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One of the most surprising moments from the WWE Backlash 2020 pay-per-view came when Jordan Omogbehin appeared during the cinematic segment between The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders.
WWE announced on the day of the show that the two teams would settle their “Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better” rivalry with a regular match at Backlash for the RAW Tag Team titles.
However, shortly before the match was due to take place, WWE cameras showed The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders brawling backstage. This led to the rivals fighting in the Performance Center parking lot, where they were confronted by Akira Tozawa and a group of ninjas.
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Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Erik and Ivar were able to fight off the ninjas, but the four Superstars decided to run away when Tozawa was joined by a sword-wielding giant, Jordan Omogbehin, who stands at 7ft 3in tall.
Prior to Backlash, Jordan Omogbehin had made appearances at NXT live events but he had never been involved in a storyline on WWE programming.
With that in mind, let’s take a more in-depth look at Jordan Omogbehin by counting down five things that you might not know about the giant Superstar.
#5 Jordan Omogbehin joined WWE with a star-studded group of recruits
WWE often posts group pictures on the company’s website when several new Superstars report to the Performance Center at the same time. In November 2019, for example, Scarlett Bordeaux, Shotzi Blackheart and Indi Hartwell posed alongside each other after signing WWE deals, and all three have since featured on NXT.
Back in October 2018, the following seven names reported to the Performance Center: Matt Riddle, Mia Yim, Chelsea Green, Humberto Carrillo, Luis Martinez, Daniel Vidot, and Jordan Omogbehin.
That, needless to say, is a star-studded group of individuals. The highest-profile name, Matt Riddle, obviously grabbed the headlines at the time, but the presence of Jordan Omogbehin in the picture above could not be ignored.
Of the other six Superstars who signed with WWE at the same time as Jordan Omogbehin, Mia Yim and Chelsea Green have featured prominently in the women’s division on NXT, while Luis Martinez (aka Damian Priest) has also had success on the black and gold brand.
Daniel Vidot is yet to be involved in any NXT storylines but he has already appeared on SmackDown, losing to Sheamus in an April 2020 episode from the Performance Center.
Humberto Carrillo and Matt Riddle have also appeared regularly on WWE programming since signing in the same group as Jordan Omogbehin.
#4 Jordan Omogbehin played basketball before joining WWE
When WWE announced Jordan Omogbehin’s signing in the same article as another six recruits, the company’s website listed various titles and accomplishments that the likes of Matt Riddle and Mia Yim have racked up in the wrestling business.
When it came to Jordan Omogbehin, the company had this to say about its new giant:
“Towering over the rest of the recruits is 7-foot-3, 370-pound Jordan Omogbehin. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, the imposing Jordan Omogbehin played college basketball at the University of South Florida and Morgan State University in Baltimore.”
Jordan Omogbehin, born in 1994, is the latest in a long list of Superstars who played basketball before swapping the court for the squared circle, including The Big Show, The Undertaker and Kevin Nash.
The basketball history of those Superstars did not feature much in their WWE characters’ backstories, so it will be interesting to see if Jordan Omogbehin’s basketball past will be mentioned on WWE programming.
Besides, WWE viewers recently found out that the best ‘baller on the roster is none other than Viking Raiders member Ivar.
Who knows, after The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders were frightened away by Jordan Omogbehin at Backlash, perhaps we could see another basketball segment in the near future?
#3 Scott Hall produced Jordan Omogbehin’s first match
In July 2019, Jordan Omogbehin competed in his first match as a WWE NXT Superstar when he defeated Team 3.0 (Jeffrey Parker & Matthew Menard-Lee) in a 2-on-1 handicap match at a live event in Lakeland, Florida.
Managed by Malcolm Bivens, the 7ft 3in Superstar quickly destroyed his two opponents by pressing their skulls down to the mat before pinning them both at the same time.
Speaking on Sean Waltman’s X-PAC 12360 podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall revealed that he produced Jordan Omogbehin’s first match and he was impressed with how quickly the newcomer had picked up the wrestling business.
“I saw this new kid they have down there, Jordan, big kid about 7’4” about 440 [lbs], just a monster, and I was there for his debut match. I got to produce it. And it’s just that connection. You know how it is when you connect with a guy and when he doesn’t know anything and you teach him something.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
As you can see above, Kevin Nash also had some nice things to say about Jordan Omogbehin in an Instagram post in November 2019.
#2 Jordan Omogbehin’s WWE name
As of the time of writing, it is unclear what name Jordan Omogbehin will go by in WWE.
The man himself is called Jordan Omogbehin on Twitter, while WWE’s official website referred to the Nigerian by his real name in the article that announced his signing.
It was widely reported in March 2019 that Jordan Omogbehin called himself ‘Tomu’ during an interview at an NXT live event. However, he was simply introduced as ‘Jordan’ when he defeated Cezar Bononi at another live event in October 2019.
Various NXT live event result articles from the last year show that he has also been called ‘Big Jordan’ in matches, which is the same name Kevin Nash wrote in his Instagram post about Jordan Omogbehin in 2019.
Regardless of his name, it will be interesting see how WWE books a man who has not yet competed in any matches on NXT television. Nowadays, it is extremely rare for somebody to debut on WWE’s main roster without establishing themselves in NXT first.
One notable exception came in August 2015 when another WWE giant, Braun Strowman, debuted on the RAW after SummerSlam to join The Wyatt Family. Prior to that, he had only competed at NXT live events.
#1 Jordan Omogbehin is not WWE’s tallest Superstar ever
Braun Strowman (2.03m), The Undertaker (2.08m) and The Big Show (2.13m) are among the tallest Superstars in WWE right now, but none of them are as big as Jordan Omogbehin (2.21m).
Back in the 1990s, WWE was still known as “The Land of the Giants”, hence why Superstars including Giant Silva (2.18m) were used on television despite their lack of in-ring skills.
In fact, height was such a big issue in WWE that, according to Jim Ross, Chris Jericho (1.83m) was removed from the WrestleMania 2000 main event due to his size.
“That's why Jericho wore lifts in his shoes in those early days in WWE. But nonetheless, that's it. What else could there be? I mean, he wasn't hard to get along with. He worked his a** off. He was talented, was highly skilled, great skill set. He was not the ideal height to be in a main event at WrestleMania, in Vince [McMahon]'s view.” [H/T Fightful]
Looking back at the big men from WWE’s past, Jordan Omogbehin is not quite as tall as Andre The Giant (2.24m) or Giant Gonzalez (2.31m), but he is the third-tallest Superstar in the company’s history according to a list on WWE’s official website.
