Ahmed Johnson seemed destined for the very top when he made his WWE debut in 1995, immediately being featured alongside the likes of Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in top storylines.
Despite winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship at King Of The Ring 1996, Johnson never reached the heights that many felt possible and he has been outspoken in recent years about his tenure with the company.
Johnson recalled his WWE television debut in an appearance on Ten Count and explained that former WWE Champion Yokozuna was less than enthusiastic about helping the young Superstar make the moment memorable:
“Vince calls me up and said, ‘I want you to go down, do a run-in. I want you to slam Yoko.
Vince didn’t say ‘Could I?’ He said, ‘I want you to.’ So I went to Yoko and told Yoko that ‘Vince wants me to slam you.’
“And Yoko and them were very jealous at the time. I came from nowhere and ended up on top of the card. So Yoko says, ‘Well, I hope you can get me up because I’m not going to jump for you.’ I was like, ‘Damn, it’s like that, huh?’ When I got to the ring, I was so fired up. It took everything I had to get him up and over, but I did it. I was just determined to get him up no matter what.”
Ahmed Johnson Has Made Strong Claims About WWE Run Before
It is not the first time that Ahmed Johnson has been outspoken about his run in WWE. In a previous interview on the Pounding The Meat podcast, Johnson suggested WWE Hall Of Famer Faarooq, real name Ron Simmons, had injured him deliberately.
“Yeah, I think he did [deliberately cause injury]. I think he was also jealous and upset because here he was, the first black champion in WCW, and then here I was becoming the first Intercontinental black champion in WWF. I think there was some jealousy there.”
Johnson added that the incident derailed his career, given the high-profile plans for him that had to be scrapped.
“The recovery set me back a little ways, man,” Johnson continued. “It messed my shot up at the world title with Shawn, which I heard I was gonna get the belt then. It really set me back, man. He really threw my career off track when he did that.”
Johnson’s claim is contradicted by Jim Ross, who previously suggested that Simmons was a great locker room leader whose legacy would be respected.
H/T: WrestlingInc for the above transcription