The Acolytes (1998–2000) As single competitors in the
World Wrestling Federation, Bradshaw and Faarooq's careers had stalled. WWF management then placed them in a tag team called The Hell's Henchmen managed by
The Jackyl. Both men made their first appearance on TV as a team on the November 15, 1998, episode of
Sunday Night Heat attacking
8-Ball,
Skull and
Paul Ellering as the
D.O.A. came down to the ring for a match. The following week on
Sunday Night Heat, The Jackyl came down to the ring as the duo interrupted a match and proclaimed Bradshaw and Faarooq to be his Acolytes. Both men made their official tag team debut on the November 30, 1998, episode of
Raw is War, when they attacked
Tiger Ali Singh and his manager,
Babu, after Singh's match against
Val Venis. The team was notorious for their
intense and brutal beatings done during the ensuing matches. Afterwards, they won tag team matches against the team of Venis and
The Godfather and the team of The
J.O.B. Squad. When The Jackyl left the WWF, the duo joined
The Undertaker's new
heel stable, the
Ministry of Darkness. They debuted in Undertaker's Ministry on the January 11, 1999, episode of
Raw, recruited
Dennis Knight into the Ministry, giving him the name Mideon. After Undertaker's Ministry merged with
The Corporation to form the
Corporate Ministry, the Acolytes began a feud with
X-Pac and
Kane over the
WWF World Tag Team Championship. The feud began on the May 30, 1999, episode of
Sunday Night Heat with the Acolytes attacking X-Pac after his match against
Big Boss Man. Their attack was to no avail, however, as Kane, X-Pac's tag team partner, came down to the ring to attack the Acolytes. The situation allowed Bradshaw to hit X-Pac with a
Clothesline from Hell into a pinfall, allowing the Acolytes to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship. The Acolytes then began a feud with the
Hardy Boyz, who had defeated
The Brood at
King of the Ring to become the number one contenders to the Acolytes' WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud intensified on the July 3, 1999, episode of
Shotgun Saturday Night, when the Acolytes attacked the Hardy Boyz during a
segment. On the July 5, 1999, episode of
Raw, however, the Acolytes lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to the Hardy Boyz, after
Jeff attacked Bradshaw with
Michael Hayes's, the Hardy Boyz's
manager, cane, and Matt delivered a
Tornado DDT on Bradshaw into a pinfall. The Acolytes regained the WWF Tag Team Championship at
Fully Loaded in a
No Disqualification Handicap match against the Hardy Boyz and Hayes. After regaining the championship, the Acolytes began another feud with Kane with various partners. On the August 8, 1999, episode of
Sunday Night Heat, Kane teamed up with
Road Dogg to face the Acolytes for the WWF Tag Team Championship, in a losing effort. The following night on
Raw, Kane then teamed up with X-Pac to face the Acolytes in another championship match, in which X-Pac delivered an
X-Factor to Faarooq into the pinfall, which meant that the Acolytes lost the title. The following week, they lost a rematch for the WWF Tag Team Championship. After losing their rematch, they won a
Tag Team Turmoil match at
SummerSlam to become number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship but their title match against The
Big Show and
The Undertaker ended in a
no-contest. After this, they feuded with the
Dudley Boyz and defeated them at
Unforgiven. The Acolytes then developed a
gimmick as
card players and
beer drinkers,
hustling many wrestlers and WWF employees out of their money. After sporadic feuds, the Acolytes won a tag team
battle royal at
Armageddon against seven other tag teams to win a WWF Tag Team Championship match. They were unable to win the championship at the
Royal Rumble, as the
New Age Outlaws defeated them, after
Billy Gunn performed a
Fame-ass-er on Bradshaw, after interference from X-Pac.
Acolytes Protection Agency (2000–2002) According to Layfield, he got drunk during a party for his birthday in Baltimore, and Vince and Shane McMahon saw him. They found it funny, so they asked both of them to portray a similar, beer drinking character on TV, just sitting around, playing cards, drinking beer and getting into fights backstage and in bars. Upon being told this, Simmons said it was “the best idea I’ve ever heard”, as both Layfield and Simmons liked to participate in the APA's social activities in real life, so both talents felt at home. On the January 31, 2000, episode of
Raw, the
Mean Street Posse asked the Acolytes to protect them, which they refused to do, until the Posse offered to pay them. When they did, Bradshaw started the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA). Behind the scenes, the
gimmick of the tag team was also created by John Layfield. To further enhance their mercenary gimmick, the APA began to appear weekly backstage in an "office," dubbed the
APA Office. The office was a free-standing door and frame, with the letters 'A.P.A.' written in magic marker on a piece of typing paper. A running gag consisted of Faarooq and Bradshaw seated at a table playing cards with the door open. When a wrestler would appear to hire their services, they would admonish the potential customer for either not knocking on the door, walking around the door frame, or not closing the door on the way out. The APA would only accept cash or beer in payment for protection work. After protecting many WWF superstars, the APA began a feud with
Bull Buchanan and
Big Bossman. On the April 10, 2000, episode of
Raw, the APA protected
Kai En Tai during a match, when they were attacked by Buchanan and Bossman. The APA, however, was unsuccessful in winning a tag team match against them at
Backlash. On the May 18, 2000, episode of
SmackDown!, the APA were hired to protect
Crash Holly for an hour, to prevent him from losing his
WWF Hardcore Championship. After the hour was up, the APA left, allowing
Gerald Brisco to pin Holly for the Hardcore Championship. The situation resulted in Holly challenging Bradshaw in a
Hardcore match, which Bradshaw won. Later that week on
SmackDown!, Faarooq defeated Holly in a Hardcore match. On the June 26, 2000, episode of
Raw, the APA won a Tag-Team Battle Royal against seven other teams to earn an opportunity at the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the weeks leading up to
Fully Loaded,
Edge and Christian avoided defending the Tag Team Championship against the APA by challenging their opponents to one-on-one matches: on the July 10, 2000, episode of
Raw, Edge defeated Bradshaw, while on
SmackDown! later that week, Christian was defeated by Faarooq. At Fully Loaded, the APA defeated Edge and Christian by
disqualification but due to WWF rules, Edge and Christian retained the Tag Team Championship. On the September 7, 2000, episode of
SmackDown!, the
Dudley Boyz and the APA formed an alliance. The following week on
Raw, the APA faced
Right to Censor (
Bull Buchanan and
The Goodfather) in a losing effort. Then, on the September 18, 2000, episode of
Raw, the APA come out to help the Dudley Boyz against an assault by all the members of the Right to Censor. At
Unforgiven, The Dudley Boyz and the APA lost an
Eight-man Tag Team match against Right to Censor. After sporadic feuds through midway 2001, the APA were awarded a WWF Tag Team Championship match against the Dudley Boyz. On the July 9, 2001, episode of
Raw, Bradshaw pinned
D-Von to win their third WWF Tag Team Championship. The following month on
SmackDown!, however, the APA lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to
Kanyon and
Diamond Dallas Page, one of the invading WCW wrestlers in
The Alliance stable. After losing the Tag Team Championship, Faarooq was briefly absent, while Bradshaw pursued singles championships: on the September 27, 2001, episode of
SmackDown!, Bradshaw lost a
WWF Intercontinental Championship match against Christian. On the October 22, 2001, episode of
Raw, Bradshaw defeated
The Hurricane to win the
WWF European Championship. When Faarooq returned, Bradshaw lost the European Championship to
Christian on the November 1, 2001, episode of
SmackDown!. At
No Way Out, the APA won a Tag Team Turmoil match to win a WWF Tag Team Championship match at
WrestleMania X8. The APA were unsuccessful in winning the Tag Team Championship on two occasions: on the February 28, 2002, episode of
SmackDown! and at WrestleMania X8.
Initial separation (2002) in 2002 after the A.P.A. split On March 25, 2002, the APA were split up when the
WWF roster was divided into the
Raw and
SmackDown! brands. Bradshaw was drafted to Raw, while Faarooq was drafted to SmackDown!. and went back to his Blackjack Texan gimmick, while Faarooq – now wrestling under his real name – had a brief stint with the SmackDown! brand, teaming with
Reverend D-Von in a tournament to determine the newly created
WWE Tag Team Champions. In September 2002, Bradshaw was injured and was inactive for six months.
Return to SmackDown (2003–2004) After their brief single careers, Bradshaw and Simmons reunited in WWE's former farm territory,
Ohio Valley Wrestling in March 2003, winning the
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on April 10. They vacated the OVW title when they returned to WWE television on the June 19 episode of
SmackDown! to assist
The Undertaker in an ambush from the
F.B.I. During their return, they revived their former gimmick of beer drinking and card playing segments in backstage areas. Bradshaw had a new look as he had a shorter hair style, debuted a clean shaven look and went to his natural hair color. At
Vengeance on July 27, the APA hosted a
Bar Room Brawl, which Bradshaw won. On the September 4 episode of
SmackDown!, the APA were booked in a
WWE Tag Team Championship match against the defending champions,
The World's Greatest Tag Team (
Charlie Haas and
Shelton Benjamin), which the APA lost. After sporadic tag team matches, the APA was once again booked in a WWE Tag Team Championship match at
WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004, in a
Fatal-Four way tag team match also involving the World's Greatest Tag Team,
Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty, and the
Basham Brothers, which Rikishi and Scotty won to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the March 18 episode of
SmackDown!, the APA angered SmackDown!
general manager Paul Heyman by mocking his being
Stunned by
Stone Cold Steve Austin the previous week; Heyman ordered them to face Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty with the APA's jobs on the line. After the APA was defeated, Heyman only fired Faarooq and told Bradshaw to worry about his own career, calling him a valued asset to the company and noting his role as a published author and a
Fox financial analyst. While Bradshaw stayed, Faarooq left in disgust. The APA had an in-ring reunion on the December 3, 2007, episode of
Raw when
Hornswoggle hired their protection services for his
handicap match against
Jonathan Coachman and
Carlito. Simmons and Layfield reunited for
Raw 1000 on July 23, 2012, when they provided protection for
Lita during her brief match with
Heath Slater. Layfield attacked Slater with a Clothesline from Hell, and after the match, Simmons simply said his trademark catchphrase, "Damn." The APA again reunited on the January 19, 2015, episode of
Raw (dubbed
Raw Reunion due to numerous special appearances by various
WWE Hall of Famers and
Legends), alongside the
New Age Outlaws, saving the
New World Order (nWo) members from
The Ascension, during which Layfield attacked Ascension member
Viktor with a
Clothesline from Hell. On April 2, 2016, the APA inducted
The Godfather into the
WWE Hall of Fame. They returned the following year, on March 31, 2017, to induct
Theodore Long into the WWE Hall of Fame. On January 22, 2018, the APA appeared backstage hosting a
poker game during
WWE Raw 25 Years. On the October 23, 2020, episode of
SmackDown, both Simmons and Layfield, along with Hall of Famer
Theodore Long appeared in a court-like segment named
Law and Otis wherein debates are tackled between
Otis and
The Miz for the Money In The Bank contract. Since October 17, 2022, Layfield, now a manager for
Baron Corbin, had been frequently shown doing poker matches backstage with
Akira Tozawa. On January 23, 2023, Layfield and Simmons once again appeared backstage for
Raw is XXX to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Monday Night Raw, the pair once again hosted poker matches. On the 2023 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, Layfield and Simmons appeared to award Tim White with the Warrior Award. White's brothers, Tom and Pat, accepted the award. Layfield and Simmons reunited again on Night 2 of the 2024 WWE Draft, with Layfield selecting draft picks for the
Raw brand, and Simmons selecting draft picks for the
SmackDown brand. == Championships and accomplishments ==