5 things we learned from Ahmed Johnson's Sportskeeda interview

#4 Why Ahmed Johnson was removed from The Nation of Domination

Ahmed Johnson joined The Nation of Domination for a short period in 1997

After feuding with Farooq and The Nation of Domination in 1996 and 1997, Ahmed Johnson shocked the WWE Universe when he turned on then-WWE Champion The Undertaker and sided with The Nation in mid-1997, becoming a heel in the process.

The intention was for the turn on The Phenom to set up a WWE Championship match between The Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson at Canadian Stampede in 1997. Unfortunately, Ahmed would be struck down with a knee injury preventing the match between the two from taking place.

It was all about RESPECT when @therock joined the Nation of Domination.Stream this all-new episode of #WWETimeline anytime on the 🔓 Free Version 🔓 of @WWENetwork!▶️ https://t.co/y0CGBWMXek pic.twitter.com/AipccnXuRm

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) September 1, 2020

However, this alliance between Ahmed and The Nation was shortlived. After returning from a knee injury in August 1997, The Nation of Domination quickly turned on Ahmed Johnson, making The Pearl River Powerhouse a babyface once more.

When asked about his recollection of being part of The Nation of Domination, the former Intercontinental Champion revealed why WWE Chairman Vince McMahon felt that Ahmed Johnson needed to be removed from the faction, suggesting that it wasn't believable that the group could be defeated:

"It was good but it was too many powerhouses in one stack. Like Vince said, Vince called us all in the office and said, 'Ok Ahmed, I'm going to take you out of The Nation.' and we were like 'Why?' And he said, 'Because nobody's going to believe that you. Farooq, Mark Henry and The Rock can all be beat at one time.' You know who's going to beat that team there? I don't even think the 'heartbreak crew' could have done that."