AEW’s Lance Archer Reflects on the Impact of Working with Ahmed Johnson

During the ’90s, Ahmed Johnson emerged as a prominent figure in wrestling, with his name frequently surfacing in discussions about that era. Unfortunately, he developed a reputation for being difficult to work with, a topic he has openly addressed in the past.

AEW wrestler Lance Archer recently reminisced about his early career in PCW, where he was known as “Shadow,” and recounted his encounter with Johnson in 2002. “As a young kid on the roster, I was one of the biggest guys, and he wanted to work with me,” Archer recalled on an episode of “The Hawk’s Nest.”

He mentioned that Johnson personally selected him for a match and put him over. Given Johnson’s notorious reputation, Archer’s co-host inquired about his experience, prompting Archer to share a contrasting view of the veteran.

“Sadly, he has a reputation for being hard to work with. But when he came in wanting to work with me, it was a fantastic experience,” he stated. After his time in WWE, Johnson briefly appeared in WCW, where he teamed up with Stevie Ray to revive the Harlem Heat tag team.

However, he drew a comparison between the locker rooms of WCW and WWE, asserting that the talent in WCW were tougher than those he encountered in WWE, whom he described as “full of s**t.”