Omos has been a member of the WWE Universe since 2019, when he signed with the promotion after a successful college basketball career at Morgan State University and then the University of South Florida.
He's appeared in 127 matches, working alongside the likes of AJ Styles and MVP, and unfortunately, has not been particularly popular among fans of The Fed and beyond, with his rating on Cagematch coming in at a brutal 3.76.
And yet, through the first third or so of 2023, Omos has been booked as strongly as ever, with “The Nigerian Giant” getting a big spot at the Royal Rumble, a match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 39, and a showcase of sorts against Seth Rollins at Backlash in Puerto Rico, where he looked impressive before falling like a 7-foot-3 tree due to a Super Stomp from the top rope from “The Visionary.”
When asked about his recent usage, Omos noted that he's been incredibly fortunate to take on multiple future Hall of Famers, with “The Beast Incarnate” drawing an incredible review from his much bigger foe.
“It’s always a treat when you get to work Brock. I was hoping to get to work him before he rides off into the sunset,” Omos said to Mike Jones of DC 101 via Fightful. “There are nerves were it’s like, ‘Alright,’ and you just focus and relax and do internal breathing exercises and I think about what I’m going to do. By the time I got down there, it was, ‘We’re here, let’s do this.’ By the time me and Brock stood face-to-face, it was just gone.”
When asked about his opinion of Lesnar in the ring, Omos gushed about his physicality and suggested that he'll hopefully add that to his game in the not-too-distant future.
“It’s very intense. Very very intense,” Omos said. “He’s going to be physical. When you’re in the ring with me, you get manhandled, and not too many guys are used to being manhandled because they’re always doing the manhandling. You’re going to be earning your paycheck that night. He’s a strong and powerful individual.
“My inexperience keeps getting the best of me. These guys have 10-20 years under their belt. I have to figure out some things and once I figure it out, I’ll be fine. My inexperience in the ring keeps getting the best of me. Brock is a pretty strong individual, probably one of the strongest guys I’ve ever been in the ring with.”
Could Omos eventually get there? Does he have a Lesnar-esque future down the line, or will he instead become just another failed giant who couldn't reach Andre-status in WWE? Only time will tell, but it certainly doesn't look like Omos' push isn't going away any time soon, even if he isn't winning very many of his matches at the moment.
Omos explains his love of anime.
While most fans of WWE know that Omos played basketball in college, did you know that he's secretly a massive fan of anime? It's true; talking to CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri for SHAK Wrestling, Omos explained how his love of the genre came into being back when he was a kid in Nigeria.
“Back when I was a kid in Nigeria, we had cable, and it was pretty expensive,” Omos said. “But we had local channels, so what happened was he had adult programming for most of the day, and after 3 or 3:30, once we got back from school, we had a solid block where we could watch cartoons.
“I remember coming home and that block, we would watch Samurai X, but in Japan, they called it Rurouni’s Kenshin. It’s a samurai who became a good guy with a scar on his face, and now he’s being hunted for all his best transgressions. That just made me fall in love with the genre, and that’s what really started my love for anime in Nigeria. That was the first publisher I ever watched in Nigeria.”
In a way, being a fan of anime feels pretty natural for wrestlers because what is a professional wrestler than a real-life superhero? Ricochet has commented on his anime fandom in the last, as has Kenny Omega, and Omos has been so open about his appreciation of the medium that he's tried his hand at it himself, creating an Instagram account where he shares his art to legions of fans.
Maybe WWE is trying to build up Omos the wrong way. Maybe Omos is actually a big, chill giant who fans would look up to like a Naruto-type instead a mean-mugging giant whose only desire is violence.
ATTENTION: Omos has an art insta! AND HE LOVES NARUTO 💖 pic.twitter.com/RyULq2Xsha
— How2Wrestling (@How2Wrestling) April 13, 2023
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