There was a period in 1996 where mush-mouthed muscleman Tony Ahmed Johnson Norris was one of the most popular superstars in the WWF. Exactly why he was popular is a matter for endless conjecture. He had size and intensity, but his promos were barely intelligible and not in an Ultimate Warrior sense - Johnson sounded like his tongue was too big for his mouth. Nevertheless, it was decided that he had the it factor, and crowd reactions to him definitely bore that out. On the same King Of The Ring pay-per-view that Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Jake The Snake Roberts to win the tournament and cut his notorious Austin 3:16 promo, Johnson received his own significant nudge towards the top when he defeated Goldust for the Intercontinental Championship, becoming the first African American to win a singles championship in the history of the company. It was his tendency to suffer injuries that hindered Johnsons chances at capturing the big belt - he never seemed to stay healthy for long, beginning with being forced to vacate the Intercontinental title due to kidney issues and going downhill from there. However, his weakness on the mic at the birth of the Attitude Era meant that a long stay on top would have been a minor miracle. As a babyface unable to make himself understood in promos, both Austin and The Rock would have run rings around him in 1997 and 1998. It's just as well Ahmed failed when he did.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
