With his size, Omos was seemingly born to play basketball or be a wrestler.
Omos played his college ball at South Florida and Morgan State before trying to find success overseas. Even during his early days as a basketball player in the United States, coaches saw Omos as a future WWE superstar.
"When I first came to the country, I played AAU basketball, and one of my coaches used to say, 'If basketball doesn't work out, we're going to take your big ass to Connecticut and we're gonna have you meet Vince (McMahon).' I would always shrug it off and it would annoy me because I basketball was my focus. He used to say it and say it and say it. When I went to South Florida, one of the assistant coaches who recruited me there is a huge mark. He said, 'When basketball doesn't work out, we're going to take you to Connecticut.' I'm in college, I meet Steve Keirn, who ran FCW in Tampa, and they tried to get me to come, but I was playing basketball. Tried to go overseas, that didn't work out. I was living in San Diego, moved back, my best friend was like, 'reach out to WWE and see if they have a job for you.' That's how that happened. If it wasn't for him, I would have never reached out," Omos told Ryan Satin on Out of Character.
Omos had a WWE tryout scheduled in 2014, but was unable to attend due to NCAA rules.
"After my stint in South Florida, I tried to come for a tryout in 2014. I got my ticket and hotel, but due to the former NCAA rules, I couldn't take the trip because it was considered a gift. I had to put it on the back burner and forgot about it," he said.
Once he was back in Florida, he reached out to former Senior Director of Talent Development Canyon Ceman but didn't expect a reply.
"I get an email back from Canyon, 'Hey, how are you, long time, what are you up to?' 'I'm in Tampa, not doing anything.' 'What is your schedule like tomorrow?' 'I'm dog sitting, but I can make it to wherever you need me to.' 'Can you come to Orlando?' At this point, I don't have a license because I don't have my paperwork. My fiance had to drive me at 6 am from Tampa to the Performance Center for my tryout," he said.
When discussing his tryout, Omos praised his coaches Robbie Brookside and Johnny Moss.
"It was just me. They brought me in for one day for the tryout. They put in a class with the guys. Ridge Holland was in the class. My coaches were Johnny Moss and Robbie Brookside. I remember doing the tryout and not knowing what to expect. I always say, if I had any other coaches, I don't think I would have taken a shot. Those two guys, literally, let me be free in the ring. That was the first time I felt like I could be my full complete self without trying to fit in a box of what people think of me. I could be expressive as much as I wanted. I could be aggressive and not hold back. In that tryout, they kept telling me, 'We want more, give us more,' and for the first time someone asked me to give me more of myself. That felt so liberating to do that. I felt the emotion. After that tryout, I fell in love. This is what I'm supposed to do," he said.
Omos signed with WWE in 2019.
He is currently a featured player on WWE Raw where he is managed by MVP. He is set to face Bobby Lashley in an arm-wrestling contest on Monday's WWE Raw. Fightful will have live coverage of WWE Raw beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
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