Bruce Prichard On His Early Impressions Of Ahmed Johnson In WWE, What Held Ahmed Back From Being Huge Star

In a recent edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed his early impressions of Ahmed Johnson in WWE, what held Ahmed back from being a huge star, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Bruce Prichard on his early impressions of Ahmed Johnson in WWE and Ahmed’s star power: “When you look at everything that was available at the time and you look at new and fresh talent, and not even necessarily new but fresh and different – Ahmed was fresh and different. Ahmed had an animal magnetism about him that made him unique and stand out from the crowd. He was real, man. When Ahmed came in, you felt him come in. He could come out as No Name Smith, and people go, ‘Fuck, look at ‘ol No Name.’ He would grab people’s attention on his presence alone.”

On some talent not wanting to work with Ahmed: “I think when the bell rang, a lot of times you could hear guys say, ‘Oh man, I don’t want to work with Ahmed.’ Ahmed was snug. Ahmed was clumsy. Ahmed was green and still needed work. You take that, and you try to learn him. All the way down from Ultimate Warrior to Sid, there were a lot of guys and you try to work through that. But without any doubt, I think there was a lot of talent, just by looking at Ahmed, didn’t want to get hit with any of those clotheslines or tackles.”

On Ahmed hurting some of his opponents: “I don’t Ahmed intentionally hurt anybody. I think it was lack of schooling and lack of knowing the right way of doing some things. A lot of times you’ll think you’re getting a skilled performer, when in reality, you’re getting someone that hasn’t done a whole lot.”

On The Rock and Ahmed nearly getting in a fight backstage: “It was in the dressing room, and Ahmed was complaining about something. Rock just kind of basically, ‘If you wanna go, let’s go.’ Ahmed backed down. And nobody was stopping anybody in that one. I was there in the dressing room for that, but again, there’s a lot of that much ado about nothing.”

On what held Ahmed back from being a huge star in WWE: “I don’t think [Ahmed] was a bad guy. I really don’t. I think he was a little misunderstood, and I think he was a very defensive person in that he was someone that always thought everyone was against him. Whether there were signs of it or not, he would make signs. But when you would get one on one with him and just talk to Tony [Ahmed’s real name] and not Ahmed, he was a sweetheart of a guy. Didn’t really understand the business as well as he thought he did, but to me, it was sad. He had all the tools. He had the “it” factor and had enough about him that he could’ve been a huge star if it weren’t for his own doing. It just was a shame because I think he could’ve been a big star.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.