This series of articles was inspired by the listing of my 50 favorite wrestlers on my main website. I decided to give each wrestler their own article, highlighting their achievements, and the moments that show why I like them so much. I should note that these profiles are in random order, and my all-time favorite wrestler, Hulk Hogan, will be getting one giant, MEGA tribute article, to be published on the main site, the one I have been working on for some time. I decided to kick things off with the badass from Pearl River Mississippi himself, AHMED JOHNSON!!!!!
Name: Ahmed Johnson
Height: 6'2
Weight: 305lbs
From: Pearl River Mississippi
Finishing Move: The Pearl River Plunge(Tiger Bomb)
Career Highlights:
1 time WWF Intercontinental champion, member of the infamous Nation of Domination stable, PWI's 1996 Most Improved Wrestler, winner of the WWF Kuwaiti Cup.
Ahmed Moments
The Debut Promos
Ahmed had some interesting hype videos before his WWF debut in 1995. He was like alone in some room, SCREAMING about "Competition!", with his booming voice, and bloodshot eyes. I honestly had no idea what this dude's deal was at the time, but damn, when he DID finally show up, he kicked ass.
Ahmed Arrives
When Ahmed hit the scene, he had badass music (which you can find on the WWF: The Music Volume 2 CD), he looked badass, and totally destroyed everyone in his path. People have said Ahmed was the true precursor to Goldberg, and I'd have to agree, but might say Ahmed was actually cool, and had more talent. Ahmed also had the sweet as hell Pearl River Plunge finisher, which he used to decimate wrestler after wrestler, getting him over big time with fans in short order. As soon as he had debuted, Ahmed won me over with his no-nonsense, monster persona.
Goldust Loves Ahmed
In 1996, Goldust (aka "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes) was making waves with the controversial, homo erotic gimmick he was portraying. Goldust would allude to liking other wrestlers, in a more than platonic way, feel them up during matches, and all sorts of apparent, offensive, stereotyped, homosexual things of that nature. As a pre-teen during those days, I wasn't that big a fan of what Goldust was doing, seeing it simply as erratic, bizarre behavior, and Goldust was one of my least favorites on the WWF roster, but maybe that was because he beat my main man Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental title at the '96 Royal Rumble, since I like him immensely today (he made my top 50). Back on topic, Goldust was the IC champ through the summer, when he targeted Ahmed Johnson as the next object of his affection. Being the manly, somewhat unstable badass he was, Ahmed was none too pleased with Goldy's infatuation, and it all culminated with one of the funniest, most memorable moments in Raw history for me. On an episode of Monday Night Raw, shortly before the June King of the Ring PPV, Ahmed was laid out by an attack, and carried off on a stretcher, through the backstage area. As it passed to load an unconscious Ahmed in the waiting ambulance, Goldust approached. And, Goldust decided to do something that he would live to regret. Goldust actually gave "mouth to mouth" to the 300lbs wrecking machine who had already been ENRAGED at the suggestion that Goldy had a crush on him! Ahmed was soon awakened, to find out what went down, with his face covered in Goldust's gold makeup. Ahmed FLIPPED THE HELL OUT, jumped up from the stretcher, screaming like some kind of pissed off rhino, and made a beeline straight for Goldust's lockeroom! Ahmed did a kickass butterfly kick, busting in Goldy's dressing room, ready to kick the living crap out of him, but he wasn't there. This set the stage for the now even more psychotic Ahmed to challenge Goldust for the IC belt at the King of the Ring PPV. As for that cool butterfly kick, I must admit, I have been doing it to open/close doors on occasion ever since.
Ahmed: The FIRST People's Champion
In the aforementioned King of the Ring match, I watched live as Ahmed finally unseated Goldust as the IC champ, crushing him dead after Goldy made the fatal mistake of planting another lip lock on him. Ahmed would be the first person to declare himself "The People's Champion", unlike The Rock, who stole that moniker later. Sadly, Ahmed suffered a kidney injury in August, forcing him to be stripped of the title. It was also injuries that plagued his career, and caused his WWF run to be cut short, leaving the company in 1998, after turning heel, and joining former enemy Faarooq in the Nation of Domination. Ahmed would resurface in WCW as Big T in 2000, but it just wasn't the same. While his tenure was short, Ahmed secured himself as a personal favorite of mine. But hey, let's not end the article on a downer, I'll finish it up with Ahmed's last hurrah (according to me), occurring at Wrestlemania 13.
Ahmed & LOD Kick Ass, Chicago Style!
Before Ahmed turned to the dark side by joining his enemies in the Nation of Domination, the two sides had a dandy, rock ass, 6 Man Tornado style "Chicago Street Fight" at Wrestlemania 13 in Chicago, also the hometown of Ahmed's tag partners, one of my favorite teams ever, The Legion of Doom! It was a dream team for me, and they even came out together, with Ahmed sporting the famous LOD spiked shoulder pads! The match was a wild fight, where the metaphorical kitchen sink, actually came into play, and was used to bludgeon the Nation. Ahmed/LOD came out victorious, capping the bout off nicely, and giving me that last fond Ahmed memory.
