1-on-1 with WWE’s Omos: Raw makes last stop in North Texas before Backlash in Puerto Rico

It’s an exciting time in WWE.

The world heavyweight championship is back, the WWE draft is on the horizon and Puerto Rico is set to host a WWE event for the first time since 2005 when Bad Bunny hosts Backlash on Saturday, May 6.

But before they get there, WWE is headed to Dickies Arena in Fort Worth for the final episode of Monday Night Raw next week before the premium live event in San Juan.

Former tag team champion Omos spoke to The Dallas Morning News this week about all the latest headlines in WWE, his match at Backlash against Seth “Freakin” Rollins and more:

Before we talk Backlash, I’m going to rewind back to WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, your first singles match at WrestleMania against Bobby Lashley. Before that, WrestleMania 37 with AJ Styles, and we just had WrestleMania 39 where you wrestled Brock Lesnar. What kind of confidence does it instill into you at such a young age for WWE to put this amount of trust into you as a performer to go out on these big stages with these big names and just go do your thing?

Omos: “It means they have a deep belief in me, big time. They see a huge plan for me that even I don’t see for myself … what truly an asset I am in what I could possibly be in the future for WWE. So it’s a great opportunity, which I am grateful for, and which I do not take for granted. I make sure when I’m put on those big stages to perform I go out and make sure I perform.”

What did it feel like taking an F5?

Omos: “I mean, I didn’t want to take one because I had him beat, you know? But you know, at the end of the day, he won. It wasn’t the best. But hopefully one day I can get my revenge back with him. I try not to relive that memory, to say the least.”

It was the Raw after WrestleMania in Dallas when you started your alliance with MVP. What has the past year been like with him as a mentor as a manager? How has your relationship grown together?

Omos: “It’s been truly amazing for me having a sit down with somebody [who is a] veteran like MVP, who’s been 20 years in the business, and just soaking in a lot from him. Just pick his brain, how to present yourself as a businessman, how to carry yourself at work, how to carry yourself in the ring and to have all that mean something. It’s been a treat to work with someone as talented as MVP.”

And speaking of working with talented people, we’re suddenly in a match was Seth Rollins at Backlash. What are you looking forward to in that match? And what do you expect the environment to be like in Puerto Rico?

Omos: “I do know that the house in Puerto Rico is going to be hot as hell because, you know, those fans are going to be extremely passionate and going to be screaming and yelling. It’s probably going to feel like another WrestleMania. That’s my guess, which is amazing. And then to face someone like Seth Rollins is … I get to test my skills against someone who’s very athletic and extremity gifted at what he does and he’s different from all the other guys I’ve faced at most PPVs. … Been in the business 20 years, and I get to test my powers against him. So, I am truly excited to kick the hell out of Seth.”

Along with Backlash, we have the WWE draft coming up. You’ve spent your career on Raw but would you encourage a switch to the blue brand?

Omos: “Wherever they put ‘The Nigerian Giant’ Omos, I’m gonna make sure I kick ass. So, it doesn’t matter if that’s on Raw or Smackdown, whoever they put in front of me is gonna get their ass kicked.”

WWE also just debuted a new world title. What are your thoughts just on the new belt and where does that rank on the to-do list?

Omos: “Oh, it’s up there man. It’s a truly beautiful and magnificent belt. To have a new WWE heavyweight champion of the world, wouldn’t it be fitting [for] a 7-foot-3, 410-pound goliath? You know I’m saying? I’m already having visions and dreams about that belt being on my shoulder.”

You’re a large human, but at the same time, your style is immaculate. You’re always dapper. Do you dress yourself? Or do you just have the team backstage that puts all that together for you?

Omos: “One thing about Nigerians is we love to dress, right? We’ve got show stoppers, you know, we have differing styles from buoyant to very classic, business casual. There’s just something that’s in our blood. We love to dress, to look a certain way. And I think that’s where that comes from. I have help every now and then. My fiancée helps with different colors and textures and stuff like that, but for the most part — typically other than my fiancée helping me — it’s me.”

Were you always a wrestling fan as a kid? Which other big men have you watched that helped influence your career?

Omos: “I wouldn’t say I was a fan growing up. I’d call myself a passerby. My grandmother was a huge fan. So when I would go to her house we’d watch. It was something I was very familiar with, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. But once I got signed to WWE in 2018 and had my shot, I just fell in love with the art form. I truly engulfed myself with the product as a whole, like I am someone who watches everything. It’s just how I’m wired. I watch every single show. I truly, truly have a love for this business as a whole.

“As far as individuals who have helped me out and who I’ve learned from, you know, I can’t start without mentioning The Undertaker. Undertaker has been a huge influence on my career, watching how he worked, watching how he carried himself … not just in the ring but outside of the ring because he has the respect of both the talent and upper management because of how he carried himself. Also being a great worker, I will say Kevin Nash … watched a lot of Razor Ramon, Kane, watched a lot of Big Show, watched a lot of Mark Henry just trying to figure out, you know, out of all those guys, Andre the Giant, try to figure out, ‘OK, I’m Omos. What can I pull from each of these individuals to make myself different?’”

I’m a big fan of entrance music. Were you a part of the creation of what you have now? And if you could pick a musical artist to make entrance music for you, who would it be?

Omos: “My first entrance music was an idea I pitched and came to fruition. The second one, I wanted to change it. I’m a person who listens to scores. I don’t know if anybody does that anymore, movies and stuff, but I still do because I think they’re wonderfully produced and done in just the musical arrangement. … I had a couple of tracks I was going to reference, and funny enough I don’t know if they kind of read my mind, what they had was what I was trying to go for. I wanted my new music to sound like a heavenly experience when we heard it. It felt like someone was just stepping out of the heavens, you feel like Zeus was coming out of the heavens, ready to strike his lightning bolt. That’s what I wanted it to feel like, and I feel like my new music catches that.”

Aside from yourself, who is the single strongest person not named Omos in WWE?

Omos: “Oh, that’s a hard question. To be honest, it’s a tie.”

Between?

Omos: “Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar.”

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