him off the top rope. Simmons made his final appearances with ECW in May 1995. In January and February 1995, Simmons wrestled in Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of its "Fighting Spirit" tour. During the tour, he largely teamed with other American wrestlers such as Flying Scorpio, Mike Enos, and Scott Norton in tag team matches and six-man tag team matches, facing opponents such as Kensuke Sasaki, Masa Saito, Shinya Hashimoto, and Tadao Yasuda. Simmons made a second tour with NJPW in May and June 1995, again teaming with American wrestlers such as Arn Anderson, Mike Enos, and Steve Austin. Following his appearances with ECW and NJPW, Simmons went into semi-retirement. He began working as a warehouse manager for a Coca-Cola factory on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment Nation of Domination (1996–1998) In 1996, Simmons returned to professional wrestling, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He made his debut on the July 22, 1996, episode of Monday Night Raw. His first gimmick was that of "Faarooq Asad", a gladiator/street thug who wore a black and blue gladiator outfit with a misshaped helmet and was managed by Sunny. Simmons started his first feud with Ahmed Johnson before shortening his ring name to Faarooq. The feud was started when Faarooq attacked Johnson during a tag team match pitting Johnson and Shawn Michaels against the Smoking Gunns. As a result of the injuries sustained, Johnson vacated the WWF Intercontinental Championship. In the subsequent tournament, Faarooq lost in the finals to Marc Mero. In November 1996, Faarooq dropped his gladiator gimmick, parted ways with Sunny and formed the Nation of Domination (NOD), a stable loosely based on the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party, although the members of the stable were not exclusively African American. They initially feuded with Ahmed Johnson. At the Royal Rumble 1997, Johnson defeated Farooq by disqualification. In the Royal Rumble match, Johnson eliminated himself when he saw Faarooq in the aisle and chased after him. Later in the same match Faarooq was eliminated when Johnson returned and attacked him with a 2x4. At WrestleMania 13 Johnson and the Legion of Doom defeated the NOD in a Chicago Street Fight. After losing to WWF Champion The Undertaker, at the 1997 King of the Ring, Faarooq blamed Crush and Savio Vega for his loss and threw