Acolytes Protection Agency

The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) was an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of John Layfield (best known as Bradshaw) and Ron Simmons (best known as Farooq). They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) between October 1998 and March 2004.

Before forming the APA, Faarooq and Bradshaw were known simply as The Acolytes and went on to become a part of The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. As The Acolytes, they won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice in 1999, while feuding with X-Pac and Kane and the Hardy Boyz. After renaming themselves the Acolytes Protection Agency in 2000, they adopted the gimmick of bodyguards-for-hire to other wrestlers, and won a third WWF Tag Team Championship in 2001.

In 2002, the brand split also split the duo as the 2002 draft sent Faarooq to SmackDown! and Bradshaw 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 getting ready to retire, and as part of Bradshaw's heel turn Simmons was on-screen released by WWE; Bradshaw continued his singles career before retiring in 2009, and the group has made sporadic appearances afterwards, mostly in a non-competing capacity.

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. 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 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.