Oh yeah, baby! The World Wrestling Federation is coming back to the Motor City. Connotations abound: testosterone-rampant fans with more teeth than IQ points, well-oiled behemoths with cartoon-ish monikers shouting about upcoming destruction in the "squared circle," and, for those of us who followed the WWF in the '80s, the phenomenon known as "Hulkamania."
It's the late '90s now, and Hulk Hogan, the man responsible for the popularity of the WWF, its action figures and short-lived cartoon spin-off show, has been long gone, off to the greener pastures of Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The spirit of the WWF lives on, however, with (slightly younger) superstars, like The Undertaker, Sycho Sid, Bret Hart and Faarooq.
Back in the late '80s, Faarooq was known as Ron Simmons, and he wrestled for the North Carolina-based National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It morphed into WCW once Turner's megabucks entered the picture. At one point, Simmons beat Ric Flair, the NWA equivalent of Hulk Hogan, to become the "champion of the world."
A couple of years later, Simmons teamed with Butch Reed to form a tag team called Doom, that routinely battered and bruised other legendary teams like The Road Warriors and The Steiner Brothers (who, incidentally, wear Michigan jackets to the ring). Eventually, Doom dissolved and now, years later, Simmons is back on the big stage, butting heads in the WWF as Faarooq.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Faarooq spoke about his past. He explained that he used to battle in the trenches of the National Football League.
"I played at Tampa Bay and at Cleveland," Faarooq said. Unfortunately, Farooq suffered from numerous "ankle and knee injuries, shoulder injuries. ... I could go on, but there's no need."
Suffice it to say, Faarooq soon wound up in a new industry professional wrestling.
Lest we all think that pro wrestling is a complete joke, WWF wrestlers like Faarooq - and all others - are constantly lifting weights to stay more resistant to the trials in the ring, where injuries are surprisingly commonplace.
"I'm continuously working out in local gyms (when on the road) because it's a demanding sport for your body. You try and take care of yourself because you're going (around the country and the world wrestling) a lot," Faarooq said. "But hey, that's the life of a professional wrestler."
Pro wrestlers are probably grappling more frequently than, say, professional basketball players take the court. "I'm on the road an average of 19 days out of the month," Faarooq explained.
This means that he is away from his home in Atlanta for about 2/3 of the year. On the plus side, wrestlers in the Connecticut-based World Wrestling Federation are well-compensated for their troubles, which more than likely makes up for time away from their families.
At the De- troit show at Cobo Arena on March 8, Faarooq will be wrestling The Undertaker. "He's a big man," Farooq said coolly, understating the imposing presence of the 7-foot, 300-plus pound 'Taker.
The Undertaker is a man who flirts with "the dark side," and frequently gives hilarious interviews, saying things like, "When I'm through with you, it'll take 12 coffins to bury your corpse," or something to that effect.
Looking a bit further down the line, Wrestlemania 13 will be occurring in about a month's time. (Wrestlemania 3 took place at a sold-out Pontiac Silverdome 10 years ago, when Hulk Hogan bodyslammed and defeated the 7-foot-4, 500-pound Andre the Giant for the WWF title; Hogan's now completely bald and Andre, who had no small part in the film "The Princess Bride," is now completely dead.).
Faarooq said he'd be fighting "Ahmed Johnson ... that's who I'll be BEATING at Wrestlemania." He was probably just expressing his confidence in his skills, but a more skeptical person might read between the lines and say that Faarooq knows a little bit more information ahead of time than the public.
When Faarooq was reminded how psyched many fans were when he beat Ric Flair for the NWA belt, he replied, "Right," and then mumbled something indecipherable.
Given that the Vince McMahon owned-WWF has for years had problems acknowledging other wrestling organizations or wrestlers' past successes elsewhere, I decided not to probe any further (even though Simmons' beating Flair for the belt may have been breaking some kind of color barrier).
The WWF belt is in Faarooq's sights down the line. "Definitely, that's in the works for me, because every professional wrestler's dream is the WWF title."
One wouldn't want to get in his way, especially given his long-range wrestling plans: "Beating everyone I come in contact with."
As for passing on some words of wisdom to college kids, especially wrestling fans, Faarooq had the following insight: "First of all, you've got to have the attitude and the mind of a tiger when you're around here, because this is what this is about and there's no room for bums and sissies."
Just in case you think you could hack it on the wrestling circuit, he offered one last piece of advice: "If you're not a man, don't even try to get into it."
Other wrestlers are wary of the Faarooq assault.