Any time somebody loses the title without having a match it always hurts. The ideal scenario for any title change is for the champion to put over a challenger by getting pinned or submitting. Doing what's "best for business" is what matters more than anything else. In the case of Ahmed Johnson, he won it at King of the Ring in June of 1996 from Goldust and then he had to forfeit it less than two months later. Johnson suffered from legitimate kidney injuries that caused him to miss about four months in the summer of 1996. In storyline, they said Faarooq was the one that injured his kidneys as a way to build him up as a heel. If Faarooq won the IC Title while Johnson was gone and then Johnson won it back from him it would have been a good storyline. Instead, that angle never took place. His kidney injury really derailed his career because when he came back he was never really the same because he wasn't able to capture the momentum he had as a babyface that was on the rise.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
