In one of the more polarizing aspects of Sunday night’s cinematic match between The Street Profits and Viking Raiders at WWE Backlash was the inclusion of a stable of ninjas lead by Akira Tozawa. And while fans online seemed divided on the segment as a whole – with many either loving it or hating it – one thing that had piqued interest was the identity of the Giant Ninja who acted as Tozawa’s enforcer. What originally seemed like a one-off as part of the match, Tozawa and his ninjas – with Giant Ninja in tow – returned again on Monday night’s episode of Raw.
#VikingProfits … now might be the time to RUN. #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/x74Hepf1dx
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) June 15, 2020
The large man underneath the ninja garb is WWE Performance Center recruit Jordan Omogbehin, a 7’3″ behemoth who joined the Performance Center as part of the October class of 2018. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, Omogbehin played college basketball in the US, beginning with the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls in Tampa from 2012-2014 before transferring to the Morgan State University (MSU) Bears in Baltimore, Maryland for the 2014-2015 season.
In October of 2018, Jordan Omogbehin was announced as part of WWE’s new class of recruits at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where he began training to become a WWE Superstar. He began working NXT Live Events in July of 2019, debuting in Lakeland, Florida to defeat Ever-rise in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. He would next win a 15-man battle royal in August and go on to pick up wins over Cezar Bonini and Kona Reeves. He last appeared on an NXT Live Event this past February in Fort Pierce, Florida, teaming with Bronson Reed (formerly Jonah Rock) in victory over Tehuti Miles and the recently released Aleksander Jaksic.
Jordan Omogbehin, a Nigerian-born former college basketball player who stands a legit 7'3", made his debut at an NXT house show last night. He looks like an absolute monster. https://t.co/tjyRyw54pJ
— SI Wrestling (@SI_wrestling) July 19, 2019
He debuted on Sunday night at WWE Backlash as Akira Tozawa’s Giant Ninja enforcer, returning again on Monday to continue Tozawa’s battle against both the Street Profits and Viking Raiders, but the two Raw tag teams found their own giant to even the odds, bringing out a returning Big Show.
BIG NINJA…meet @WWETheBigShow!
The VIKING PROFITS brought backup on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/i974zuomro
— WWE (@WWE) June 16, 2020
While its unlikely Jordan Omogbehin will remain a “Giant Ninja” for long, it was a fun way to get the future monster onto WWE television for the time being. Although the appearance of Akira Tozawa next to his Giant Ninja brought back memories to an old WCW gimmick that saw manager Sonny Onoo with his own Giant Super Ninja in 1996 (portrayed by Ron Reis, better known as Reece from Raven‘s Flock or the infamous Yeti).
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Watch WWE programming with Raw on Monday (USA Network, 8pm EST), NXT on Wednesday (USA Network, 8pm EST), and SmackDown on Friday (FOX, 8pm EST). You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE and NXT content on the WWE Network.
