I miss Ahmed Johnson

[Ballistic83]

Now recently the WWE are bringing back the name & charactor of former WWF superstar Ahmed Johnson aka Tony Norris. Last month or so didn't Goldust get in the Miz face about having to kiss Ahmed Johnson in the mouth? Now that took me back! And now on ECW, they got Ezekieal Jackson as the spitting image of "the pearl-rival powerhouse", WOW!

I remember Ahmed journey through the WWF. He won some kinda of tourney in Kuwait of all places in the WWF, which lead to him having a IC title shot against Goldust for the IC gold (this is the fued in which goldust kisses Ahmed in the backstage after Johnson is knock out by the late owen hart's cast on his injured arm). Which Ahmed wins! Becoming the WWF's first African-American IC champion!

And then about three weeks later, he gets a kidney injury from a kick by Faarooq (Ron Simmons), which had lead to Ahmed being stripped of the title due to the WWF's 30 day injury rule, which was in effect STRICKLY back then.

Ahmed would come back for his revenge again Simmons which he got via a 2X4. But then WWF president the late Gorilla Monsoon supended him for a month for the assaut against Ron Simmons. By then Ron Simmons had started his new faction "The Nation Of Domination". Ahmed & the Road Warriors would battle it out with the nation for months before & after Wrestlemania 13 in Chicago. Did, for some reason, Ahmed Johnson then JOINED the nation for some reason? It was heart breaking for me the least at the time.

During that process, Ahmed received a world title match against then WWF champ, the Undertaker. But before it went down, Ahmed got injured again before the nation turned on him in the middle of the ring.

And early the next year in 1998 after the "No Way Out of Texas" PPV was over, so was Ahmed's current in the WWF as he was released.

Sure he went to WCW for a little bit in a stable with Booker T. But it really wasn't the same though for some reason? The last time I saw Ahmed Johnson aka Tony Norris on TV, is when he played the role of gangsta CEO of Death Row Records Suge Knight in that one M.C. Hammer movie about Hammers life & music career.

But do you feel the same way I do? Tell me.

 

[The Brain]

Ahmed Johnson looked great when he debuted. He bodyslammed Yokozuna during his first apperance on television. Talk about getting a guy over right off the bat. I enjoyed the feud with Goldust and was happy to see him win the IC title. He looked like a can't miss superstar. Then he missed. Following the feud with Goldust he could not stay healthy. Every time he got going again another injury stopped him cold. He lost all his momentum. I was ready to see him go around SummerSlam 97. He's a mid 90's version of Kennedy. Just like Kennedy, Vince had no choice but to pull the plug.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

For some reason a lot of people aren't high up on Ahmed Johnson, and I can't understand why. I loved the guy, and felt he just got a sour deal with health issues. He had a great Pay per view debut at the end of 1995, and being one of two survivors (the other being Shawn Michaels) in the first and to this date, only, Wildcard Survivor Series match was a nice touch.

He had a quiet couple of months against the likes of Jeff Jarrett, while Jarrett was on his way out. But it picked up again when Johnson was given a run with the Intercontinental title, paired with H.B.K in multiple Tag team contests and Pay per view Main Events, and everything just seemed to click for the guy.

Unfortunately, his health couldn't keep up with his schedule and pace, and he suffered because of it. I think his biggest downfall was being injured and taken off television during the change between Family friendly, to attitude era. Johnson went from being a top choice to become a future Heavyweight Champion, to nothing more than a common "thug" in gang-war storylines.

When he showed up in W.C.W as the new member of Harlem Heat, he was grossly overweight and seemingly out of shape. He had a crappy run, the likes of which Droz was receiving as the replacement in the Legion of Doom, and the only thing that went right in Johnson's career was he didn't have the ending to it, that Droz did.

In the end, if Johnson would've been in better control of his health and his weight/size, he could've been a great Heavyweight Champion. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and his greatest moments were under 10 months long. From November of 1995, to August of 1996.

 

[jmt225]

Ugh, even as a kid, when you pretty much buy into anything, I didn't like Ahmed Johnson. I just thought he was boring and nothing drew me to him. In fact, my only real memory of the guy was his feud with Goldust, which I actually did enjoy, but everything Goldust did back then was, well... gold.

Anyway, like I said... boring. While he looked intimidating, on the mic the guy was a joke and I just couldn't take him seriously. And in the ring, while I loved his finisher (Pearl River Plunge), nothing else he did got me excited or kept my interest in his matches. He literally had ZERO charisma out there.

Today, I can't stand Batista... but my God I'll take him over Ahmed Johnson any day of the fucking week. That's how much Ahmed Johnson sucks in my eyes.

 

[RageBattle]

Yeah I don't know what it was but I liked him, for the short time he seemed to be around. His feud with Goldust was enjoyable and I don't remember much about him and the NoD, but any time I look back at a ppv, he seems to be over pretty well no matter what he was doing.

He was probably an early version of Batista, and while I would have liked to see him possibly get one run with the title, I doubt it would last long in early days of the AE.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I liked him for reasons I can't explain. Clumsy, dull, with an excessive use of knee pads and nostrils that could be used to smuggle contraband. Maybe it was the way WWE pushed him and my naivete, but I loved the man..

 

[kingdirrtysouth1]

I missed him until he showed up on Nitro with his stomach hanging way out over his tights! I was like, what the hell happened to Ahmed Johnson. He had a powerhouse body in the WWF, but now he was fat! Could he not take the time to hit the gym or go down to the Power Plant to get back into ring shape first? He was a favorite of mine in the WWF, but in WCW, I just couldn't get past the gut!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

He won't go back to the WWE cos he is quite outspoken on his shoot interviews about his belief that Steve Austin is racist... He is quite explicit in that belief and I think as long as WWE wants to do business with Austin on any level, Johnson is persona non grata...

 

[byrnside]

I definitely liked him as a kid, but I'm sure he'd be atrocious now. Like someone said earlier, the likes of Batista would probably be embarassed.