10 Wrestlers Who Were Recklessly Dangerous

1. Ahmed Johnson

CM Punk Ryback
WWE Network

Ahmed Johnson was absolutely f*cking brilliant at just about everything he needed to secure iconic status in WWE - he just couldn't stay fit.

One only needs to randomly select literally any of his matches from 1995 through to his mid-1996 kidney injury to understand why Vince McMahon went gooey for the hugely popular star. Built like a tank, Ahmed could fly around with the pace of a man half his size, scream and holler with intensity of a cinematic Hollywood hero and cut completely garbled, unintelligible promos that still concluded with audiences going wild for what little catchphrase they were able to cling on to.

Tiny caveat. He was a threat to himself and everybody around him.

When Ahmed wasn't flattening foes thanks to a complete disrespect for wrestling's uniquely sweet science, he was near-killing himself instead. The aforementioned kidney knock in '96 kicked off a run of injuries that never ended as long as he was employed by WWE. When he wasn't wiping up blood spat out due to his internal injuries with a bandaged hand, he was adding so many elbow and knee pads that his bloated frame resembled a human soft play. If only the landings were as safe.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett