Norris was born in Kokomo, Indiana, on June 6, 1963, growing up in Auburndale, Florida, before moving to Texas.[8][9][10] He endured a harsh childhood, where his father abused his mother regularly and abused him as well if he intervened, he states.[8]
Norris made his first appearance on July 15, 1995, wrestling on a house show in Houston, Texas. Competing as Tony Norris he defeated Rico Suave.[13] After being signed and given the ring name "Ahmed Johnson", he made his pre-television debut at In Your House 3 on September 24, 1995, in Saginaw, Michigan. Wrestling as a face, Johnson beat Skip in a non-televised match. His televised debut
came on the October 23, 1995, episode of Raw. Prior to his first televised match, he appeared at the end of a Raw taping by entering a post-match brawl and slamming Yokozuna. He made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series, as the team of Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and Dean Douglas took on the team of Johnson, Shawn Michaels, Sid, and The British Bulldog. In the end, Johnson, Michaels, and Bulldog won the match as the survivors of their team, with Johnson eliminating both Owen Hart and Yokozuna by pinfall. At Season's Beatings on December 17, Johnson defeated Buddy Landel (who replaced Dean Douglas) in only 42 seconds.
After the match, Johnson was interviewed by Jerry Lawler, at which time Lawler distracted him in order for Jeff Jarrett to attack him, starting a feud between the two in the process. At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Johnson defeated Jarrett by disqualification after Jarrett struck him with a guitar (causing Johnson to be hospitalized for a concussion). At WrestleMania XII, Camp Cornette (Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog) took on the team of Johnson, Yokozuna, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Camp Cornette won when Vader pinned Roberts with the Vader Bomb. At Good Friends, Better Enemies on April 28, Roberts and Johnson teamed up to take on Hart and Bulldog. While Jim Cornette had the referee distracted, Bulldog hit him in the knee with Cornette's tennis racket; he then forced Roberts to submit with a single leg Boston crab. After the match, Roberts and Johnson attempted to put Roberts' python, Revelations, on Cornette, but Hart pulled Cornette out of the ring. Johnson's first accomplishment came when he won the first WWF Kuwait Cup Tournament held on May 12, 1996, in Kuwait City. He defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the finals to become its very first winner.[14]
Intercontinental Champion (1996)
At King of the Ring, Johnson defeated Goldust to win the Intercontinental Championship.[15][16] As the first African American Intercontinental Champion, most assumed it was only a matter of time before he climbed to main event status. He was soon paired on-screen with Shawn Michaels in several tag team matches and often helped Michaels against Jim Cornette and his men, known as Camp Cornette. At International Incident, Johnson, along with Sycho Sid and Michaels, lost to Vader, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog.[17]
On the July 22 edition of Raw, Michaels and Johnson teamed again and challenged The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) for the Tag Team Championship. During the match, Faarooq Asad debuted and attacked Johnson.[18] This was supposed to lead to a match at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Title. On August 5 edition of Raw, Johnson won an 11-man battle royal, last eliminating the man whom he beat for the Intercontinental title, Goldust, to be the #1 contender for the WWF Championship for the day after SummerSlam.[18] However, Johnson was diagnosed with legitimatekidney problems, and was forced to miss both SummerSlam and his scheduled WWF Championship match the following night.[1]
As a result, he was out for four months and in order to keep the angle going, the attack by Faarooq was said to be the cause of the kidney damage.[1] The news was made public on WWF programming by incorporating it into the 11-man battle royal which Johnson won. Voice-over commentary was added so that Johnson's participation in the battle royal was said to be against doctors' orders, when in reality his kidney problem had yet to be discovered at the time of taping. The injury forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship, which was subsequently won in a tournament by Marc Mero.[1]
In June 1997, Johnson turned on WWF ChampionThe Undertaker and joined the New Nation, with Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown, and Faarooq.[18] Johnson was injured soon after this; he was scheduled to face Undertaker at Canadian Stampede for the WWF Title, but was plagued by injuries and was replaced by Vader.
The Nation turned on him after he recovered and returned in August 1997, replacing him with Rocky Maivia, which resulted in Johnson turningface once more. He restarted his feud with the Nation, and would reunite with the Legion of Doom as well as join forces with Ken Shamrock during the feud. At Survivor Series 1997, they defeated the Nation in a Survivor Series match.[23]
While still in Texas, Johnson was booked to appear in a segment with The Truth Commission where he was to be beaten and dragged up the entrance ramp.[25] Unbeknownst to WWF management, Johnson's sister - an avid fan of the WWF - was battling cancer. Johnson knew his sister watched the WWF each week and didn't want her to have the image of her brother being beaten and dragged by the neck while she was gravely ill. According to Johnson, 15 minutes before he was scheduled for the match which would end in his being attacked, he received a call that his sister was "doing really bad" and that he should come immediately to her hospital in Florida. Johnson then met with Vince McMahon and told him he "had some things to deal with" and immediately left WWF and flew to Florida, where his sister died the following week. Johnson has stated subsequently that he did not tell WWF management the reason for his departure at the time because he "didn't like to burden people with his problems" and didn't want to give the impression that he was "telling them something for sympathy".[25][26] In a July 2021 interview, Johnson for the first time also made claims that racism was another reason for his departure saying, "There was a family issue that needed my attention, but, on top of that, there were other things going on behind scenes that didn't sit right with me. I started noticing a lot of racism going on. It called me not wanting to be there, and back off".[27]
Norris stayed away from wrestling after his release from WCW until he wrestled his return match for Arlington, Texas, based Professional Championship Wrestling in 2002 against Jared Steele. He wrestled his final match in 2003 in a tag team match for Maximum Pro Wrestling, teaming with Monty Brown in a losing effort against Sabu and Gangrel.
In July 2016, Norris was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[30] US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.[31]
^ abcde"Ahmed Johnson's Bio". Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
^ abc"Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 1996: 5 Ahmend Johnson". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. September 28, 1996. p. 29. October 1996.
^ abcCawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 2: WWF 1990 - 1999. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ASINB00RWUNSRS.
^ abcdeCawthon, Graham (2015). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 5: World Championship Wrestling 1995-2001. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN978-1499656343.
