Johnson gained national exposure in the late 1990s when he joined the Atlanta, Georgia-based World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotion as a referee.
Johnson worked for the Nashville, Tennessee based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion from its inception in 2002, portraying a corrupt referee who accepted bribes, continuing the character he first adopted in WCW.
Over the following weeks, Johnson repeatedly requested to referee main event matches, with Zbyszko rejecting his appeals each time.
At Victory Road, he turned heel again when he helped Angelina Love of The Beautiful People regain the TNA Women's Knockout Championship even though Tara clearly had her foot on the ropes.
Later on in the pay-per-view, Slick was seen leaving the Knockouts shower room and as he left, Madison Rayne of The Beautiful People came out from the same cubicle as him adjusting her top, implying that the two had sex.