Anthony Norris

Anthony Norris
Ring name(s)	Ahmed Johnson[1][2] Big T.[1][2] Moadib[1][2] Night Breeder[3] Siva[3] Tony Norris[2]
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Billed weight	305 lb (138 kg)[1]
Born	June 6, 1970 (1970-06-06) (age 41)[1] Kokomo, Indiana[3]
Resides	Dallas, Texas[1]
Billed from	Pearl River, Mississippi[1][2]
Trained by	Skandor Akbar[3] Ivan Putski[1] Steve Casey[1]
Debut	1989[3]
Retired	2003[3]

Anthony "Tony" Norris (born June 6, 1970), better known by his ring name, Ahmed Johnson, is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation, where he is a one time Intercontinental Champion and the first-ever winner of the Kuwait Cup.

Professional wrestling career

Global Wrestling Federation (1994–1995)

After a brief career as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys,^[3] Norris began training under Skandor Akbar, Scott Casey and Ivan Putski. After making his debut in 1989, he competed on the independent circuit for the next few years before debuting in the Global Wrestling Federation in 1994 as Moadib.^[2] He was part of Akbar's heel stable Devastation, Inc. Norris gained the interest of Michael Hayes after knocking out a fan who assaulted him in Houston. Hayes told Norris after the incident he would tell Vince McMahon and the WWF about him and Hayes made good.

World Wrestling Federation (1995–1998)

Ahmed Johnson (1995)

Norris made his WWF debut as a face under the ring name Ahmed Johnson 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, Sycho Sid, and The British Bulldog. In the end, Johnson, Michaels, and Bulldog won the match as the survivors of their team. 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 (Ahmed got taken to the Hospital because of a concussion from the guitar). At WrestleMania XII, Camp Cornette (Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog) took on the team of Yokozuna, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Ahmed Johnson. Camp Cornette won when Vader pinned Roberts with the Vader Bomb. At Good Friends, Better Enemies on April 28, Roberts and Ahmed 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 Ahmed attempted to put Roberts' python, Revelations, on Cornette, but Hart pulled Cornette out of the ring.

Intercontinental Champion (1996)

At King of the Ring, Johnson defeated Goldust to win the Intercontinental Championship.^[4][5] 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.^[6] On the August 5 edition of Raw, Ahmed won an 11-man battle royal, last eliminating the man whom he beat for the IC title, Goldust to be the #1 contender for the WWF Championship for the day after SummerSlam.^[7]

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.^[8] This was supposed to lead to a match at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Title. However, Johnson was diagnosed with legitimate kidney problems, and was forced to miss the event.^[1] As a result, he was out for four months and in order to keep the angle going, the attack by Farooq was said to be the cause of the kidney damage.^[1] By the time the news was made public on WWF programming, the third (out of four) showings of Raw from Seattle taped on the same night as the attack had not been broadcast, and it included the 11-man battle royal which Johnson won. Voice-over correction was done so that Ahmed's participation in the battle royal was said to be against doctors' orders when in reality his kidney problem had yet to be discovered. The injury forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship, which was subsequently won in a tournament by Marc Mero. The title shot the day after Summerslam was given to the runner-up of the battle royal, Goldust.^[1]

Feuding with the Nation of Domination and Departure (1997–1998)

Main article: Nation of Domination

He returned to enter a feud with Faarooq in 1997 (who had a new gimmick and formed the Nation of Domination). Finally, the two had an encounter at Royal Rumble 1997, where Johnson won by disqualification.^[9] Two days later, Johnson and The Undertaker defeated Faarooq and Nation member Crush in a No Holds Barred match at the Triple Threat event.^[10] He began teaming with the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and the three fought the entire Nation at WrestleMania 13 in a Chicago Street Fight.^[11] At A Cold Day In Hell, he defeated Crush and Savio Vega in a gauntlet match before losing to Faarooq.^[12]

Johnson eventually turned on WWF Champion The Undertaker and joined the New Nation, with Kama Mustafa, D'Lo Brown, and Faarooq.^[13] 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 September 1997, which resulted in Johnson turning face 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.^[14] His last WWF appearance was at the pay-per-view No Way Out of Texas in February 1998, alongside Shamrock and the Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball) against the Nation.^[15] A popular story goes that Norris walked off the set of a Raw Is War in March 1998 due to his refusal to lose a match to Kurrgan.^[16] However, in later interviews Norris confirmed he left to console his sister while she was suffering from cancer. She died three days after he left the WWF. However, WWE insiders say the reason for his release was because he was injuring too many wrestlers in the ring.^[17]

World Championship Wrestling (2000)

Main article: Harlem Heat 2000

In late 1999, Norris signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling and debuted at Souled Out as a heel named Big T. He interfered in a match between Harlem Heat tag team partners and real-life brothers, Booker T and Stevie Ray. He attacked Booker, causing Ray to be disqualified.^[18] Big T and Stevie formed the tag team Harlem Heat 2000.^[18][19] At SuperBrawl, he defeated Booker to earn the rights to the Harlem Heat name.^[20] At Uncensored, he and Stevie lost to Booker and Billy Kidman.^[21] At Spring Stampede, they participated in a 5-team 10-man tag team tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, where they lost to the eventual winners Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell in the semi-finals of the tournament.^[22] He was released by WCW shortly afterwards due to ongoing weight issues.

Retirement

Norris stayed away from wrestling after his release from WCW until he wrestled his return match for Professional Championship Wrestling in 2002 against Jake 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. Since retiring, Norris began working for Booker T and Stevie Ray's Pro Wrestling Alliance wrestling school.^[3]

Media

Television appearances

• Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) in episode "Unfinished Business" as Bruno^[23]

Acting career

• Witness to the Execution (1994) as Reggie Foster^[23]
• Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story (2001) as Marion "Suge" Knight.^[1][23]

Personal life

Norris has a daughter named Nina.^[24]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Pearl River Plunge (Sitout double underhook powerbomb)^[1][25]

• Signature moves
  • Brainbuster^[1]
  • Spinebuster^[1]

• Managers
  • Clarence Mason / J. Biggs^[26]
  • Cash / Kash^[26]

• Nicknames
  • "The Pearl River Powerhouse"^[3]

• Entrance themes
  • "Pearl River Rip" by Jim Johnston (WWF)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #5 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996^[27]
  • PWI ranked him #380 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
  • PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1996)^[2]

• Texas All-Pro Wrestling
  • TAP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[28]

• United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[29][30]

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[31]
  • Kuwait Cup (1996)^[32]
  • Slammy Award for New Sensation of the Squared Circle (1996)^[33]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} "Ahmed Johnson's Profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/a/ahmed-johnson.html. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Ahmed Johnson's Bio". Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster. http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/ajohnson.html. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Cagematch profile". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=618&name=Ahmed+Johnson. 
4. ^ "King of the Ring 1996 results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/kingring.html#96. Retrieved May 20, 2008. 
5. ^ "Ahmed Johnson's first Intercontinental Championship reign". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/322520. Retrieved May 20, 2008. 
6. ^ "International Incident results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/miscppvs1990s.html#9. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
7. ^ Podsiadlik, Kevin (August 5, 1996). "WWF Raw: August 5, 1996". The Other Arena. http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1996/raw080596. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "Raw Invitational Battle Royale (for a WWF title shot) involving: Bradshaw, Bulldog, Austin, Vega, Owen Hart, Mero, Mankind, Ahmed, Goldust, Sid, and Undertaker. At the last second, Goldie's feet catch Ahmed, and send him over the top rope. Well, no, as one of the participants managed to hook his legs over the top rope, thus saving himself while the other crashed to the floor. And your winner is.... Ahmed Johnson" ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Podsiadlik, Kevin (July 22, 1996). "WWF Raw: July 22, 1996". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080212225059/http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1996/raw072296. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "The Smoking Gunns (w/Sunny Gunn-Bodydonna-Godwinn and cake) vs. Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson (w/Jose Lethargio) for the WWF Tag Team championship. At this point, the only thing that can save us is a cheesy ending, and here he comes, in even cheesier headgear. This oddly-dressed fellow makes a beeline for Ahmed and starts putting the boot to him. This fellow, whose gimmick seems to be on a sort of Roman gladiator theme, tries ramming Ahmed's back into the ring post and comes within two feet of hitting the mark. Jerry Lawler, much to our surprise, correctly identifies the newcomer as Ron Simmons." 
9. ^ "Royal Rumble 1997 official results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/1988114111/results/. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
10. ^ "The Triple Threat results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/thetriplethreat.html. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
11. ^ "WrestleMania 13 official results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/history/wm13/results/. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
12. ^ "A Cold Day In Hell results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/miscppvs1990s.html#15. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
13. ^ Petrie, John (June 16, 1997). "Raw is War: June 16, 1997". The Other Arena. http://www.otherarena.com/htm/cgi-bin/history.cgi?1997/raw061697. Retrieved May 13, 2008. "Faarooq promises that the two new members of the Nation that he will be debuting tonight will be "bigger, better, badder, and blacker!" THE UNDERTAKER/AHMED JOHNSON (w/Paul Bearer) vs. FAAROOQ/KAMA MUSTAFA. Faarooq then calls in his newest NOD member: Kama Mustafa! Ahmed drops to the floor and shoves Paul Bearer down. Kama tags in and grabs him around the neck, applying a belly-to-belly suplex. He then covers for the upset pin, beating the current World Heavyweight Champion in his Nation of Domination debut. Ahmed climbs up the ramp and takes his rightful place alongside his Nation and raises his fist into the air." ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ "Survivor Series 1997 official results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/history/1997/results. Retrieved May 13, 2008. 
15. ^ "No Way Out 1998 official results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/nowayout/history/1998/results. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
16. ^ Da Wrestling Site – Wrestlemania XIII
17. ^ "Ahmed Johnson interview". http://www.wrestleview.com/faq/?style=light&article=ahmedjohnson. 
18. ^ ^{a b} "Souled Out 2000". PWWEW.net. http://www.pwwew.net/ppv/wcw/january/2000.htm. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "Booker T vs. Stevie Ray. During the match, a man comes out (he looks like the former Ahmed Johnson from the WWF with a few pounds put on) and attacks Booker T. The bell is rung. He says that he and Big T are the new Harlem Heat!" 
19. ^ "Harlem Heat profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/h/harlem-heat.html. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
20. ^ "Superbrawl 2000". PWWEW.net. http://www.pwwew.net/ppv/wcw/february/2000.htm. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "Booker vs. Big T. Big T does a "Pearl River Plunge" on Booker for the win" 
21. ^ "Uncensored 2000". PWWEW.net. http://www.pwwew.net/ppv/wcw/march/2000.htm. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "Booker & Kidman with Torrie vs. Harlem Heat 2000 with Jay Biggs and Cassius. Kidman does a Sunset Flip on Big T and gets the quick win" 
22. ^ "Spring Stampede 2000". PWWEW.net. http://www.pwwew.net/ppv/wcw/april/2000.htm. Retrieved May 23, 2008. "Harlem Heat 2000 vs. Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell Tag Team Tournament Match. After a Vertical Suplex by Shane, he pins Stevie Ray in this quick match to advance in the tournament" 
23. ^ ^{a b c} "IMDB profile". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0635911/. 
24. ^ "Ahmed Johnson: Found!". http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/07/03/1115819.html. 
25. ^ "WCW Nitro report on January 17, 2000". http://www.ddtdigest.com/updates/2000013m.htm. 
26. ^ ^{a b} "WCW Thunder report on March 8, 2000". http://www.ddtdigest.com/updates/2000031t.htm. 
27. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 1996". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50096.htm. Retrieved August 3, 2009. 
28. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
29. ^ "USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship history at Wrestling-Titles". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/uswa/uswa-uh.html. Retrieved May 20, 2008. 
30. ^ "USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship history at Solie". Solie's Title Histories. http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/uhtuswa.html. Retrieved May 20, 2008. 
31. ^ "WWE Intercontinental Championship history". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/intercontinental/. Retrieved May 19, 2008. 
32. ^ "WWF Kuwait Cup history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/kuwaitwwf.html. 
33. ^ "1996 Slammy Award winners". http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/slammy.html#96. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Tony Norris at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Norris, Anthony
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 6, 1970
Place of birth	Kokomo, Indiana
Date of death
Place of death