Ron Simmons has revealed the unlikely origins of his iconic “DAMN!” catchphrase, explaining how something he naturally said when things went wrong eventually became one of the most recognizable one-word expressions in WWE history.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled that the phrase was never initially conceived as part of his character. Instead, Simmons would simply say it during matches whenever he hurt himself or something happened in the ring that he did not particularly appreciate. “When we were working together, and I’d pull a muscle or do something, or somebody would do something stupid in the ring, and I’d just stand there, ‘Damn!’ Because something that just happened that we didn’t agree on, or I didn’t agree on, right?”
As Simmons and his fellow WWE stars repeatedly returned to the same cities, fans sitting close enough to the ring began picking up on the habit.
Before long, those fans started saying “Damn” themselves whenever Simmons appeared. He initially did not understand why. “So the people, and we would go back to the towns each time. So the people in the first 10 rows could hear me. They just start saying, ‘Damn.’ So I look at them and I said, ‘Hey, man, what the hell are they saying that for?’ I think you say that when something screws up or something goes wrong.”
Eventually, WWE’s creative team became aware of the crowd reaction and decided to incorporate it into television.
Simmons recalled being instructed to walk out following an exchange between Booker T and John Cena in Chicago and deliver nothing more than the single word. “So the writers they got wind of it right and said, ‘Look, the next time that Booker T and John Cena were having an exchange in Chicago, just walk out there simply say, ‘Damn’ after they finish with their exchange.’ When I did that, the people sat there for a moment, then they just went crazy, and that’s when Damn was born.”
The response was immediate, and WWE quickly recognized the merchandising potential of Simmons’ new catchphrase.
When asked how long it took for a “DAMN!” T-shirt to follow, Simmons joked that it happened almost immediately. “[How long after that did you get a T-Shirt?] Instantly [laughs]. My only thing about that was that if I had known something like that, 30 years ago, I would have never taken a bump. Just walked out there and said, ‘Damn!’”
The catchphrase became a memorable part of Simmons’ WWE persona and continued long after his days as a regular in-ring competitor had ended. WWE frequently brought him into backstage segments specifically to deliver the line as the punchline to an unusual or comedic situation.
For Simmons, however, the entire phenomenon began organically — with fans noticing something he was already doing in the ring and WWE eventually realizing it could turn that spontaneous reaction into a lasting part of his character.
