real. 239 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,920 The Acolytes, two great athletes. 240 00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:05,700 Uh -oh. Baruch caught walking in with a right hand. 241 00:16:05,940 --> 00:16:08,800 Baruch and Bradshaw, two big powerhouses. 242 00:16:13,530 --> 00:16:17,230 We never bitched about nothing, man. We wanted to go out there and have some 243 00:16:17,230 --> 00:16:20,990 fun. And afterwards, we wanted to go have beers with whoever we just beat up 244 00:16:20,990 --> 00:16:23,650 they beat us up. It was just part of the game back then. 245 00:16:43,690 --> 00:16:49,290 Not only having sex with a guy that's a tag partner that you care a great deal 246 00:16:49,290 --> 00:16:54,170 about, but now you've become world tag team champions with him. 247 00:16:54,610 --> 00:16:59,410 And when that moment happened for us to become champions together, man, it 248 00:16:59,410 --> 00:17:00,930 brought us even closer. 249 00:17:01,630 --> 00:17:02,630 Come here, darling. 250 00:17:03,010 --> 00:17:07,810 Those long things right over here are just what you need right here. We would 251 00:17:07,810 --> 00:17:11,589 often have people to ask us, you know. They were willing to pay us. 252 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:18,780 to come on the road with us just so they could take part in our exploits 253 00:17:18,780 --> 00:17:20,400 outside of the ring, man. 254 00:17:22,500 --> 00:17:26,720 I think we had an afternoon shot in Philadelphia. We're coming down to 255 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,900 Baltimore. They're just feeding me every substance known to man. It's my 256 00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:34,280 birthday. I'm messed up by the time I get down to Baltimore. We go to the 257 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,060 and in come Vince and Shane. 258 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,140 But we were already there, all right? 259 00:17:40,730 --> 00:17:45,610 I mean, just a tiny bit of coherency was left. 260 00:17:45,930 --> 00:17:46,930 All right, just a little. 261 00:17:47,430 --> 00:17:51,210 And I go back to the red roof. Ron left early. 262 00:17:51,510 --> 00:17:55,690 Go back to the red roof. And Ron and I were splitting a room with the red roof. 263 00:17:55,790 --> 00:17:57,350 That's how cheap we were. 264 00:17:58,430 --> 00:18:03,250 It's probably $29, maybe $15 each. Ron wakes up and he goes, how'd you get 265 00:18:03,410 --> 00:18:05,170 And I said, limo. He said, limo? 266 00:18:05,610 --> 00:18:07,790 I said, yeah, Vince and Shane. He goes, oh, we're fired. 267 00:18:08,460 --> 00:18:11,200 And I started laughing. I said, yeah, we may be. 268 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,560 He said, you still got a connection in Japan? 269 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:15,460 I said, I hope so. 270 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,480 So I come to TV the next day in Baltimore, and they said, Vince wants to 271 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,480 you. And I thought, man, I was drunk at the TV hotel. 272 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:29,120 I'm probably in trouble. So I walk in there, and Vince laughs about how 273 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:29,899 I am. 274 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:34,160 And he's in a jovial mood. He goes, I'm going to put that on television. 275 00:18:34,940 --> 00:18:36,620 And I said, what are you going to put on television? 276 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,440 And he said, I'm going to put on television about you and Ron sitting 277 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,560 drinking and BSing. 278 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:45,500 He goes, that's good stuff. 279 00:18:45,780 --> 00:18:47,120 He said, that's entertaining. 280 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:49,180 And I was shocked. 281 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,700 I was expecting to be reprimanded, to be in trouble. I come back out, and Ron 282 00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,040 goes, yeah, when we go in Japan. 283 00:18:55,340 --> 00:18:56,340 I said, we're not. 284 00:18:56,420 --> 00:18:59,520 And he said, what do you mean we're not? And I said, Vince wants us to drink 285 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:00,519 beer on television. 286 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,660 And Ron said, it's the greatest idea I've ever heard. 287 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,700 You got to help us. 15 guys just beat us up. 288 00:19:08,980 --> 00:19:12,240 What's wrong with you? Get out of here. 289 00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:14,100 Please, we'll pay you. Come on, guys. 290 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,580 Whatever you need, man. We got lots of money. 291 00:19:17,020 --> 00:19:20,980 You scared, too? Get the money out there. All right, 292 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:23,860 all right. I'll tell you what. You pay us, I'll tell you what. We're going to 293 00:19:23,860 --> 00:19:26,200 protect you, but you sit down and you shut up. 294 00:19:26,580 --> 00:19:28,420 One peep out of any of y 'all. 295 00:19:29,020 --> 00:19:30,020 That gives me an idea. 296 00:19:30,510 --> 00:19:32,990 The APA. Big P to the late. 297 00:19:33,370 --> 00:19:35,990 Acolyte Protection Agency. It's a business. Now, we're going to make some 298 00:19:36,050 --> 00:19:37,650 Wait, what do you think? Look at it. Look at it. 299 00:19:37,930 --> 00:19:41,190 Big P to the late. I think it looks great. And as soon as it gets gin. 300 00:19:41,470 --> 00:19:42,970 Oh, shut up. 301 00:19:44,430 --> 00:19:48,450 The Acolyte Protection Agency was born on this night. 302 00:19:48,930 --> 00:19:53,730 The Acolyte providing protection for a fee, and the Dudleys have bought some 303 00:19:53,730 --> 00:19:54,730 protection. 304 00:19:55,990 --> 00:19:57,750 Hey, look at this. Here comes the protection agency. 305 00:19:58,090 --> 00:19:59,710 Are the Dudleys going to get their money's worth? 306 00:20:00,949 --> 00:20:05,310 The first scenes we had being the APA, we got to work with guys that really 307 00:20:05,310 --> 00:20:09,850 enjoyed being around. I paid you. I paid you. I paid you. 308 00:20:11,050 --> 00:20:13,830 Hey, guys, what's up? You having a good time? Hey, listen, there's a couple guys 309 00:20:13,830 --> 00:20:16,170 at the back. We're going to talk to them. Where are they? Come on. 310 00:20:18,610 --> 00:20:19,610 Let's dance, 311 00:20:20,690 --> 00:20:21,690 boys. 312 00:20:22,990 --> 00:20:25,670 It's time for Roots against four men here. 313 00:20:27,030 --> 00:20:28,030 Let's party. 314 00:20:33,450 --> 00:20:35,110 Let's go find a fight. It's on. 315 00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:39,970 We didn't wrestle for a long time. We just did stuff backstage in bar fights. 316 00:20:40,930 --> 00:20:41,930 Everybody quiet. 317 00:20:42,890 --> 00:20:45,670 Y 'all, y 'all quiet. That ain't even in here. 318 00:20:47,090 --> 00:20:48,390 Who the hell's in here? 319 00:20:48,930 --> 00:20:54,910 People love and remember that set with the door. 320 00:20:55,410 --> 00:20:58,770 I don't know who came up with the idea for the door, but they were talking 321 00:20:58,770 --> 00:21:01,590 building walls, and Ron said, no, no, no. 322 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,140 Just like that. We'll make them walk through the door. Hey! 323 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:07,240 Go out the door and get us raised in a barn? 324 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,200 You know, they come up to us and they just walk right through the wall. 325 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,060 You hear something? I didn't hear a thing. You know, you could have knocked 326 00:21:14,060 --> 00:21:15,440 our door. You walked right through our wall. 327 00:21:15,820 --> 00:21:18,040 Have respect for us. At least not. 328 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:19,560 Watch the rock. 329 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,860 We got to work with all the stars in the air, from The Rock to The Undertaker. 330 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,120 We got to work with LL Cool J. 331 00:21:34,090 --> 00:21:38,290 Everybody wants to sit down and play cards with us. Three threes and two 332 00:21:41,510 --> 00:21:42,750 I win, don't I? 333 00:21:43,390 --> 00:21:44,390 Because it was fun. 334 00:21:45,630 --> 00:21:48,770 What do you got? And then we were going to cheat on them, and they were going to 335 00:21:48,770 --> 00:21:49,770 lose. 336 00:21:50,150 --> 00:21:53,170 What were you going to do? Get the watch. Get the watch. 337 00:21:54,330 --> 00:21:58,950 We loved sitting around at bars and laughing and joking. 338 00:21:59,390 --> 00:22:00,390 Okay, 339 00:22:00,970 --> 00:22:02,430 that's good. That's the course of life, huh? 340 00:22:05,149 --> 00:22:07,430 Those characters were 100 % us. 341 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:13,630 Ratched up quite a bit. 342 00:22:20,190 --> 00:22:21,089 He shoots! 343 00:22:21,090 --> 00:22:22,090 He scores! 344 00:22:23,110 --> 00:22:25,350 Let me score that money from you that I won that last game. 345 00:22:25,610 --> 00:22:26,610 I won that game. 346 00:22:26,650 --> 00:22:28,290 No, I won that last game. I ain't too bitter. 347 00:22:28,510 --> 00:22:30,730 What? I ain't too bitter? Oh, come on, man. 348 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,500 They at one point came to us and said, we want to make this about racial 349 00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:38,320 equality. And Ron absolutely refused. 350 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:39,920 And I completely agreed with him. 351 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,580 He said, this is not about race. And he said, if you make it about race, then it 352 00:22:43,580 --> 00:22:45,780 becomes about race. This is about two good friends. 353 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:50,860 Coming through the airport one day, we have one of the TSA workers spot us. And 354 00:22:50,860 --> 00:22:54,060 he screams out, hey, look, it's those twins. 355 00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:58,580 Can you get any closer than that? 356 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,220 That's when you know it's working, man. 357 00:23:03,540 --> 00:23:04,540 It's working. 358 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:06,560 Cool guy. 359 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,200 Been laying around for three days. 360 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,360 This is a cold mother. 361 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:18,440 We're out of this. 362 00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:24,360 Well, thanks guys. We're not cold or nothing. Y 'all just keep on up. 363 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,300 When something would go wrong. 364 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,720 sprained an ankle, man, chip a tooth or something, you know, first thing I do, 365 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,720 damn, we'll get the beer out, man. 366 00:23:35,540 --> 00:23:38,280 Well, oh, I'll be damned. 367 00:23:38,580 --> 00:23:41,200 So the writers, well, they got wind of this. 368 00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:44,620 Damn, 369 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:54,000 some people would do something that just drives you absolutely nuts, where 370 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,180 you just have to turn around to them and say. 371 00:24:10,670 --> 00:24:14,730 We had a great time working with guys like the Dudley Bowl. 372 00:24:16,510 --> 00:24:19,570 There's two guys that never bitch, never gripe. 373 00:24:21,130 --> 00:24:24,210 They could give it back just as well as they could receive. 374 00:24:25,950 --> 00:24:29,910 The Dudleys knew what happened with Public Enemy, and Bubba and Devon came 375 00:24:29,950 --> 00:24:34,170 and they beat the living hell out of us. Next week was our turn. 376 00:24:34,430 --> 00:24:36,830 Oh, my God! 377 00:24:37,250 --> 00:24:40,950 When you're working with people like this, That's even better for us. 378 00:24:41,270 --> 00:24:44,310 The W boys are not intimidated by the APA. 379 00:24:44,890 --> 00:24:46,770 Now, we're really in our element. 380 00:24:47,430 --> 00:24:50,510 They got up, shook our hands, hugged us, and we've been best friends ever since. 381 00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:56,230 Six aces. Six aces. Cheers, my friends, cheers. 382 00:24:59,370 --> 00:25:00,370 Well, 383 00:25:05,230 --> 00:25:08,230 here we go. The WWF Tag Team title's on the line here. 384 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:12,780 Dudley boys against the APA. 385 00:25:13,180 --> 00:25:17,040 Two of the toughest tag teams of the WWF. 386 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,040 Bradshaw and Baruch are the new tag team champions. 387 00:25:27,380 --> 00:25:34,280 And the new World Wrestling Federation tag team champions, B .A .B .A. 388 00:25:36,180 --> 00:25:39,680 There was a moment that both of us will never forget. 389 00:25:40,490 --> 00:25:45,050 Not just to win it, but to have gone through the process with someone that 390 00:25:45,050 --> 00:25:47,230 actually love and care about. 391 00:25:47,810 --> 00:25:48,910 That says it all. 392 00:25:49,390 --> 00:25:50,790 And no plan on going anywhere. 393 00:25:51,570 --> 00:25:52,570 That's the way it is. 394 00:25:52,750 --> 00:25:55,250 The only place they're going is to the bar with us tonight. Damn right. 395 00:25:55,550 --> 00:25:58,090 And then to reach the pinnacle of the tag team division. 396 00:25:59,250 --> 00:26:00,250 All right. 397 00:26:03,370 --> 00:26:06,470 You know, I would have been happy being an APA member until I retired. 398 00:26:07,490 --> 00:26:10,190 Let's keep it real here, man. It's not going to last forever. 399 00:26:11,410 --> 00:26:14,490 And nobody likes to see things like that come to an end, but guess what, man? 400 00:26:14,530 --> 00:26:15,530 They all do. 401 00:26:15,570 --> 00:26:17,910 You know, we can't stay young forever. 402 00:26:19,150 --> 00:26:20,430 The waistline in there. 403 00:26:22,270 --> 00:26:24,130 What? My bad, didn't I? 404 00:26:24,430 --> 00:26:28,270 Ron was getting ready to retire, but I didn't realize that Ron was being 405 00:26:28,270 --> 00:26:32,730 off television, and that did bother me. You're going to fire us? I want to hear 406 00:26:32,730 --> 00:26:34,370 it out of your mouth right now. 407 00:26:34,630 --> 00:26:35,650 Say that we're fired. 408 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:37,679 Say that, punk. 409 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,860 I didn't say I was firing the APA. 410 00:26:40,380 --> 00:26:42,380 I said I was firing you, Farouk. What? 411 00:26:43,020 --> 00:26:44,020 Oh. 412 00:26:44,180 --> 00:26:47,580 You need to think about your own future, Mr. Bradshaw. 413 00:26:47,820 --> 00:26:52,120 I think you should know. I think very highly of you. We've had great years, 414 00:26:52,220 --> 00:26:56,160 Five, six, seven years. You know, that's a long time to be together and have 415 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,340 that success. And John, he's got good years ahead of him as a professional 416 00:27:00,340 --> 00:27:02,660 singles. Now, he's ready for this. Oh. 417 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,140 Tell me something, Mr. Bradshaw. 418 00:27:05,870 --> 00:27:10,070 How much longer were you willing to carry around this piece of excess 419 00:27:10,310 --> 00:27:11,690 Excuse me. 420 00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:14,950 Hey, look here, man. 421 00:27:15,610 --> 00:27:16,610 We don't need this. 422 00:27:16,930 --> 00:27:17,930 Let's get out of here, bro. 423 00:27:24,310 --> 00:27:25,310 Hey, 424 00:27:26,730 --> 00:27:27,790 hold on, man. Don't tell me. 425 00:27:28,610 --> 00:27:29,790 After all these years, 426 00:27:30,650 --> 00:27:34,130 I'll be damned. 427 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:37,880 All these years. 428 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:49,380 And the wrestling fan, they can tell if you really care about each other, man. 429 00:27:49,580 --> 00:27:53,740 It's a feeling people get from you that emanates through the screen. They can 430 00:27:53,740 --> 00:27:59,940 tell how you feel about each other. To turn this guy that people liked against 431 00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:02,920 somebody that people really liked even more in Ron Simmons. 432 00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:04,320 Come on, Ron! 433 00:28:04,810 --> 00:28:09,730 That was a perfect way to end the APA in a real ditch move by me. 434 00:28:10,890 --> 00:28:15,170 I still can't believe Bradshaw turned his back on his longtime friend. 435 00:28:17,530 --> 00:28:19,850 You people, get off your high horse. 436 00:28:20,350 --> 00:28:25,550 You people would have done the exact same thing that I did, giving the 437 00:28:25,550 --> 00:28:26,550 opportunity. 438 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,680 I have succeeded in everything but one thing, and that is wrestling. Because I 439 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,800 thought it was more important to have a good time. 440 00:28:35,380 --> 00:28:37,600 But that ain't got me jacked. 441 00:28:38,260 --> 00:28:42,680 So get ready for the impact that's coming. 442 00:28:43,660 --> 00:28:45,640 Buckle your seats, boys and girls. 443 00:28:46,660 --> 00:28:49,740 Business is about to pick up. 444 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,220 It's hard to quantify what Ron... 445 00:28:52,570 --> 00:28:57,230 you know, means to me or my career. He came along for me at a time when I was 446 00:28:57,230 --> 00:28:58,330 kind of wavering in WWE. 447 00:28:58,610 --> 00:29:02,330 And he always was telling me, one day you're going to be world champion. One 448 00:29:02,330 --> 00:29:03,390 you're going to carry the torch. 449 00:29:03,670 --> 00:29:06,050 And he was kind of preparing me for that. 450 00:29:06,610 --> 00:29:09,450 And I don't know how much that debt is. I can't repay it. 451 00:29:10,650 --> 00:29:16,330 But the best part about it, to have had that opportunity, to have been with 452 00:29:16,330 --> 00:29:20,550 someone that you cared about and wanted to see them go on and have the success 453 00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:21,550 that he did. 454 00:29:23,140 --> 00:29:27,600 JBL has defeated the best in the business. He deserves to be the champ. 455 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,260 I'm happy with you. 456 00:29:31,860 --> 00:29:34,180 For 242 days, 457 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,680 John Bradshaw Layfield has been champion. 458 00:29:42,100 --> 00:29:46,920 You can learn how to be a champion from a lot of people. You don't learn how to 459 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:51,660 be a man from a lot of people. And I'm not sure I've lived up to it. 460 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,860 what Ron has taught me, but he certainly taught me how to become a better person 461 00:29:56,860 --> 00:29:57,860 and be a man. 462 00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:02,400 There's no doubting anything about Ron. 463 00:30:03,420 --> 00:30:06,280 He was all about fairness. He was all about equality. 464 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:09,080 Ron is one of the best guys I've ever met. 465 00:30:11,740 --> 00:30:18,040 I can tell you in my whole life, there has never been a person who's been a 466 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,480 bigger influence on me than Ron Simmons. 467 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,580 The honor of inducting Ron Simmons in the Hall of Fame was, I knew I was doing 468 00:30:24,580 --> 00:30:25,419 something historic. 469 00:30:25,420 --> 00:30:30,220 He did great things in his life, and he was much bigger than the APA, but I can 470 00:30:30,220 --> 00:30:31,220 tell you I wasn't. 471 00:30:31,540 --> 00:30:35,580 The greatest thing that ever happened to me in this life and this career was one 472 00:30:35,580 --> 00:30:37,400 thing, and that was Ron Simmons. 473 00:30:37,700 --> 00:30:41,880 And I wanted to be able to live up to that moment of history, and so I was 474 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,660 nervous about it. I wanted to make sure I did a good job and show Ron the 475 00:30:45,660 --> 00:30:46,660 respect that he deserved. 476 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,620 I've never done anything greater than this, and I doubt I ever will, but I 477 00:30:50,620 --> 00:30:56,720 you to welcome the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame, the first African 478 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:02,160 -American heavyweight champion, my best friend, Ron Simmons. 479 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,340 I said that there were very few things, man, that could match me becoming world 480 00:31:07,340 --> 00:31:09,280 champion. Well, let me just say this. 481 00:31:09,820 --> 00:31:14,960 Being tagged up with Bradshaw at the APA is right there. 482 00:31:16,620 --> 00:31:17,620 Just like that. 483 00:31:17,980 --> 00:31:22,600 Growing up, I'd often wondered what it would have been like to have grown up in 484 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,140 the same household with my brother. 485 00:31:25,500 --> 00:31:30,440 Well, that chapter was filled when I partnered with Bradshaw. 486 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:36,240 He made up for me, man. You know, something that I'd always wondered what 487 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:42,300 was like to have a brother with you to come up to have fun with, man, to talk 488 00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:45,440 about the good times as well as the bad. 489 00:31:45,820 --> 00:31:49,800 to share things with, you know, fill that void for me. 490 00:31:50,260 --> 00:31:55,540 I'll never be able to repay him for that, and I don't think he knows how 491 00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:58,160 that meant to me and still means. 492 00:31:59,140 --> 00:32:02,060 That's how close we are. 493 00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:10,920 Ain't many guys, man, that have been in this business, that have been in a tag 494 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,700 team with a guy, can say what I'm about to say, okay? 495 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,280 I absolutely love the partner I was with. 496 00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:21,580 Right? He's in my family. 497 00:32:22,220 --> 00:32:23,220 He's my brother. 498 00:32:27,740 --> 00:32:29,540 Thank you. It's been real, bro. 499 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,240 Thank you. It's been real.