Ken Johnson (wrestling)
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| Ken Johnson |
|
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Slick Reverend Slick Brother Slim Doctor of Style |
| Born | Fort Worth, Texas, United States |
| Resides | Fort Worth, Texas, United States |
| Debut | 1986 |
| Retired | 1992 |
Kenneth Johnson, better known to wrestling fans as "Slick", is a former American professional wrestling manager with the WWF in the 1980's. Johnson was the first African American manager in WWF history.
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At the start of his career, Johnson did a stint in Texas All-Star Wrestling, managing Madd Maxx and Lord Humongus. He left TASW for Kansas City's Central States Wrestling to become "The Doctor of Style", Slick, characterized by his smooth attitude, confident speech, and dancing as he accompanied his wrestlers to the ring; among the wrestlers he managed in Central States were Art Crews, Timothy Flowers, Bobby Jaggers, "Bulldog" Bob Brown, and Butch Reed. Slick and his stable feuded with Kansas City mainstay Rufus R. Jones and other fan favorites before he and Reed were forced out of the territory after dropping a "Loser Leaves Town" match to Bruiser Brody.
The next stop for Slick was the World Wrestling Federation. He first appeared on WWF Television in September 1986 after he purchased a "half interest" in "Classy" Freddie Blassie's heel stable. Blassie was not in the best of health, and was being slowly phased out of storylines. Slick eventually took over all managerial duties from Blassie initially managing Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik.
Slick's biggest success as a manager likely came when he took Akeem and the Big Boss Man, the Twin Towers, to main event matches against Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, The Mega Powers. Slick would also manage Power and Glory, The Bolsheviks, Rick Martel, Butch Reed, and The Warlord.
In his later years with the WWF, Johnson returned after an extended leave as the "Reverend Slick". This gimmick was a take on his real life, as Johnson was a Born-again Christian. He would sometimes appear on WWF programming to give a "sermon" that was usually a simple, uplifting message; he rarely (if ever) mentioned Jesus Christ or God. His main storyline under this gimmick was to take Kamala from the hands of Harvey Wippleman and Kim Chee to convince him that he was not just a Ugandan monster who deserved constant beration, but a man, and he tried to instill Kamala with self-respect (including a memorable segment where Slick and Kamala went bowling).
Johnson is now an ordained minister in Fort Worth, Texas.
On April 1, 2007, Johnson, reprising his role as Slick, appeared at WrestleMania 23, dancing with various WWE superstars and legends.
- Doctor of Style
- Jive Soul Bro
- Brother Slim
- Slick
- Akeem (a.k.a. The One Man Gang)
- Art Crews
- Big Boss Man
- Bobby Jaggers
- Bulldog Bob Brown
- Butch Reed
- Hacksaw Higgins
- Human Tornado
- Hercules
- Iron Sheik
- J.R Hogg
- Nikolai Volkoff
- Kamala
- Lord Humongous
- Madd Maxx
- Moondog Moretti
- Nick Maniwa
- Paul Roma
- Rick Martel
- Shotgun Yan
- Timothy Flowers
- The Warlord
- Zeus