On a recent episode of his “Something to Wrestle With” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer JBL provided insight into the short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful pairing of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) with Don Callis, who was then performing under the moniker “The Jackyl.” This alliance, which transpired in 1998, lasted a mere few weeks and has since become a somewhat forgotten footnote in WWE history.
JBL, one half of APA alongside Ron Simmons, addressed the reasons behind the partnership’s demise. “It wasn’t a very long time. It wasn’t a good fit,” JBL stated. “I don’t want to bash Don…He’s had a good career since, but it wasn’t a good fit.”
He attributed the failure primarily to the APA’s lack of need for a manager. Both JBL and Simmons were already established and skilled talkers, with Simmons particularly renowned for his promo abilities. “Ron could talk. Ron’s one of the best talkers in the history of the business… I didn’t think we needed a mouthpiece,” JBL emphasized.
Furthermore, JBL revealed that WWE writer Vince Russo’s aversion to Southern accents limited JBL’s own opportunities to speak. “Russo did not want me to talk because Russo did not like Southern accents. He thought people sounded stupid because they had a southern accent.” This directive, combined with the APA’s inherent self-sufficiency on the microphone, rendered Callis’s role somewhat redundant.
JBL also suggested that Callis’s approach to promos contributed to the growing tension. “We talked to Jackyl and told him, ‘When you’re out there doing promos, put over your tag team, because we’re the ones that are either going to draw money or not draw money. You’re not. You’ve got to get us over.'” Despite this feedback, Callis allegedly continued to focus on self-promotion, neglecting to emphasize the tag team he was supposed to be managing. “He didn’t change, and he kept putting himself over,” JBL recalled.
The final act in this brief saga involved an unusual incident with Matt Hardy and a broken toothpick. JBL, while acknowledging a slightly different recollection of events than Hardy’s own account, explained how he had asked Hardy to break a toothpick in Callis’s car lock as a form of reprimand. This was witnessed by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who promptly inquired about the situation.
“Vince said, ‘What’s up with that?’ The guy with him… said, ‘He’s got heat with Ron and John’, and Vince goes ‘Get rid of him’,” JBL recounted. This decisive response from McMahon signaled the immediate end of Callis’s tenure with the APA and WWE. These days, Callis is doing well for himself in AEW.
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