Vince McMahon allegedly wanted former IC Champion to win the WWE Championship
Former WWE Superstar Ahmed Johnson says Vince McMahon originally planned to make him the WWE Champion in the 1990s.
Johnson, who worked for WWE from 1995 to 1998, won the Intercontinental Championship in 1996 but he never held the WWE Championship. He was supposed to challenge for the title after SummerSlam 1996. However, a kidney injury prevented a possible match against Shawn Michaels from taking place.
Speaking on Pro Wrestling Defined, Johnson claimed McMahon wanted him to win the WWE Championship before his departure in 1998:
“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.”
In January 2021, WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard confirmed that Johnson was considered a potential WWE Champion. However, he said the former WWE Superstar was never promised a run with the title.
Reason why Vince McMahon removed Ahmed Johnson from The Nation of Domination
Ahmed Johnson is arguably best remembered by WWE fans for his rivalry with the legendary Nation of Domination faction. In June 1997, he briefly became a member of The Nation before being removed from the group after just six weeks.
According to the former WWE Intercontinental Champion, Vince McMahon thought The Nation lacked believable opponents after recruiting Johnson:
“That Nation, when I got on there, there was me, Faarooq, Kama, and The Rock, and it was just too much power, man, for one team. Maybe after, I think a month, he called me to the office and said he’s gonna take me out The Nation because he didn’t have anybody that could go [against them]. I was like, ‘Okay.’ I was the only one he believed in that could make people believe that I could fight against The Nation, so he pulled me out of it.”
Johnson competed in his final WWE match in February 1998 at No Way Out of Texas: In Your House. He joined forces with Ken Shamrock and The Disciples of Apocalypse to defeat The Nation of Domination.
Please credit Pro Wrestling Defined and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.