Anthony Norris (born June 6, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1995 to 1998, under the ring name Ahmed Johnson. He was one of the most prominent stars in the WWF in the early Attitude Era. In the WWF, he held the WWF Intercontinental Championship, making him the first African American to win a singles championship in the WWF. He also headlined the In Your House 9: International Incident pay-per-view event. Norris was born in Indiana, on June 6, 1963, growing up Auburn, Florida and Pearl River, Mississippi before moving to Texas. While attending high school, he performed well at American football, basketball, amateur wrestling, and track and field. Professional wrestling career Early career (1989–1995) Norris trained as a professional wrestler 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 (GWF) in 1993 as Moadib. In 1995 he worked for NWA Dallas, feuding with John Hawk for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. He also toured Japan that year with Big Japan Pro Wrestling. World Wrestling Federation Debut (1995–1996) Norris made his first appearance on July 15, 1995, wrestling on a house show in Houston, TX. Competing as Tony Norris he defeated Rico Suave. After being signed and given the ring name "Ahmed Johnson", he made his pre-television debut at In Your House 3 on September 24, 1995, in Saginaw, MI. Wrestling as a face, Johnson beat Skip in a non-televised match. His televised debut came 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, Sid, and The British Bulldog. In the end, Johnson, Michaels, and Bulldog won the match as the survivors of their team, with Johnson eliminating both Owen Hart and Yokozuna by pinfall. 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