Courtesy: www.MondayNightMayhem.com
Former WCW World Champion & former three-time WWE World Tag Team Champion Ron Simmons was one of the featured guest on this week’s live edition of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem. You can feel The Mayhem live every Monday evening (at 7PM ET/6PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.AudioWrestling.com, www.Geekweek.com, www.Hybrident.tv, & www.iTunes.com). Join The Mayhem right now on Facebook (at www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem), follow The Mayhem on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/FeelTheMayhem), and subscribe to The Mayhem’s all-new YouTube channel (at www.YouTube.com/FeelTheMayhem).
Ron joined The Big Mosh, “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent, & Chaz for his exclusive interview with The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (to preview next month’s NWA Legends Fan Fest in Atlanta, GA), which is now available in Windows Streaming Media or via the official MNM Podcast on iTunes:
Ron Simmons/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/062711.wax
Ron Simmons/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast on iTunes): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/june11/062711.mp3
Interview highlights courtesy of Paterson, MNM’s associate producer & official correspondent:
Why he’s looking forward to being a part of the forthcoming NWA Legends Fan Fest next month in Atlanta & interacting with his fans personally: “For me, I take a lot more personal than a lot of the guys do, because when you’re on the road as much as I’ve been during my career in wrestling, you don’t get a chance to interact with the fans the way you would want to. For years, any of the guys & girls have questions they wanted to ask me and many things about matches, things that I have done & enjoyed over the years and a lot of things they want to know about me personally even about my football career. This is an opportunity for me now, since I’m retired from the ring, to give back in a way, and I’m looking forward to it.”
What he believes is the one thing that contributed to his success & longevity during his careers in both football & professional wrestling: “I have to say for me personally, coming from the background I did, not having a mother & father at an early age, wanting not to be another statistic out there, and for people to have pity on me and look at how I grew up. I didn’t want that, and I dedicated myself to making sure, whatever it was I getting into, that I was going to do it and do my very best at it.”
Why he is not surprised that his “DAMN!” catchphrase caught on with fans and still resonates today: “I’m not surprised at the way it has caught on, because I think there is always someone in real life that is going to do something that will make you say DAMN. I think it’s like a big relief that I say it, so when they sit next to the person that does something, they could say ‘That’s exactly what I want to say to you.'”
What a WWE Hall of Fame induction would mean to him personally & professionally: “Over my career and now as things have wound down for me, I have been fortunate enough to be elected into alot of Hall of Fames: College Football, the FSU (Florida State University) Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. All of those things mean a lot to me. If that is to happen to me, I would probably be overcome with emotion. I know what I had to go through, I know what it took to get there, and for me to be standing on the same platform as some of the guys I’ve admired coming up in the wrestling world, it’s going to rank right up there with being the first African-American to win the Heavyweight Championship and being selected to go into the College Football Hall of Fame. It’s gonna rank up there with me.”
Much more is contained in Ron Simmons’ exclusive interview with The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network, including his candid thoughts on reuniting Doom for the first time (with Butch Reed & Teddy Long) at the NWA Legends Fan Fest in Atlanta, how it felt for him to be crowned the first officially recognized African-American singles World Champion, the key to longevity for himself & JBL during their tenure together as The APA, his experience of working with & teaching a young Rocky Maivia (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) in the begining stages of his WWE career, Teddy Long’s chances of a WWE Hall of Fame induction, whether or not he believes WCW gets a bad rap in professional wrestling history, which WWE Superstars he feels are ones to watch, the importance of connecting with the audience, a message to up-and-coming wrestlers in the business, plus much more! Follow Ron right now on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/WWERonSimmons). For more details on the 2011 NWA Legends Fan Fest (including information on travel & hotel accommodations), log on to www.NWALegends.com or the event’s official Twitter account (located at www.Twitter.com/NWALegends).
