#AhmedWeek: A Series of If…Whats

If Ahmed didn’t get hurt after earning a title shot after Summerslam ‘96 what would have happened to his career?

While this isn’t as depressing as the next question (these questions are all depressing, actually), Ahmed’s “kidney issues” (supposedly a result of Ron Simmons potatoing him because of some professional jealousy issues) were the most vivid reminder of the fragility of human existence most of can remember as children.

It also was the first instance in what would be a recurring theme in Ahmed’s career: a Greg Oden-esque inability to stay healthy. Like an athlete in a “real” sport, once you are considered injury prone (see: Sin Cara), the likelihood of ever getting another major push decreases ever so slightly. One can earn points back with the front office, but given that it’s a continuous show with almost no days off, not being able to be relied upon because of injury issues is only slightly above “drugs” or “sucking”, with being unsafe the worst of the bunch.

But, on the positive side, he was given another chance at a title match the following year, which shows how much faith they had in the character.

If Ahmed didn’t get hurt after joining the Nation of Domination what would have happened at Canadian Stampede?

This usually won’t happen, but for such a star-crossed career, “if Ahmed didn’t get hurt” was pretty much the theme of Ahmed’s career.

It’s unlikely that Ahmed would have beaten Taker, given that they were building towards the Hart-Michaels feud — Michaels cost Taker the title at SummerSlam, and would face Hart at the Survivor Series in Montreal that year… yes, that Survivor Series in Montreal — but him actually getting a main event title shot may have changed the entire direction of his career.

This run had the potential to be fantastic, and this is far and away the best that Johnson ever sounded on the mic, but as always, injuries derailed poor Ahmed before he ever had a chance to get out of the gate. When you compound this with the fact they turned him face again even with such a great heel character to play up the “babyface returning from injury” angle, and him being replaced by The Rock (which Dave spoke about during yesterday’s Essential Viewing) it’s clear that this was THE turning point in his career.

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