Congratulations to Ron Simmons, the first-ever black World Champion and soon to be Hall of Famer, who managed to reinvent himself across multiple decades while remaining a solid worker and, by all accounts, being an all-around good dude. Yes, it’s a little depressing that it took so long for a black guy to get one of wrestling’s top titles, but the really upsetting thing about the announcement of Simmons’ impending induction is this: WWE mentioned neither Farooq nor the Nation of Domination.
The APA got plenty of attention, as did Simmons’ time as a Seminole at Florida State University, but there was absolutely no mention of one of the best, most successful stables in an era rife with awesome, successful stables. This must have been a conscious decision on WWE’s part, but I couldn’t really tell you why exactly. My hunch is that it’s some combination of WWE’s intermittent commitment to kayfabe, not wanting to show the guy as a villain (though I’m sure they could have cut the Nation stuff in a flattering way), and perhaps the company’s reluctance to dredge up racially-charged Attitude Era material in a year that the boss’ wife hopes to buy her way into the Senate. Whatever it is, it’s a damn shame, especially since you can spot Farooq in some of the recent Rock promos WWE has been airing, and the company even ran a photo of him in his anti-whitey gimmick on their website with his Hall of Fame announcement.
