TheXtremisT
Main Eventer
10 Year Member
This is the way
Joined on: May 3, 2008 8:03:15 GMT -5
Posts: 3,875
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Post by TheXtremisT on Sept 16, 2020 17:17:30 GMT -5
I have watched all of the Raws from 1997 and I'm up to RR 1998, where Ahmed comes out into the RR itself, to absolutely no fanfare and he can barely stay on his feet, instantly looks gassed (despite only kicking and punching) and JR/Lawler instantly rip into him as he comes out. What's funny is JR said he talked to Johnson before the RR and says he's at 100% after being out with an injury for like 4 months, but in the RR he's stumbling, can't move at all and doesn't look like his knees can support him. And what's worse is he didn't even get a reaction from the crowd after being out for months. Usually as we know, being away and returning can net you a big pop. But he gets nothing. If I remember correctly he turned heel and joined the NOD, which had so much potential and looked interesting, after feuding with Faarooq and the former incarnation of the Nation - whilst consistently getting big pops from the crowd every time he was on tv, he was one of the top faces in the company. I became a fan thanks to his intensity. But then he got injured like a week later, got booted out of the NOD, returned a month later (way too soon) as a face again (but the crowd didn't care), worked hurt and very sloppy for a couple of months and started a pseudo-feud with Stone Cold for a month, before needing time off again and quietly disappearing. Feuding with Austin did him no favours as Austin was red hot and Johnson wasn't a heel. The fact he also was a face/tweener meant the crowd did not care one bit for him. So all this combined caused his star power in the eyes of the fans fizzle out, that when he returned at the RR98, no-one seemed to care. His sloppy in-ring work and reputation backstage caused him to fall out of favour. I had heard that management wanted him to fight and lose to Chyna but he didn't want to lose to a woman. But I question this as I heard recently he was released in Feb 1998, but Chyna didn't start wrestling until the following year. All in all - any thoughts or stories? I feel this dude had so much potential as a big bastard who could bring the fight when needed and looked convincing.  |
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Sept 16, 2020 17:30:34 GMT -5
I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Just awful on the mic.
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Deleted
Joined on: May 2, 2024 8:44:43 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 17:35:21 GMT -5
I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Just awful on the mic. That actually kinda got him over to us back in the day. We thought his promos were hysterical. He was pretty friggin' over with me and my friends that watched around the time he won the IC Title. Going back and watching now is a trip though. Dunno how he didn't hurt himself and others way more then he already did. |
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Warriah'
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 22, 2019 19:46:02 GMT -5
Posts: 3,154
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Post by Warriah' on Sept 16, 2020 17:47:56 GMT -5
I once saw a comment on a youtube video saying Ahmed sounded like he was under water when he spoke. Honestly very true.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Sept 16, 2020 17:57:06 GMT -5
"You're... Going... Down!!!"
So the thing with Ahmed is that when you look at him in 1995 he looked like a future star. He was in great shape, but over time he just got injured so damn much. I believe the injury he got from Faarooq was actually just a side effect from taking steroids and they put it into a story line. He blew out his knee a few times I believe.
By the end of his WWF career, Ahmed looked like one giant walking knee pad! I swear he had knee pads all the way from his shins to his thighs.
I really do believe if he had remained healthy that he would have been the first African American WWF World Champion then. But after he got injured when holding the IC Title and the feud with Faarooq that lasted his entire WWF career then, it just wasn't a good sign for Ahmed.
His WCW run as Big T was horrible! He looked about 350lbs of just out of shape horribleness.
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Post by jason88cubs on Sept 16, 2020 18:06:25 GMT -5
I was a huge fan of him when I was 7 lol
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Post by LA Times on Sept 16, 2020 18:30:37 GMT -5
He was so good in 1995-96, but yeah he was always getting injured and injuring others as well. It was funny when Goldust gave him CPR.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 16, 2020 20:00:13 GMT -5
He was so good in 1995-96, but yeah he was always getting injured and injuring others as well. It was funny when Goldust gave him CPR.Lawler-''He saved him!'' LOL |
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Post by cordless2016 on Sept 16, 2020 20:11:29 GMT -5
The ruptured spleen by that kick from Ron Simmons started the downward trend of his career. After that the injuries started piling up and I believe his sister was dying of cancer as well at the time which also played into his mental state. Shocking how quick his career fizzled out after a quick rise up the card. Had he stayed healthy I could see him remaining around the IC Title for the majority of his career but I can’t see him hanging with guys like Austin, Rock, Taker, HHH, etc... in the main event.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 16, 2020 20:36:03 GMT -5
He definitely was a guy Vince saw something in with how he was booked until the Summer of 96.Definitely couldve seen him get a World Title run if he stayed healthy.The Faarooq injury was the first big blow but he did rebound some during his feud with the NOD with him teaming up with LOD at Mania XIII.
The 2nd injury during the Summer of 97 after his heel turn and planned feud with Taker for the belt was it for him though.He never could recover post that for remainder of his run.Vince just gave up on em then.
That brief WCW run was awful.Dude could barely move.
Yeah so a career that couldve gone further but injuries was his main downfall.Shame as when you watch his stuff in 95/6 he was over.That pop at KOTR when he won the IC belt was HUGE!
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Deleted
Joined on: May 2, 2024 8:44:43 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 22:06:09 GMT -5
According to Jim Cornette, in real life he liked to say “great googly moogly”. I can just imagine how funny that sounds coming out of his mouth.
Another JC story is that after Ahmed left WWE he worked an Indy show ran by Dennis Carluzzo(sp?) and he wanted to be picked up in a limo or he wouldn’t show up. He didn’t get the limo, he didn’t show, and Dennis gave the phone number of Ahmed’s hotel room. He was bombarded with hate calls!
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kinnikuman
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 6, 2020 21:42:25 GMT -5
Posts: 4,674
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Post by kinnikuman on Sept 16, 2020 22:13:00 GMT -5
Steroids?
Look, he was in the Sports Entertainment company and he's not a sports entertainer. He never had a chance.
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Post by Emerald Enthusiast on Sept 16, 2020 23:26:34 GMT -5
I have watched all of the Raws from 1997 and I'm up to RR 1998, where Ahmed comes out into the RR itself, to absolutely no fanfare and he can barely stay on his feet, instantly looks gassed (despite only kicking and punching) and JR/Lawler instantly rip into him as he comes out. What's funny is JR said he talked to Johnson before the RR and says he's at 100% after being out with an injury for like 4 months, but in the RR he's stumbling, can't move at all and doesn't look like his knees can support him. All in all - any thoughts or stories? I feel this dude had so much potential as a big bastard who could bring the fight when needed and looked convincing. I'm convinced that in 1996, Vince was positioning Ahmed to be a main-eventer in the late 90s. Pairing him with Shawn Michaels and Warrior made it obvious that Vince felt like he had something special in Ahmed. However, as the injuries piled up, his stamina and timing suffered. He never recaptured the magic that he had in '96. Had he stayed healthy and Warrior stuck around, 1997 might have looked very different in the WWF. |
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Post by JokerFC on Sept 17, 2020 6:03:14 GMT -5
Vince def had plans for AJ....no doubting it lads. It was written all over his booking in 1996. His IC win was a highlight of 1996-fans received it VERY well. But then came injury after injury after injury. He wasn't fit enough to support his muscle mass and he kept getting tears & bruising down to the bone. Guy was apparently in agony lots of times wrestling & was taking a LOT of stuff for pain management.
Cornette said he was so injury prone he hurt his bicep at a house show getting his boots on & they had to change the booking of the card to a tag match. In the same interview he said he had genuinely never seen a guy so injury prone.
Its unfortunate. You can tell Vince was high as hell on Johnson & Mero but it all went to sh*t for them.
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Post by k5 on Sept 17, 2020 9:14:23 GMT -5
last great segment he was involved with...
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Rog
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Aug 18, 2007 17:12:04 GMT -5
Posts: 429
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Post by Rog on Sept 17, 2020 10:31:29 GMT -5
I think we can all agree though; dude hit a mean looking tiger driver
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
Posts: 2,311
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Post by jason1980s on Sept 17, 2020 12:44:15 GMT -5
Ron Simmons deserves a lot of blame for his career getting killed early on. Even as a kid I could tell him kicking Ahmed was way too much for what you normally saw on TV but...That's just Ron being Ron, he's paid his dues, a locker room leader so IT's OK. It's all Ahmed's fault for not being able to take it from a respected veteran like Ron, right???
Poor Ahmed was never the same. He was definitely put on a high pedestal by Vince McMahon and up until the injury from Ron he was succeeding. I think over time with the Rock and Austin and better wrestlers and talkers coming in he would have gone down on the card but who really would know if it weren't for the injury. You could tell how much disdain Jim Ross had for him (and Vader) in the 1998 Rumble. JR would talk up even the worst, most useless and worthless workers but he had nothing much to say about either guy and what he did say wasn't very positive, especially Ahmed.
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TheXtremisT
Main Eventer
10 Year Member
This is the way
Joined on: May 3, 2008 8:03:15 GMT -5
Posts: 3,875
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Post by TheXtremisT on Sept 17, 2020 14:19:23 GMT -5
Ron Simmons deserves a lot of blame for his career getting killed early on. Even as a kid I could tell him kicking Ahmed was way too much for what you normally saw on TV but...That's just Ron being Ron, he's paid his dues, a locker room leader so IT's OK. It's all Ahmed's fault for not being able to take it from a respected veteran like Ron, right??? Poor Ahmed was never the same. He was definitely put on a high pedestal by Vince McMahon and up until the injury from Ron he was succeeding. I think over time with the Rock and Austin and better wrestlers and talkers coming in he would have gone down on the card but who really would know if it weren't for the injury. You could tell how much disdain Jim Ross had for him (and Vader) in the 1998 Rumble. JR would talk up even the worst, most useless and worthless workers but he had nothing much to say about either guy and what he did say wasn't very positive, especially Ahmed. That was literally one of the reasons I made this thread. Just watched the Rumble that year and he s*** all over him. Which stuck out for JR like you said. I knew then and there they didn;t want him in the company any more. |
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Retrospect
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 20, 2019 16:39:04 GMT -5
Posts: 1,059
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Post by Retrospect on Sept 17, 2020 15:19:15 GMT -5
I’ve been rewatching the MNW for the past couple years and I’m up to mid 99 right now. I was disappointed with Ahmed in 97-98. I liked him back when he was feuding with the nation but when he joined them I felt like he lost all of his steam. And I’m not even going to comment on that failed WCW run he had as Harlem Heats 3rd brother or whatever it was.
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on Sept 17, 2020 19:18:16 GMT -5
Ron Simmons deserves a lot of blame for his career getting killed early on. Even as a kid I could tell him kicking Ahmed was way too much for what you normally saw on TV but...That's just Ron being Ron, he's paid his dues, a locker room leader so IT's OK. It's all Ahmed's fault for not being able to take it from a respected veteran like Ron, right??? Poor Ahmed was never the same. He was definitely put on a high pedestal by Vince McMahon and up until the injury from Ron he was succeeding. I think over time with the Rock and Austin and better wrestlers and talkers coming in he would have gone down on the card but who really would know if it weren't for the injury. You could tell how much disdain Jim Ross had for him (and Vader) in the 1998 Rumble. JR would talk up even the worst, most useless and worthless workers but he had nothing much to say about either guy and what he did say wasn't very positive, especially Ahmed. That was literally one of the reasons I made this thread. Just watched the Rumble that year and he s*** all over him. Which stuck out for JR like you said. I knew then and there they didn;t want him in the company any more. Do you remember after he got eliminated, Kama was entering and he pushed Johnston as they walked past on the ramp? I wonder if he had heat with the other wrestlers too. |
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