10 Things You Learn Re-Watching The First Ever Episode Of Raw Is War
8. Race War
The never-ending feud between Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson would reach a climax of sorts at WrestleMania 13, with Johnson enlisting the help of the Legion of Doom for a 'Chicago Street Fight' against the Nation of Domination.
Before the storyline dragged on way past it's natural expiration, the promos between the hated rivals were particularly spirited, but the racially charged language remains jarring when watched 20 years later.
For all the criticisms levied at the overwrought PG product of 2017, segments such as this justify tighter controls on what talent say to one another in the heat of verbal battles.
Taking a closer look at Ahmed's easy squash of Tony Roy, The Nation failed to intimidate Johnson from the stage, but Faarooq's words cut deeper, referring to Ahmed as an 'Uncle Tom', using the remark to suggest 'The Pearl River Powerhouse' was subservient and in favour of anti-black oppression by WWE's corporate enslavement.
Ahmed returned fire, referring to Faarooq as 'charcoal', which has Arabic ties to a slur against mixed-race people.
Though loosely related to the tension between the pair on television, it felt a needlessly ugly attachment to the angle in a failed bit to stir up controversy.