Ahmed Johnson was a force to be reckoned with throughout his WWF career, but the powerhouse was hardly making friends in the locker room.
Johnson debuted in the WWF in 1995, and captured the Intercontinental Championship at the following year’s King of the Ring event.
This win made Johnson the first African-American Intercontinental Champion, setting the path for future stars including modern-day talent like Kofi Kingston, Shelton Benjamin, and Big E.
The Kiss
Prior to his IC title win, Ahmed feuded with Goldust, who played mind games with the powerhouse.
On the May 27, 1996 Raw, the Bizarre One performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Johnson, who was laid out backstage.
This act of CPR played into the gay panic that was more prevalent at the time, which Jake Roberts addressed on the latest Snake Pit podcast.
“I was there when they had him [Goldust] kiss Ahmed. Oh, boy, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his way. He lost his sh*t!”
Jake Roberts.
Injuring Talent
As a former Football star, Johnson was used to letting his intensity do the talking and garnered a reputation among some for being dangerous in the ring.
On his podcast, Roberts suggested that Vince McMahon, well aware of how Ahmed would react to the kiss, booked it on purpose to try and get Johnson to leave the promotion.
“Vince did that on purpose. Vince needed a black superstar, and Ahmed was gonna be it, but then Ahmed just got to where he wouldn’t show up. He was hurting people every f*ing night. He just became unruly, unable to deal with him. Too demanding. They finally had to let him go.”
Jake Roberts
After leaving the WWF in 1998, Ahmed would join WCW in 1999 as ‘Big T,’ and would form ‘Harlem Heat 2000’ with Stevie Ray.
In a feud that would have filled arenas on Sesame Street, Big T feuded with Booker T over the usage of the letter ‘T,’ a feud Big T would win, leaving the future WWE Hall of Famer to go by just ‘Booker.’
For use of these quotes please give a h/t to SEScoops.
