Acolytes Protection Agency The Acolytes Protection Agency ( APA ) , was a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of John " Bradshaw " Layfield and Ron " Faarooq " Simmons . They wrestled for the American promotion , World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( WWF / E ) between October 19 98 and March 2004 . Before forming the APA , Faarooq and Bradshaw were known as the Hell ' s Henchmen and were later a part of The Undertaker ' s Ministry of Darkness as The Acolytes . As The Acolytes they won two World Tag Team Championships in 1999 while feuding with Kane and the Hardy Boyz . After renaming themselves the Acolytes Protection Agency in 2000 , they functioned as bodyguards to other wrestlers , and won a third tag team championship in 2001 . In 2002 , the duo was split during the brand extension , where Simmons went to SmackDown ! , as Bradshaw went to Raw . As a singles competitor , Bradshaw had an extensive hardcore wrestling career , winning the Hardcore Championship on various occasions . The two reunited as a tag team in Ohio Valley Wrestling and then on " SmackDown ! " in 2003 . The team again split in 2004 when Simmons was released by WWE ; Layfield continued his singles career . History . Hell ' s Henchmen ( 1998 ) . As single competitors in World Wrestling Federation , Layfield ' s ( under the name of Bradshaw ) and Simmons ' ( under the name Faarooq ) careers had stalled . WWF management then placed Bradshaw and Faarooq in a tag team called 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 . Both men would make their official tag team debut on the November 30 , 1998 edition of " Raw " , where they attacked Tiger Ali Singh and his manager , Babu , after Singh ' s match against Val Venis . Afterwards , they won tag team matches against the team of Venis and The Godfather and the team of the J . O . B . Squad . The Acolytes ( 1999 – 2000 ) . 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 edition of " Raw " , where they recruited Dennis Knight into the Ministry , giving him the name Mideon . After Undertaker ' s Ministry merged with the The Corporation to form the Corporate Ministry , the Acolytes began a feud with X - Pac and Kane over the WWF Tag Team Championship . The feud began on the May 30 , 1999 edition of " Sunday Night Heat " , where the Acolytes attacked X - Pac after his match against The 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 . Later that night , the Acolytes challenged X - Pac and Kane for a WWF Tag Team Championship match on the following " Raw " broadcast . The following night on " Raw " , X - Pac and Kane accepted the challenge . During the match , however , Shane McMahon , who was also a member of the Corporate Ministry , interfered in the match , causing Kane to chase McMahon to the backstage area . 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 , which began at King of the Ring where the Hardy Boyz defeated The Brood to become the number one contenders to the Acolytes ' WWF Tag Team Championship . The feud intensified on the July 3 , 1999 edition of " Shotgun Saturday Night " , where the Acolytes attacked the Hardy Boyz during a segment . On the July 5 , 1999 edition 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 edition 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 , where X - Pac delivered a 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 number one contendership for the WWF Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam , where they won a Tag Team Turmoil match . They were unable to regain the WWF Tag Team Championship , as their match against The Big Show and The Undertaker went to a no - contest . After this , they began a feud with the Dudley Boyz , which ended at Unforgiven where they defeated the Dudley Boyz . After their feud with the Dudley Boyz , the Acolytes began a gimmick as card players and beer drinkers , where they hustled many WWF superstars / 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 Royal Rumble , where 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 ) . On the January 31 , 2000 edition 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 ) . In reality , the gimmick of the tag team was created by Bradshaw . To further enhance their gimmick , the APA began to appear weekly backstage in an office , dubbed the " APA Office " . After protecting many WWF superstars , the APA began a feud with Bull Buchanan and The Big Bossman . The feud began on the April 10 , 2000 edition of " Raw " , where Buchanan and Bossman attacked the APA during a match , where they protected Kaientai . The APA , however , was unsuccessful in winning a tag team match against them at Backlash . On the May 18 , 2000 edition 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 edition of " Raw " , the APA won a Tag - Team Battle Royal against seven other teams to win a WWF Tag Team Championship match . During the weeks leading up to Fully Loaded , Edge and Christian avoided defending the Tag Team Championship against the APA . On July 10 , 2000 , the APA were scheduled to face Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championship , but Edge announced that he would face Bradshaw one - on - one in a match , which Bradshaw lost . Later that week on " SmackDown ! " , Edge and Christian were scheduled to defend their Tag Team Championship against the APA , but they again made a one - on - one match , where Christian was defeated by Faarooq . At Fully Loaded , the APA won the Tag Team match by disqualification ; due to WWF rules , Edge and Christian retained the Tag Team Championship . On the September 7 , 2000 edition 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 edition of " Raw " , the Dudley Boyz also lost to Buchanan and The Goodfather . After the match , all the members of the Right to Censor ( Buchanan , The Goodfather , Steven Richards , and Val Venis ) attacked the Dudley Boyz , which resulted in the APA coming out to help the Dudley Boyz , as a part of their alliance . The Dudley Boyz and the APA were then booked in an Eight - man Tag Team match against Right to Censor at Unforgiven , which Right to Censor won via pinfall . 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 edition of " Raw " , where Bradshaw pinned D - Von to win the WWF Tag Team Championship . The following month on " SmackDown ! " , however , the APA lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page . After their loss of the Tag Team Championship , Faarooq was briefly absent , while Bradshaw began to pursue singles championships , like on the September 27 , 2001 edition of " SmackDown ! " , where Bradshaw lost an WWF Intercontinental Championship match against Christian . On the October 22 , 2001 edition 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 edition 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 edition of " SmackDown ! " and at WrestleMania X8 . Initial separation ( 2002 ) . On March 25 , 2002 , the APA were split up when the WWE roster was divided into the Raw and SmackDown ! brands . Bradshaw was drafted to Raw , while Faarooq was drafted to SmackDown ! . On the Raw brand , Bradshaw won the WWF Hardcore Championship eighteen times , while Faarooq had a brief stint with the SmackDown ! brand , teaming with Reverend Devon in a tournament to determine the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship . Return to SmackDown ! ( 2003 – 2004 ) . After their brief single careers , Bradshaw and Faarooq reunited in WWE ' s former farm territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling , winning the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on April 10 , 2003 . They vacated the Tag Team Championship when they returned to WWE television on the June 19 , 2003 edition of " SmackDown ! " , where they assisted 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 . At Vengeance , the APA hosted a Bar Room Brawl , which Bradshaw won . On the September 4 , 2003 edition of " SmackDown ! " , the APA were booked in a WWE Tag Team Championship match against the defending champions , 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 , in a Fatal - Four way Tag Team match also involving Haas and Benjamin , Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty , and the Basham Brothers , which Rikishi and Hotty won to retain the Tag Team Championship . On March 18 , 2004 , SmackDown ! general manager Paul Heyman forced the APA to face Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty after they mocked his being Stunned by Stone Cold Steve Austin the previous week , with the added stipulation that " If you lose , you will be fired " . After they were defeated , Heyman clarified that he would only be firing Simmons , not both men as he implied . He then told Bradshaw to worry about his own career , claiming that as a published author and a Fox financial analyst he was a valued asset to the company . Bradshaw opted to stay , and Faarooq left in disgust . In reality , Simmons retired from professional wrestling , which was covered up in the storyline as an on - screen firing . Three years later in 2006 , Layfield retired from professional wrestling , becoming a commentator for " Friday Night SmackDown ! " . Layfield returned as an active wrestler in 2008 , on the Raw brand , while Simmons began cutting promos with his trademark catchphrase , " Damn " . Sporadic reunions ( 2007 & 2012 ) . 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 . The APA also had a brief return on the 1000th episode of Monday Night RAW when they would help Lita in her match against Heath Slater .