In a recent interview with Corey Graves as part of the WWE After The Bell podcast, former WWE Champion JBL discussed how the formation of his APA tag team alongside Ron Simmons (aka Faarooq) came to be.

“The Godfather was riding with me, Teddy Long and Ron Simmons, it’s my birthday, so they’re feeding me everything that I can ingest and so, by the time I get to Baltimore, Ron says I’m going to bed, well I said, I’m going to the bar, it’s my birthday, so I went down to the TV hotel, which we never did, but I knew that there was going to be people down there to talk to and have a few more drinks before I went to bed and I ran into Vince and such and they bought me some drinks, they put me in their car and they sent me back to the Red Roof. I get to the Red Roof, I open up the door, I’m stumbling in and Ron goes, how did you get back and I said Vince’s limo and he goes, we’re f***ed, we’re f***ed and he goes, you went to the TV hotel and I said yeah and he goes, have you still got connections in Japan.

The next day, Vince calls me and he says, let me correct a part of the story, he saw me earlier in the day with Ron, out having some drinks, then I went to the TV hotel by myself, so I’ve got to correct part of that, because Vince told me, he goes I want to see you, next day at TV and I said okay, so I went in there and I thought okay, he’s going to ring me out for being drunk at the TV hotel and he goes, I want to put that on television and I said put what on television and I’m still so hungover, I’m seeing triple and he goes, you and Ron, sitting around BS’ing, having beers and he goes, that’s good stuff, I like that, that’s just guys and I said, you want me and Ron to sit around and drink on television and he goes yes, I’ve got it all figured out, The Acolytes Protection Agency, the APA, you’re going to beat people up for money.

I go back and tell Ron and Ron goes, yeah, so when are we going to Japan and I said Ron, Vince wants us to drink beer on television and Ron goes, that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard and that was it, that’s how the APA started was Vince seeing me and Ron just sitting around BS’ing and goes, I just want to put that on television, you guys be you guys and he thought that was entertaining and that’s how the APA, as far as the backstage stuff started.”

The interview is available in full at this link.