Winning a world title in any wrestling promotion is a commendable achievement, more so in the WWE. Every superstar aspires to win the WWE Championship, and talents these days have two world titles to pursue.
However, WWE has employed several talented wrestlers who never got their hands on the company's top prize. The controversial Ahmed Johnson is one of those names.
The former Intercontinental Champion was a very popular figure in the mid-90s, and the logical booking decision was for him to taste world championship glory eventually. Johnson's WWE career, however, went downhill, and he was released in 1998.
During a recent edition of the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross revealed that there was 'some casual discussion' backstage in the WWE regarding a world title victory for Ahmed Johnson.
Johnson picked up the biggest win of his career at King of the Ring in 1996 by taking Goldust's IC title. JR said that WWE was aware of Johnson's potential as a world titleholder:
"Yeah, there was that talk because that's how impressive he looked. And believable. His ethnicity didn't hurt him either to have a black WWE Champion, WWF Champion; it's due. The time was there," Jim Ross noted.
There were things that he needed to catch up on: JR on Ahmed Johnson's WWE run
The well-respected announcer noted that Johnson had the perfect look and intensity for a world champion. He also confirmed that the star's ethnicity wasn't a roadblock in his proposed rise to the top.
According to Ross, Ahmed Johnson wasn't familiar with the fundamentals and psychology of wrestling and, despite there being talks, WWE never went the distance with the polarizing superstar:
"Ahmed didn't realize that when you drop your arm three times, it's over. There were things that he needed to catch up on as far just basic psychology, but there was some discussion at some point. This guy looks like a champion. Look at him. The intensity. The look on his face. His facial expressions. His body. So there was some casual discussion, but I wouldn't frame it to be anything more than that, at least in my take. Casual discussion," Ross revealed.
During a recent interview with Pro Wrestling Defined earlier this year, Johnson claimed that Vince McMahon wanted to put the WWE title on him, and he was heartbroken when things didn't work out as planned:
“That broke my heart, man. That just broke my heart, it really did. Even before I left, I heard he [Vince McMahon] was going to put the big strap [WWE Championship] on me before I left. Things didn’t work out and I had to walk, you know. I had to leave the organization," stated Johnson.
What are your thoughts about Ahmed Johnson and his WWE run? Let us know in the comments section below.