Was Ahmed Johnson supposed to be bigger than he was?

[wildojinx]

Looking back at late-95/early 96 WWF shows, Ahmed Johnson was pushed pretty big as the next big thing, but aside from winning the IC gold, he never really achieved top-tier status. Was he supposed to be bigger but injuries hampered any major push, or was he pretty much going to be midcard all the way?

[Mozenrath]

They definitely would have liked him to be a main eventer, but I think he revealed himself to not be reliable enough for it and too high on his own supply.

[Hit Girl]

He was already too big.

He could barely fit into his trunks.

[Aceorton]

I would imagine that like most guys given the IC belt, it was seen as grooming him for the big belt, depending on how he carried himself as IC champ and what made sense in the storylines. Some guys passed the test (Savage, Bret, Warrior, Shawn, Diesel, Helmsley, Rock) and others never fully ascended (Santana, Perfect, Rude, Razor, Jarrett, Goldust).

[chazraps]

Oh definitely. He was by far the most pushed new talent of 1996 and they gave him so much mic time to find himself and screentime through 1997. The audience was there for him too. Had his body not betrayed him, he'd have certainly had a world title reign at some point.

[Mozenrath]

Aug 16, 2023 22:24:44 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Oh definitely. He was by far the most pushed new talent of 1996 and they gave him so much mic time to find himself and screentime through 1997. The audience was there for him too. Had his body not betrayed him, he'd have certainly had a world title reign at some point.

Probably. It'd have been a goddamn mess, but they have rolled the dice on people who had less going for them.

I also think it'd have potentially helped him if Bill Watts hadn't left, since Watts (racist he is/was), did like promoting black wrestlers as top faces because he knew there was money in it. The WWF wouldn't pull the trigger on that until with Rock in '98, but Ahmed could have done it a bit earlier had things gone well for him.

[4real]

He was supposed to get a title match against Taker at King of The Ring 97 I think after joining the NOD but almost immediately got injured.

But yeah seeing him show up in 95 I thought he was going to be a massive star. A big what if.

[tafkaga]

Definitely. They hoped that Ahmed's in-ring skills and ability to work safe would eventually catch up to his charisma and explosiveness, but unfortunately the scales tipped in the other direction.

[bob]

clearly

IIRC they hyped as the first ever African American Intercontential Champion

he was pushed pretty hard out of the gate

before Warrior left the original main event of In Your House 9: International Incident was Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and The Ultimate Warrior vs Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Vader

[Tiger Millionaire]

A bit of a proto Bill Goldberg, if you will.

[SmashTV]

Absolutely. He came in with a massive impact and was soon associating with Shawn and the returning Warrior. For various reasons, some of which were Ahmed’s own doing, it never panned out.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

WONTON BEEF STEW

[James Fabiano]

Insert joke about WCW in 2000 here.

[MC Blowfish]

He was injury prone and he also hurt people. If those two things weren't working against him, he could have been in the main event.

[Fundertaker]

something something forgot to take the medication Morty something SAND RIPPA~! something

[JoDaNa1281]

Aug 17, 2023 3:32:54 GMT -5 4real said:

He was supposed to get a title match against Taker at King of The Ring 97 I think after joining the NOD but almost immediately got injured.

But yeah seeing him show up in 95 I thought he was going to be a massive star. A big what if.

Hell, dude won a #1 Contenders Battle Royal in the summer of 96. So, who knows what would've happened there, if he didn't get injured.

[Ben Wyatt]

Aug 17, 2023 9:14:54 GMT -5 Tiger Millionaire said:

A bit of a proto Bill Goldberg, if you will.

He had about 1/8th the charisma and while Goldberg was no ring wizard, Ahmed makes him look like Daniel Bryan by comparison

[johnnyk9]

I always thought but then he’d get injured

[Mozenrath]

Aug 17, 2023 20:36:39 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Aug 17, 2023 9:14:54 GMT -5 Tiger Millionaire said:

A bit of a proto Bill Goldberg, if you will.

He had about 1/8th the charisma and while Goldberg was no ring wizard, Ahmed makes him look like Daniel Bryan by comparison

Goldberg was definitely better, but both were definitely sometimes doing moves they should not have been trying at their experience levels. Like, I am 98% sure Ahmed is the first guy who hit rolling German suplexes in the WWF. I am unsure if Benoit had done it already in WCW, but I mean, probably.

Benoit was... better at it, let's just say.

[Nr1Humanoid]

The wedgie king.