Former IC Champ says Vince McMahon erased him from WWE history
Vince McMahon is never afraid to speak his mind, especially when a WWE Superstar refuses to do something asked of them. In a recent interview, Ahmed Johnson recalled how his former boss allegedly threatened to erase him from history if he walked out before a show.
The incident took place in February 1998 before an episode of RAW. McMahon wanted Johnson to lose to Truth Commission member Kurrgan, but The Pearl River Powerhouse refused to participate in the match and left the building.
On Monte & The Pharaoh, Johnson said his historic Intercontinental Championship win in 1996 has largely been forgotten due to McMahon's issue with his exit:
"I think it is being overlooked. One reason because Vince is still mad at me for when I left. Second reason, he told me that he was gonna erase me from history." [6:16 – 6:28]
The biggest win of Johnson's career came at King of the Ring 1996 when he defeated Dustin Rhodes, aka Goldust. In doing so, he became the first African-American to hold the Intercontinental Championship.
Ahmed Johnson disliked Vince McMahon's idea
Many claim Ahmed Johnson walked out simply because he did not want to lose to Kurrgan. However, the former WWE Superstar says there is a lot more to the story.
On This Day in Wrestling History - Ahmed Johnson made his WWF debut 27 years ago today (10/23/95) https://t.co/I6LwGgzQJF
According to Johnson, he quit WWE that day because Vince McMahon wanted him to be "hung from a rope" as part of a storyline:
"The Truth Commission was from South Africa, supposedly, and he wanted me to go out and let them hang me with a rope on national television. I know it's fake, I know it's not real, but still, I just thought about how many little kids I would affect with that, me being hung from a rope. So, we got into a little backstage argument and I just grabbed my stuff and I left." [6:48 – 7:16]
Johnson added that Vince McMahon would likely only have allowed him to work for WWE again if he asked for his job back. The 60-year-old went on to appear in WCW in 1999 and 2000 before retiring from wrestling in 2003.
What are your thoughts on Ahmed Johnson's career? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Monte & The Pharaoh and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.