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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Dec 29, 2013 18:17:29 GMT -5
So I was one of the lucky ones to get the WWE Raw box set before it became sold out in stores around me, and in watching the 96 and 97 stuff on there, I am confused as to why Vince McMahon kept Ahmed Johnson on a contract as long as he did.
The man was injury prone from that first kick by Faarooq in the summer of 96 all the way up to 1998 when he got let go. Even in a match on Raw from September 97 at MSG, he injured his hand wrestling Rocky Maivia.
Does anyone else ever wonder as to why Vince kept Ahmed under contract for so long?? Did Vince have big hopes for him??
Also, another side note, what was gonna happen in 96 with Ahmed Johnson vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Title?? Ahmed won the battle royal, last eliminating Goldust, but Goldust got the title shot against HBK on Raw because of Ahmed being injured. Was Ahmed gonna win the WWE Title??
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2013 19:43:21 GMT -5
Ahmed was set to get the "Brock Lesnar push" 6 years before Brock did. Ahmed was set to be a HUGE deal, I believe, and was going to be pushed to the moon had his injuries not piled up and promo skills not been so bad.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 6:37:47 GMT -5
that's basically it.
he was in line for a big push because Vinces big idea to halt the ratings rot was to push a black guy to the moon.however as Bash states the aptly named Johnson was too unreliable.
Cornette said the guy was so clumsy and overmuscled that they would wince when he was lacing up his boots in the locker room.
never got the fuss about AJ.....likely never will.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:19:43 GMT -5
Me either.
He was sloppy and sometimes outright dangerous in the ring, couldn't cut a promo, injury prone, etc. yet he would still get solid reactions and you could just tell Vince wanted to push him real far.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:28:03 GMT -5
Yeah he was definitely in for a big push. He even slammed Yoko a couple times IIRC, and he's the only guy to do that other than Luger (although super-Shawn did simultaneously eliminate about 1000lbs worth of Yokozuna and Vader at the same time).
Ahmed was pretty damn bad across the board, awful on the mic, awful in the rig. He did get the IC title at some point though, didn't he?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:35:40 GMT -5
Yeah he was definitely in for a big push. He even slammed Yoko a couple times IIRC, and he's the only guy to do that other than Luger (although super-Shawn did simultaneously eliminate about 1000lbs worth of Yokozuna and Vader at the same time). Ahmed was pretty damn bad across the board, awful on the mic, awful in the rig. He did get the IC title at some point though, didn't he? Yup he was IC champ for a short period of time after beating Goldust at King of the Ring 1996. From what I remember, he was supposed to have the title until Summerslam where he would defend it against Faarooq. I also remember Ahmed winning some battle royal on Raw giving him a WWF Championship match for the night after Summerslam on Raw. Neither of these two things happened as Ahmed suffered his famous kidney injury and was out for like 4 months. Had Vader gone over HBK at Summerslam as planned, it would've been interesting to see Ahmed vs. Vader for the WWF title on Raw the next night.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:41:21 GMT -5
Yeah he was definitely in for a big push. He even slammed Yoko a couple times IIRC, and he's the only guy to do that other than Luger (although super-Shawn did simultaneously eliminate about 1000lbs worth of Yokozuna and Vader at the same time). Ahmed was pretty damn bad across the board, awful on the mic, awful in the rig. He did get the IC title at some point though, didn't he? Yup he was IC champ for a short period of time after beating Goldust at King of the Ring 1996. From what I remember, he was supposed to have the title until Summerslam where he would defend it against Faarooq. I also remember Ahmed winning some battle royal on Raw giving him a WWF Championship match for the night after Summerslam on Raw. Neither of these two things happened as Ahmed suffered his famous kidney injury and was out for like 4 months. Had Vader gone over HBK at Summerslam as planned, it would've been interesting to see Ahmed vs. Vader for the WWF title on Raw the next night. Had Vader gone over Shawn, I think those next few months would have been ALOT more interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:45:39 GMT -5
Yeah it would be weird to see how things would've changed during the fall of '96 with Vader as champion.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:46:02 GMT -5
it would indeed.
maybe then the f*ckin name of IYH:Its Time would've made some sense!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 11:49:23 GMT -5
Yeah, plus we wouldn't have been subjected to that stupid finish between the Shawn-Sid match where Jose had a heart attack... Christ that was bad lol.
I wonder where that would have left Sid and Shawn? I'm guessing we'd have seen Undertaker vs. Vader at WM13?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 12:02:59 GMT -5
I don't think so because HBK was going to win the title at Royal Rumble 1997 no matter what because HBK vs. Bret for the title was planned for a long time at Wrestlemania 13.
Wrestlemania 13 would've seen Undertaker vs. Stone Cold and maybe Sid vs. Vader again. Not sure.
Had Vader won the title at Summerslam, he probably would've defended it against Sid in September and maybe Undertaker or Bret in December before losing to HBK at the Rumble. I'm assuming Vader vs. HBK in a rematch would've happened at Survivor Series too? I really don't know.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 12:06:36 GMT -5
I think the original plan was HBK loses at Summerslam then regains at SSeries 1996.
one things for sure...Vader should've been given the belt going to WM13 instead of Sid.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 12:14:46 GMT -5
Oh yeah, duh lol. I don't know how I didn't remember that Shawn was getting it back in his home town ready for his rematch with Bret.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 12:17:45 GMT -5
Makes sense. I'd say:
Vader beats HBK at Summerslam Vader beats Ahmed Johnson(?) in September Vader beats Sid in October HBK beats Vader at Survivor Series Bret Hart and HBK have a schmozz in December maybe due to interference from Steve Austin HBK beats Steve Austin at Rumble, meanwhile Bret wins Rumble HBK beats Sid, meanwhile Bret beats Steve Austin in February Bret beats HBK at Wrestlemania 13
I guess that would leave Stone Cold vs. Undertaker and Sid vs. Vader for Wrestlemania 13 also.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Dec 30, 2013 14:11:17 GMT -5
Interesting stuff here! I am glad I made up this thread for the discussion to get this in depth haha
While we are on this subject... Owen and Bulldog... and Vader and Mankind...
It seemed Wrestlemania was shaping up to be Bulldog vs. Owen and Vader vs. Mankind, and then all of a sudden a tag match instead?? That seemed random to me, especially during a time when there was a good chunk of tag teams.
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Post by mikey1974 on Dec 30, 2013 16:39:01 GMT -5
yeah,the original plan was for Vader to win the Belt at SummerSlam,then HBK to win it back at Survivor Series.when HBK vetoed it, the backup was then to have Vader vs Sid in a #1 contender's match at IYH:Buried Alive, which Vader would win. then Vader would beat Michaels for the Belt at Survivor Series,then drop it back to Michaels at the royal Rumble,since the whole premise of the Rumble was basically HBK's homecoming,and it was decide months in advance for Michael's to lose the title specifically so he could win it back in his hometown. but, AGAIN, HBK squashed losing to Vader,but was willing to put Sid over,so it was all changed again.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 19:38:04 GMT -5
Interesting stuff here! I am glad I made up this thread for the discussion to get this in depth haha While we are on this subject... Owen and Bulldog... and Vader and Mankind... It seemed Wrestlemania was shaping up to be Bulldog vs. Owen and Vader vs. Mankind, and then all of a sudden a tag match instead?? That seemed random to me, especially during a time when there was a good chunk of tag teams. My guess is that match was made simply to put all 4 men on the card since they were all doing nothing at that point. They teased Bulldog and Owen breaking up all the way back in 1996 but it never happened. I assume the reason is because of Bret's heel turn and aligning himself with Bulldog/Owen on Raw the night after Wrestlemania 13.
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hammer
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Post by hammer on Dec 31, 2013 14:41:06 GMT -5
"He was sloppy and sometimes outright dangerous in the ring"
i seriously think that was part of his appeal backstage. he looked like he was going to kill people when he threw that spinebuster. awful in the ring, but he looked like [and all indications were that he actually was...] a legit badass. but yea, if he held off that injury and got the strap... that mightve made things seriously worse, after the entire debacle that was 1995.
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Post by mikey1974 on Dec 31, 2013 15:12:21 GMT -5
I will say this - for as bad and dangerous of a worker as Ahmed Johnson was,he was Hella-Over in 1996. the crowds loved him.
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Barney Stinson
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Post by Barney Stinson on Dec 31, 2013 15:49:32 GMT -5
Yeah he was definitely in for a big push. He even slammed Yoko a couple times IIRC, and he's the only guy to do that other than Luger (although super-Shawn did simultaneously eliminate about 1000lbs worth of Yokozuna and Vader at the same time). Ahmed was pretty damn bad across the board, awful on the mic, awful in the rig. He did get the IC title at some point though, didn't he? Does that make R-Truth, Super Truth for doing the same thing to Big Show & Mark Henry in the 2010 Rumble and doing it with a lot more ease than Shawn did?
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