Ahmed Johnson Anthony Norris ( born June 6 , 1970 ) is a former American professional wrestler known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Ahmed Johnson , where he was the first African - American to ever hold the WWF Intercontinental Championship . Career . Early Years ( 1993 - 1993 ) . After a brief career as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys , 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 1993 as Moadib . World Wrestling Federation ( 1995 - 1998 ) . Debut ( 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 Championship ( 1996 ) . At King of the Ring , Johnson defeated Goldust to win the Intercontinental Championship . 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 . 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 . This was supposed to lead to a match at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Title . 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 . However , Johnson was diagnosed with legitimate kidney problems , and was forced to miss SummerSlam , and his scheduled WWF Championship match the following night . 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 . By the time the news was made public on WWF programming 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 . Feud with the Nation of Domination and departure ( 1996 - 1998 ) . He returned in 1996 to enter a feud with Faarooq ( who by then had a new gimmick and formed his own stable , the Nation of Domination ) . Finally , the two had an encounter at Royal Rumble 1997 , where Johnson won by disqualification . Two days later , Johnson and The Undertaker defeated Faarooq and Nation member Crush in a No Holds Barred match at the Triple Threat event . 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 " . At A Cold Day in Hell , he defeated Crush and Savio Vega in a gauntlet match before losing to Faarooq . Johnson eventually in June 1997 , turned on WWF Champion The Undertaker and joined the New Nation , with Kama Mustafa , D ' Lo Brown , and Faarooq . 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 , 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 . 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 . World Championship Wrestling ( 2000 ) . In late 1999 , Norris signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling and debuted at Souled Out as a heel named Big T . He gained a massive amount of weight at this time , and was aptly named . 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 . Big T and Stevie formed the tag team Harlem Heat 2000 . At SuperBrawl , he defeated Booker to earn the rights to the Harlem Heat name . At Uncensored , he and Stevie lost to Booker and Billy Kidman . At Spring Stampede , they participated in a 5 - team 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 . 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 . Personal life . Though born in Kokomo , Indiana , Norris also grew up in Auburndale , Florida and Pearl River , Mississippi before taking up residence in Houston , Texas with his daughter Nina . He endured a harsh childhood , where his father abused his mother regularly and abused him if he intervened . While in high school , Norris excelled at football , basketball , amateur wrestling , and track and field . Norris attended the University of Tennessee from 1990 to 1991 , but left soon after to play for the Dallas Cowboys . After his stint with the Cowboys , Norris joined the United States Army , but was later discharged due to striking his captain over viewing his orders as " kind of cowardly . " After retiring from wrestling , Norris returned to college and earned a degree in criminology from Huston – Tillotson University .