|
|
Post by One-Armed Drummer of Defrebel on Feb 4, 2022 0:08:47 GMT -5
 So last night I decided I'd had enough of not knowing how Gang Warz kicked off and lucky for me, it was what they opened the June 23rd episode of RAW with. Holy shit it was certainly what they opened with. Absolute adventure from start to finish. Before there's even any Gang Warz to speak of, Ahmed Johnnson and The Nation are here for an interview with Vince because everyone wants to know why Ahmed Johnson joined The Nation after they spent months kicking his ass and degrading him. I super wanna know that too, because the last 97 RAW I watched was a month earlier and he was still firmly at war with them. So Ahmed in his new heel voice (slightly quieter and more bothered Ahmed) drops an absolute nuclear bomb on VKM that you can see above, then starts to explain -- The fans weren't backing for a belt, the company wasn't backing him for a belt, but The Nation was backing him up. The rest of you weren't backing him up. Why? Because he's a black man. At this point I'm dying because all 3 of those things made no damn sense and Ahmed is just plowing thru this promo saying one thing after another that is hysterical to hear on WWE TV while the closed captions are struggling so hard I had to turn them off and I'm here watching like this because hearing "Louis Farrakhan" come out of Ahmed Johnson's mouth is out-of-body surreal. I had completely forgotten why I was watching this episode of RAW in the first place until Brian Crush Adams and some white friends called DOA(yes including The Harris Bros) all come riding out on motorcycles. Crush had just been booted out of The Nation because Farooq had an epiphany that he had been recruiting way too many white men and also Savio Vega, so he traded Crush for Ahmed. Savio got booted too but he's still plotting his next move at this point (absolutely dying to watch Los Boricuas' debut next). The rough biker men surround The Nation in the ring on their bikes and then before you know it there's a Gang Warz happening. Everyone's fighting, commentary's screaming, and the crowd is...oh damn they're sleeping. Seriously I forgot that WWF crowds were capable of being this dead in the 90s, they are so bored and confused it's hilarious. Just when I think it can't get any wackier, the ring gets rushed by the cops and they break everybody up. The cops got called!!!! Eventually everyone's either walking or biking away, the crowd is still making no noise, and I think everyone's totally forgotten about Ahmed Johnson's heel turn. Bro what tldr; Remember when RAW opened up with a whole gang war where the only casualties were the audience?? And Ahmed decided the time to have fun with Ahmed was over???[/spoiler] |
|
|
|
Post by chronocross on Feb 4, 2022 10:50:05 GMT -5
I remember Ahmed getting injured in the fracas and having to scrap the plans for him vs. Taker at the IYH: Canadian Stampede and went with Vader instead, which wasn't a bad pick honestly.
|
|
|
|
Post by One-Armed Drummer of Defrebel on Feb 4, 2022 12:41:40 GMT -5
I remember Ahmed getting injured in the fracas and having to scrap the plans for him vs. Taker at the IYH: Canadian Stampede and went with Vader instead, which wasn't a bad pick honestly. ...Hold on, Ahmed got injured in that brawl too?? That makes everything so much worse oh my god lmao |
|
|
|
Post by fortknox on Feb 4, 2022 12:58:51 GMT -5
I remember Ahmed getting injured in the fracas and having to scrap the plans for him vs. Taker at the IYH: Canadian Stampede and went with Vader instead, which wasn't a bad pick honestly. ...Hold on, Ahmed got injured in that brawl too?? That makes everything so much worse oh my god lmao Yep, got injured in that fight and was out till August and his first show back The Nation kick him out making the whole turn pointless. |
|
|
|
Post by chronocross on Feb 4, 2022 19:12:59 GMT -5
...Hold on, Ahmed got injured in that brawl too?? That makes everything so much worse oh my god lmao Yep, got injured in that fight and was out till August and his first show back The Nation kick him out making the whole turn pointless. Then a month later against Rock in the first Raw from MSG injures his hand in the match also. |
|
|
|
Post by sungod2020 on Feb 4, 2022 19:14:44 GMT -5
...Hold on, Ahmed got injured in that brawl too?? That makes everything so much worse oh my god lmao Yep, got injured in that fight and was out till August and his first show back The Nation kick him out making the whole turn pointless. Did he ever have a match while in The Nation? I could've sworn he did. I was at a house show and I remember him saying something along the lines of "We're Black, and Black people are suppose to be the bad guys." I could be misremembering it though. |
|
|
|
Post by fortknox on Feb 4, 2022 19:29:04 GMT -5
Yep, got injured in that fight and was out till August and his first show back The Nation kick him out making the whole turn pointless. Did he ever have a match while in The Nation? I could've sworn he did. I was at a house show and I remember him saying something along the lines of "We're Black, and Black people are suppose to be the bad guys." I could be misremembering it though. NOD vs jobbers 6 man on Shotgun Saturday Night youtu.be/EGF6s7ltRT0And vs Chainz on the August 4th RAW where he was attacked after the match. |
|
|
|
Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 4, 2022 20:19:20 GMT -5
 The only thing I take from this run is he did look pretty bad ass with the all heel look. |
|
|
|
Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Feb 4, 2022 20:23:21 GMT -5
I remember Ahmed getting injured in the fracas and having to scrap the plans for him vs. Taker at the IYH: Canadian Stampede and went with Vader instead, which wasn't a bad pick honestly. ...Hold on, Ahmed got injured in that brawl too?? That makes everything so much worse oh my god lmao If Ahmed was doing anything remotely athletic in 1997, there's a good chance he either got injured, or he injured someone else. |
|
|
|
Post by smokinvokoun86 on Feb 4, 2022 23:44:28 GMT -5
Other than Ron Simmons, i don’t think it’s possible to put together a feud with so many guys involved that no one cared about.
|
|
|
|
Post by fortknox on Feb 5, 2022 13:12:33 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Feb 6, 2022 12:12:11 GMT -5
Wait I could be completely wrong here but is that Don Callis on the top right of this picture? I remember him coming in later as the manager but I don't remember him ever wrestling as part of the Truth Commission. |
|
|
|
Post by fortknox on Feb 6, 2022 12:33:36 GMT -5
Wait I could be completely wrong here but is that Don Callis on the top right of this picture? I remember him coming in later as the manager but I don't remember him ever wrestling as part of the Truth Commission. No, there were 4 members in the original group. Kurrgan the Interrogator, Recon, Sniper and Tank. Tank left after two matches. |
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Feb 6, 2022 12:33:54 GMT -5
The only thing I take from this run is he did look pretty bad ass with the all heel look. At first I agreed. Then the more I looked at the picture I noticed he's wearing a choker. Between the choker and all the baby oil on him he looks more like a stripper than a wrestler. 😂 Also the fact that he always wore a pair of knee pads over his thighs always bothered me. In this gif it looks like he's wearing 3 pairs of knee pads now. And his knee brace has a WWF logo sticker. Looks like he was going for major brownie points for that one. Who wears the company logo on their gear? Besides Koko at WM4. How lame is that?! 😂 |
|
|
|
Post by jason1980s on Feb 6, 2022 12:34:54 GMT -5
Don was the manager for the Truth Commission. He replaced Commandant because WWF wanted someone who could wrestle with the other three. He wrestled in the green outfit at Survivor Series too. So many of those guys were, "we're just going to keep giving them new gimmick until something, anything, works."
|
|
cjh
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,573
|
Post by cjh on Feb 6, 2022 12:37:23 GMT -5
Wait I could be completely wrong here but is that Don Callis on the top right of this picture? I remember him coming in later as the manager but I don't remember him ever wrestling as part of the Truth Commission. Yes, that's him. I don't remember this match, but he was a member of the TC team at Survivor Series 1997. |
|
|
|
Post by fortknox on Feb 6, 2022 12:42:09 GMT -5
Wait I could be completely wrong here but is that Don Callis on the top right of this picture? I remember him coming in later as the manager but I don't remember him ever wrestling as part of the Truth Commission. Yes, that's him. I don't remember this match, but he was a member of the TC team at Survivor Series 1997. Huh, so that is Don Callis in the pic? I remember him as the manager but, he hardly ever, if ever, wore the beret. |
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Feb 6, 2022 12:52:23 GMT -5
Yes, that's him. I don't remember this match, but he was a member of the TC team at Survivor Series 1997. Huh, so that is Don Callis in the pic? I remember him as the manager but, he hardly ever, if ever, wore the beret. I remember him as the manager with the leather jacket and sunglasses engaging people in "intellectual intercourse". But I don't remember him wearing the TC gear like the rest of the group. Fun fact, apparently Tank was the former Mantaur. Any word on why he only lasted 2 matches with the TC? |
|
|
|
Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Feb 6, 2022 13:05:19 GMT -5
In retrospect how vastly superior was the NOD to the other 3 groups? You can make an argument for all 4 members of the NOD getting into the HOF. With the exception of MAYBE Savio, the other 12 guys in this pic... not so much lol. |
|
|
|
Post by jason1980s on Feb 6, 2022 13:09:28 GMT -5
In retrospect how vastly superior was the NOD to the other 3 groups? You can make an argument for all 4 members of the NOD getting into the HOF. With the exception of MAYBE Savio, the other 12 guys in this pic... not so much lol. Just in that time period alone NOD was superior yet their best days were still way in the future. I always get heat for wondering how Crush and Bull were employed for so long with WWF. They would be good in a bodyguard role but very little wrestling talent whatsoever. The Boricaus showed more talent than the top two teams just in backstage skits like Rumble 98 where they, aside from Savio, didn't even make a PPV match. |
|
