Ahmed Johnson isn’t sugarcoating what happened with Ron Simmons at WrestleMania 13.
While speaking to Inside the Ropes, Johnson says he walked into the Chicago Street Fight looking for payback, and when the opportunity came, he deliberately tried to hurt Simmons. The bad blood started months earlier after Simmons attacked Johnson during an angle and kicked him in the kidney. Johnson said he trusted Simmons because he was a veteran, opened up the entire right side of his body for the planned attack and then got drilled with everything Simmons had.
“We were supposed to do an angle where I go outside the ring after I win, and he’s supposed to attack me. So I knew that. I was like, ‘Well, this is a veteran. He’s been in the business for a while, so I’m going to open my body up to him,’ which means I opened up my whole right side to him. And then he came, man, and he kicked me with everything he had.”
The kidney injury forced Johnson out of action for roughly four months and wiped out his scheduled Intercontinental Championship match against Simmons at SummerSlam. Johnson also claimed Simmons later admitted that jealousy played a role in how hard he delivered the kick.
“I had never met him before. And Ron—the thing I liked about Ron was he was a man about it. On one of his podcasts, he said that he was really jealous of me. That’s why he kicked me in my kidney like he did. After we got over that initial hump, I found out he was a great guy, man.”
By the time WrestleMania 13 arrived, Johnson had not forgotten what happened. He teamed with Hawk and Animal against Simmons and the Nation of Domination in a Chicago Street Fight, and Johnson admitted he used the match to collect a receipt.
“At WrestleMania, I got him back when me and the Road Warriors teamed up. I got him, man, and I put him through some tables, and I was trying to hurt him. I’ll be honest. He hurt me. I was just getting my receipt.”
Johnson said the retaliation caused serious damage. According to him, the Pearl River Plunge through a table broke Simmons’ ribs and caused one of those ribs to puncture his lung.
“I got mad and gave him the Pearl River Plunge on that table, and it broke his ribs. One of his ribs punctured his lung. So we both put each other in the hospital.”
Johnson also said some wrestlers backstage thought he crossed the line, but Vince McMahon had no problem with what happened because it took place in a street fight. The situation between Johnson and Simmons went far beyond a standard wrestling rivalry. One man suffered a kidney injury, the other ended up with broken ribs and a punctured lung, and Johnson now openly admits the WrestleMania damage was intentional.
What do you make of Ahmed Johnson admitting he purposely tried to hurt Ron Simmons at WrestleMania 13? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
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