Acolytes Protection Agency

As single competitors in the World Wrestling Federation in 1998, Bradshaw and Faarooq's careers had stalled. They were soon placed in a tag team called **The Hell's Henchmen**, managed by The Jackyl. Both men made their first appearance on television 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*, and 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. 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, 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 Hardy attacked Bradshaw with Michael Hayes' cane, and Matt Hardy 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.

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)**. To further enhance their 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. After protecting many WWF superstars, the APA began a feud with Bull Buchanan and Big Boss Man. On the April 10, 2000 episode of *Raw*, the APA protected Kaientai during a match, when they were attacked by Buchanan and Boss Man. 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 Dudley 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. After losing the Tag Team Championship, Faarooq was briefly absent, while Bradshaw pursued singles championships. When Faarooq returned, Bradshaw lost the WWF 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.

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, 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.

After their brief singles careers, Bradshaw and Ron Simmons reunited on the June 19, 2003 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 cut off his hair, shaven his goatee and went to his natural hair color. At Vengeance, the APA hosted a Bar Room Brawl, which Bradshaw won. On the September 4, 2003 episode 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 Scotty won to retain the Tag Team Championship. On March 18, 2004, 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. 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 Bradshaw reunited for *Raw 1000* on July 23, 2012, when they provided protection for Lita during her brief match with Heath Slater. Bradshaw 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 Bradshaw 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 Bradshaw, along with Hall of Famer Teddy Long, appeared in a court-like segment named *Law and Otis*, wherein debates were tackled between Otis and The Miz for the Money in the Bank contract.