Professional wrestling legend and a former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson who is also a former USWA Unified World Heavyweight champion recently made a claim that Shawn Michaels stopped him from becoming World Champion in WWE.
Ahmed Johnson was presented as one of the next big things in WWE during the pre Attitude Era of WWE. He signed with WWE in 1995 after spending six years in different promotion. From the very first day he had been presented as a big threat in the roster. He had an excellent physic, and the way he was booked, he became an instant fan favourite.
Ahmed Johnson Claims Shawn Michaels Stopped His Push In WWE
He had been always treated as an upper mid card star who could have been a real threat for the world championship as well. His feud with the Nation of Domination became really famous during that time. He even won the WWE Intercontinental championship after he defeated Goldust at King of the Ring 1996.
But the only problem was the constant complaint of his opponents that he was really not that good in the ring to work with. It is still believed that Ahmed Johnson was one of the most dangerous man to work with in the ring. WWE tried to push him throughout the time he was with the promotion. But at the end it was not working. In 1998 he was released from his WWE contract.
Ahmed Johnson who is also a former USWA Unified World Heavyweight champion recently spoke to the Iron-On-Wrestling podcast where he made a claim that Shawn Michaels stopped him from becoming World Champion in WWE. He said;
“In the beginning, I really thought that he was behind me and going to give me this great push, but as I went on, I found out it wasn’t Vince that didn’t want to give me the world title, it was other wrestlers like Shawn Michaels. They didn’t want to see me pushed that high.
“’I don’t know [why], personal reasons? I was green, I’ll say that. I was still green and learning, but I think I was ready for the world title shot. Because Shawn had the belt and everything, he basically got to pick who he was going against, he was running the show back then and he was basically picking who was going against him.
“From my understanding, what I heard, he didn’t think it was time for a black man to be World’s Champion. I didn’t hear him say that when I was Intercontinental Champion and popping the house everywhere we went.”
H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.