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WWE once viewed Ahmed Johnson as a future potential main event star and world champion. Vince McMahon loved the look and athletic background of Johnson. This was usually enough for a talent to get on WCW’s radar in the Monday Night Wars. Both companies were aggressive, but WCW loved to add any former WWE name with relevance.
Johnson signed a deal with WCW a few years after his WWE tenure ended in disappointment. Big T was the name used for Ahmed with a fresh chance at trying to rebuild his career. Unfortunately, this turned into a huge mistake for both parties. WCW couldn’t get much out of Johnson and his career suffered with a brief and lackluster run.
Ahmed Johnson Joined WCW After Being Released By WWE
Ahmed Johnson had a shocking and unexpected end to his WWE career after spending so much time getting pushed. Vince McMahon viewed Johnson as one of his building blocks with huge moments like winning the Intercontinental Championship, feuding with the Nation of Domination, and even teaming with top face Shawn Michaels. The hope was that fans would not only rally behind him but have that organic connection building.
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WWE did find some success with the start of Johnson’s push as a new fan favorite. However, it was a combination of his lack of progression and various injuries that caused a decline. WWE even tried turning Ahmed heel to join his former enemies in the Nation of Domination to try to rebuild his momentum, but that failed as well.
The end of the road for Johnson in WWE saw him dealing with personal problems of his sister battling cancer. Ahmed didn’t want to take part in an embarrassing segment that would upset her and informed Vince he needed time off. WWE released Johnson when he didn’t properly explain the situation and they viewed this as another issue. Ahmed tried to rebuild his career by reaching out to WCW in 1999.
Ahmed Johnson Had A Horrible WCW Run
WCW had one noteworthy storyline that they used to both introduce Ahmed Johnson and play into the end of Harlem Heat. The new name of Big T saw Johnson now uniting with Stevie Ray to form Harlem Heat 2000 after the previous legendary duo broke up. Booker T getting more singles opportunities and becoming a fan favorite saw Stevie eventually growing jealous.
The reveal of Big T saw him playing a family friend of Booker and Stevie from the Harlem neighborhood in their kayfabe backstory. Booker was attacked by Big T, claiming he sold out by looking for individual success over the family run together. The angle somehow turned into them feuding over which would get to keep the rights of the letter T in their name.
Big T scoring the victory saw Booker having to drop the T for a short while. WCW tried to push Stevie and Big T in the tag division since the previous Harlem Heat was an all-time great team with ten tag title reigns. Fans never got behind them and Johnson looked worse than ever. The same issues from the WWE run emerged with weak matches and weaker promos. Ahmed’s conditioning was far worse as well to deliver another blow to his last chance.
WCW Released Ahmed Johnson In 2000
The relationship between Ahmed Johnson and WCW started to sour after a few months when the company felt they weren’t getting what they paid for. Johnson having weight issues was the rumored reason why WCW wanted to give up on their idea of him as a rebuilding project so quickly. Harlem Heat 2000 flopping didn’t help things since it showed the audience didn’t care for him.
WCW was struggling so badly from 1999 to 2000 that they had to make decisions on the fly. Ahmed was released in mid-2000 after less than a year on the roster. Stevie Ray moved to commentary and took part in singles action since Booker’s singles push was reaching new heights. Big T was a footnote in their history that rubbed both Harlem Heat members the wrong way.
Life after WCW saw Johnson wrestling just six matches on the independent circuit before retiring. Ahmed’s weight gain made it harder for him to keep wrestling, and he changed career paths. The peak of Johnson’s career was clearly the WWE push, but the WCW run could have saved things. Harlem Heat 2000 was a terrible idea and Ahmed unfortunately proved he could not perform at a high level in his final chance at a long wrestling career.
