The Rise and Fall of Omos in WWE

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Backstage Pass is your one-stop subscription to everything pro wrestling. Breaking news from the most reliable insiders, interviews with legends, live Q&As with industry veterans, we have it all. SUBSCRIBE NOW - https://bit.ly/3zbHEH8   Witness the incredible journey of Omos, WWE's towering giant. From his powerful debut to becoming one of the most feared superstars in the ring, Omos seemed destined for greatness. But what caused his meteoric rise to slow down, and where did things go wrong? In this video, we explore Omos' WWE career  You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe   #omos #mvp #brocklesnar #bobbylashley #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling

Transcript

00:00Omos, he's 7 foot 3 inches tall, a whopping 460 pound giant and one of the largest superstars

00:10in WWE history.

00:11He's been in WWE for nearly 5 years as of this video and it seems like he's been sitting

00:17on the sidelines for a good part of it.

00:19But it wasn't always that way.

00:21Omos was a champion and was clearly poised to be one of WWE's top stars for the future

00:26but it hasn't panned out that way.

00:29Was it the change in regimes within WWE that affected Omos?

00:33Was it other superstars being given the focus and spotlight instead of him?

00:37Or has he not lived up to the expectations?

00:41Join us as we look into the rise and fall of Omos.

00:53For a guy that tall, you'd have to imagine that his growth as a child wasn't exactly

00:58conventional.

00:59Omos told Ryan Satin, formerly of Fox Sports, that by the time he was 11, he was already

01:046 foot tall.

01:06He grew another 3 inches during puberty and after he turned 13, he shot up.

01:12By the time he was 15 years old, Omos was already 6 foot 11 inches tall.

01:17He had a love for art, telling the New York Times that he wanted to be the African Vincent

01:21Van Gogh.

01:23He wasn't a naturally gifted athlete, which is an assumption many would make looking at

01:27his size.

01:28According to Omos himself, his brother, who was much smaller than him, was a freak athlete

01:34while Omos had to figure out how to be athletic.

01:37Basketball gave him the tools for that.

01:40But before basketball came into his life, it was his aunt who introduced him and his

01:44brother to tennis.

01:46But as his height kept coming, it was pretty clear to those around him that basketball

01:50would suit him better.

01:51Even then, when he went into a basketball tryout camp at 13 years old, the recruiters

01:56were shocked at the sight of a 13-year-old kid being 6'5".

02:01His lack of athleticism meant that he completely fumbled in that camp, but he showed the desire

02:05and willingness to keep learning, something that remains with him to this day.

02:09Still, by the age of 15, he managed to get a scholarship and attended school in Chesapeake,

02:14Virginia where he honed in his basketball skills.

02:18His improving basketball abilities got him into the University of South Florida.

02:22Omos stood out because of his height, but not too long into his tenure at the University

02:26of South Florida, an official from the college in a higher-up position sent an email cc-ing

02:32Omos' coach.

02:33He noticed that there was something abnormal about him and it wasn't his height.

02:37Instead, he suggested that Omos may have a pituitary tumor.

02:42A pituitary tumor is a benign or non-cancerous tumor that's usually formed at the base

02:46of the skull, according to Moffitt Cancer Center.

02:49Omos had to undergo surgery to remove the tumor from his nose.

02:54Omos brushed it off but went back to take his MRI anyway to give himself some peace

02:58of mind.

02:59One day, he was sent directly to the coach's office where his coach, the president of the

03:04university and a bunch of other doctors were sitting.

03:07The doctors had his MRI on display and pointed out a speck in his brain telling him it was

03:12a tumor.

03:13Incidentally, the doctors performing the surgery discovered that Omos, who was then just Jordan,

03:19had acromegaly.

03:20Acromegaly is what can lead to an excessive or abnormal growth spurt because of excessive

03:25hormone production.

03:27Do you know who else had that?

03:29Andre the Giant.

03:31But apart from just that similarity, what Omos had that Andre didn't is giantism and

03:36something known as partial Cushing's disease.

03:40Not only was that a side effect, but he also had visibility issues growing up.

03:45Because of all these issues, his body produced no testosterone.

03:49To this day, he has to take testosterone to help him.

03:53It taught him a very valuable life lesson, that he can't control everything.

03:58The entire process of moving to the United States was quite an uphill battle for a 15

04:02year old kid.

04:03He was supposed to be joined by his mother and younger brother, but due to immigration

04:08complications, Omos was the only one sent through by himself because he had a scholarship

04:13in hand.

04:14He was supposed to go to a school in Florida, but a series of circumstances led him to moving

04:18to Virginia instead.

04:20One of the big challenges for him in Virginia was the fact that it was so cold.

04:24For a Nigerian, humidity, rain and scorching heat are more familiar weather conditions.

04:30So when you put someone used to those conditions in a place where it snows, it's quite hard

04:35to adapt.

04:36And then there was the entire medical situation he had.

04:40His doctors straight up told him that he was months away from being blind or having

04:43a possible heart attack.

04:45But in a way, coming to the United States may have actually saved his life because now

04:50he had actual access to good medical care.

04:53But unfortunately, the toll it took on his body was too much and his fortunes in basketball

04:58didn't work out as he hoped.

05:01He ended up moving into his girlfriend's parents' house.

05:03With his girlfriend pursuing a career in the medical field, he felt like he was just withering

05:08away.

05:09A friend of Omos' named Antoine Pozniak connected him with a local wrestling promoter

05:13named Steve Kearn.

05:15Kearn treated the broken Omos to a meal and told him he would become a millionaire in

05:19just four years if he got into wrestling.

05:22Kearn also had direct contact with Canyon Seaman, the director of talent development

05:26at WWE.

05:27It was 2014 and he was just 20 years old, but he never made that call even when he was

05:33in a position where it almost couldn't get any worse for him.

05:36But a few years later after a lot of soul searching, Omos sent Canyon an email and went

05:41a whole week with no reply.

05:44It was on a Sunday night that he got his reply from Canyon asking if he was busy.

05:48Thankfully, Omos was not busy and Canyon told him to be in Orlando in two days.

05:54In the New York Times feature about him, Omos explained the stark contrast between basketball

05:58and wrestling.

06:00In basketball, he wasn't allowed to be too tough and felt caged in because he couldn't

06:04be physical even in the spirit of athletics.

06:07If you've followed WWE and professional wrestling for a while, you know that it's

06:10the complete opposite.

06:12Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, he said that he wasn't mentally ready for the tryout

06:16at the time and he needed to fully exhaust his options in basketball before making the

06:20jump to WWE.

06:22In his first official tryout in 2018, he instantly fell in love with wrestling.

06:28The grueling physicality that drives rookies and aspiring wrestlers away was something

06:33Omos embraced.

06:34The potential was so clear that WWE head coach Matt Bloom, who some of you might remember

06:39as A-Train or Albert, pulled Omos aside and told him that if he wanted, he had a job.

06:45The next day, Omos met with one of the most powerful men in the wrestling industry, Triple

06:51H.

06:52The game told Omos exactly what Matt Bloom said, if he wanted, the job was his.

06:57The timing was perfect and it was too good of an offer to refuse.

07:01When Triple H text Canyon's phone asking what the big man thought, Omos had only two

07:06words to say, I'm in.

07:09According to Matt Bloom, the fact that Omos was restricted from getting too physical on

07:13the basketball court was beneficial because it also made him safe in the ring.

07:18Just like Braun Strowman a few years before him, Omos was meant to be an NXT star.

07:24Even Matt Bloom said that the reason why guys like him get fast tracked to the main roster

07:28is because of how rare they are.

07:30There's no doubt that Omos has been a head turner wherever he's gone because of his

07:34physical presence, so it's no surprise that Vince McMahon wanted the Nigerian giant in

07:39his ranks on the main roster and he wanted him quickly.

07:42To do that, WWE went an identical route to what they did with Braun Strowman.

07:47They had Omos wrestle exclusively on house shows.

07:51It was a few months into the pandemic, or the thunderdome era of WWE, when he got his

07:55first appearance on national television.

07:57He was briefly slotted in the role of Akira Tozawa's ninja, a comedic bit that didn't

08:02last very long.

08:04When Shane McMahon brought the doomed Raw Underground to WWE television, Omos' face

08:09was shown properly as he was the bodyguard for the dingy fight arena.

08:13In October, he got another call to be on Monday Night Raw, but by that point, Raw Underground

08:18had flopped and was finished.

08:21He was told that he would be doing an angle with the phenomenal AJ Styles and was told

08:26to get a suit.

08:27After scrambling all over parts of Orlando to get a suit that would fit someone of his

08:31stature, he finally decided to wear a turtleneck and got Vince McMahon's personal approval.

08:37He finally got his big break as AJ Styles muscle.

08:41It was the perfect role for him.

08:43By that point, he already knew that for him, especially, less was more.

08:49He didn't need to say much, he didn't need to do much, he just needed to have an

08:53imposing presence.

08:55While it was an unmistakable bodyguard role that Omos had, AJ Styles began to put him

09:00over by reacting with fear to the feats of strength that the Nigerian giant could pull

09:04off.

09:05The investment that AJ Styles made by having Omos on his side began to pay off.

09:10His presence with AJ Styles' WWE title match against Drew McIntyre may not have gotten

09:15him the title, but he prevented or rather delayed The Miz from becoming a two time WWE

09:21champion.

09:22After making his presence known on shows like Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber

09:26without even officially participating in a match, there was a lot of anticipation for

09:30his in-ring debut.

09:32The build up to Wrestlemania 37 was kind of all over the place because of how quickly

09:37and abruptly matches were put together, but Omos was a direct beneficiary of this.

09:43It was announced that his in-ring televised debut would be at the grandest stage of them

09:47all and it would be for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

09:52Even the legendary New Day duo of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods couldn't stop him and Wrestlemania

09:5737 turned into the Omos show when he almost single handedly won the Raw Tag Team titles.

10:04There weren't exactly big plans for the tag team division on the Raw side of things,

10:08so he had AJ Styles continue to dominate until Summerslam when the RK-Bro duo of Randy Orton

10:14and Matt Riddle dethroned them.

10:17Every time Omos was in a losing position, he was never pinned.

10:21Towards the end of 2021, as he and AJ Styles hit their year together as partners, tensions

10:26began brewing underneath the surface.

10:29On the second to last episode of Raw in 2021, he would finally turn on AJ Styles, breaking

10:35him free and setting him up for a singles run.

10:38Despite breaking up, the two remain good friends to this day.

10:41AJ Styles has been and continues to be a mentor to Omos.

10:45The biggest thing that AJ taught Omos was to have killer instinct.

10:50After beating AJ Styles on Raw, he participated in the Royal Rumble and it took a whopping

10:546 men to take him out.

10:57Heading into Wrestlemania 38's season, Bobby Lashley was one of wrestling's hottest superstars

11:03coming off his second reign as WWE Champion.

11:07So to be put in a spot where he would face Lashley in a singles match was an incredible

11:11step ahead.

11:13Even in defeat, it made a lot of sense for Lashley to be the first man to pin him and

11:17it didn't hurt him at all.

11:19When MVP turned on Bobby Lashley the next night on Raw to align with Omos, things were

11:24looking up.

11:25MVP's pairing with Omos wasn't under the best circumstances.

11:30Vince McMahon got MVP backstage and told him that he wanted to see Bobby Lashley on his

11:34own and he wanted MVP to do for Omos what he did for Lashley.

11:40According to MVP, Triple H was absolutely determined that he didn't want another big

11:44show, he wanted him to be a special attraction.

11:48It was also the period when WWE was transitioning into the post-Vince McMahon era.

11:53It gave a lot of positive things for WWE stars to look forward to, but there was always going

11:58to be a crop of talent whose careers would be negatively affected as a side effect of

12:02the change in regime and overall vision.

12:05Still his feud with Bobby Lashley continued on after Wrestlemania 38 and he picked up

12:09a win over him at Wrestlemania Backlash before losing their final bout, a handicap match

12:15where Omos and MVP faced Bobby Lashley.

12:18Lashley was just a lot hotter at the time while Omos was still a newcomer with minimal

12:22television experience, so it made a lot of sense for the almighty to get the last laugh.

12:27The next few months just breezed by without him doing much except for a Money in the Bank

12:31ladder match appearance.

12:32His next major feud was against the returning Braun Strowman, with the two set the face

12:37off in a clash of titans at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

12:41It was a tough call to make as to who should have won the match.

12:45On one hand, you have the returning Braun Strowman, a guy who was a former universal

12:49champion and a regular main eventer for three years.

12:53On the other hand, you had the less proven, greener Omos who had the potential but was

12:57far from realizing it.

12:59We don't know what exactly was behind the decision to have Braun Strowman win, but Omos

13:04was left on the receiving end of another losing feud.

13:07That killed a lot of his momentum.

13:10At that point, he wasn't featured in any storyline and his popularity rose because

13:14of his social media presence.

13:16The line between fiction and reality in wrestling isn't as blurred in 2024, so fans got an

13:22insight into the real personality of Jordan, Omos' real name.

13:26They saw him for what he was, a gentle giant and an all around good person in the ring.

13:32People started proclaiming themselves as Omos Sapiens and it seemed to take off.

13:37Not to mention that before his match against Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel, there was a

13:42video posted online that showed Omos surprising his family in Nigeria by visiting for the

13:46first time in 14 years.

13:49It was a beautiful moment showing him reuniting with his family, all of whom look like completely

13:54regular sized people.

13:56When seeing videos like that and other social media posts showing his personality, it's

14:00hard not to get behind him.

14:02It also raises the question of why that part of him hadn't been tapped into.

14:08You can argue that considering how dominant Big Guy's scary trope has been done to death

14:12in WWE, it would probably have been better to just have Omos be himself and allow him

14:17to connect with the audience.

14:19He wasn't getting any TV time, but when Wrestlemania season came again in 2023, he

14:24found himself in an unexpectedly great spot.

14:27It was reported that Brock Lesnar didn't have much interest in working with Bray Wyatt,

14:32but he had a lot of interest in working with Omos.

14:35When Brock Lesnar is in a match, it usually has him as Goliath and his opponent as David.

14:41But in one rare moment in his career, Lesnar was the David to Omos' Goliath.

14:46It was a pretty good match for what it was, with Omos manhandling the Beast Incarnate

14:51before eventually losing.

14:53It didn't make Omos look bad at all, but just to be put in that spot should have been

14:57a sign of things to come.

14:59Lesnar worked with Omos in a way to give back to the business, while for the Nigerian Giant,

15:03it was a pleasant surprise to work with someone of that caliber.

15:07The next month, he was announced for a very random match against Seth Rollins, but he

15:11lost again.

15:13This seemed to be a downward trend for Omos, who was being used to prop up other superstars.

15:18It wasn't the best way to utilize him, and taking him off of television for extended

15:22periods of time wasn't exactly helping either.

15:26Now that MVP is gone from WWE, it leaves a lot of questions about what's next for Omos.

15:32The unfortunate reality about Omos' situation is that there's the potential for so much

15:36more.

15:37By all accounts, he's a coachable, open minded, and big hearted human being with quite

15:43a character outside the ring.

15:44It can be translated to success in the ring, but he just hasn't been given the chance

15:49to do that.

15:50There's always been that saying that WWE is the land of giants, and in a way it is,

15:55not as much as it used to be, but it historically has been.

15:59But when it came to the real giants, there's always been some type of curse.

16:04More often than not, the largest superstar on the roster have historically been victims

16:08of typecasting.

16:10In reality, the 6 foot to 6 foot 5 range is the most ideal size to get a big push and

16:16beyond that, only a few have made major exceptions.

16:19Omos has the potential to be one of those exceptions, but he needs to be given the opportunity

16:24to do so.

16:25We can only hope that his extended hiatus is meant for a bigger storyline being put

16:30in place.

16:31Perhaps WWE needs to move past the trope of him being a dominant giant and embrace his

16:36personality to fit in with the current times.

16:39With WWE moving to Netflix for Raw, we can only hope that there are bigger plans for

16:43the Nigerian giant and the powers that be recognize what they have with him.

16:48Guys like Omos don't come around often, so we hope that when we make another video

16:52about him, the title is going to be The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Omos!

16:58Thank you for watching, Omos Sapiens!

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