This week’s episode of WWE Raw included the news that the imposing Omos, one-half of the current Raw Tag Team Champions with AJ Styles, will wrestle his in-ring singles debut next week. The monstrous athlete checks in at a whopping 7-ft 3 inches, making him legitimately one of the tallest performers in the history of professional wrestling. Omos has developed a daunting reputation in the months since his debut last year, thanks in large part to the work of veteran Styles, and WWE’s sensible approach to using the inexperienced newcomer sparingly.
Omos – real name Jordan Omogbehin – did wrestle a couple of singles matches at NXT house shows in 2019 at the very start of his in-ring career. But his match with Erik of the Viking Raiders will be the first time he ever steps between the ropes as a singles competitor on the main roster, and it should be interesting to watch. Big things are expected of the big man in the future, the latest in a long line of wrestling giants that have been given the monster push over the years.
On that note, here are five of the best…and five of the worst, wrestling giants of all time.
BEST: Andre the Giant
An obvious entry to start with, but for good reason. Andre the Giant was a true superstar, years before Vince McMahon ever thought about using the term to describe his larger-than-life performers. While he may not have been quite at the exaggerated 7-ft 4 inches that he was billed at throughout his career, Andre was truly a massive presence that made him stand out both in and out of the ring. His legacy has been chronicled in a series of biographies and a recent HBO documentary for any younger fans keen to learn more. Somewhat akin to the Undertaker in that he was booked as a special attraction that didn’t need world titles to build his mystique, Andre wrestled despite immense pain in later life and was a huge part of the WWF’s 1980s expansion.
WORST: Silo Sam
John Harris debuted in Jerry Jarrett’s Memphis promotion in 1984 and set tongues wagging immediately based off his size – it is believed that Harris stood at least 7-ft 6 inches, if not taller. Harris was snapped up by the AWA and debuted as Silo Sam, but it quickly became apparent that he was a lumbering presence in the ring and had none of Andre the Giant’s charisma. Interestingly, this did not stop Vince McMahon snapping him up in 1985 as part of the WWF’s mass talent acquisition from the territories. After one dark match, he was never seen again – but was kept on the payroll. Some have speculated McMahon did this on purpose to avoid another wrestling giant taking the focus away from Andre. Or maybe his performance in that dark match really was that terrible!
BEST: Kane
Things could have turned out very differently for Mayor Glenn Jacobs of Knoxville, Tennessee. After forgettable runs as Dr Isaac Yankem the wrestling dentist, and Fake Diesel, as well as Doomsday and the Christmas Creature in USWA, Jacobs finally struck gold. When he debuted as the Undertaker’s vengeful, twisted younger brother in 1997, few would have guessed that Kane would have written himself into the company’s lore to such a degree. He did exactly that, utilising every inch of his massive frame to compete for two decades, winning a world title and participating in a variety of memorable feuds – none more so than the initial one with The Deadman.
WORST: Giant Silva
Ask most fans to name an Olympian who signed with the WWF in 1998 and you’d probably expect the answer to be Kurt Angle. But there is another correct answer – Paulo Silva. Silva, all 7-foot-2 of him, was on the subs’ bench for the Brazil national basketball team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. A decade passed before he was signed up to the bigwigs at Titan Sports, although it’s not clear why they bothered. Silva, as Giant Silva, was placed alongside two fellow giants (Kurrgan and Golga) in a comedy faction known as the Oddities that did little more than dance and look foolish in the handful of appearances they made together. The magic of the Attitude Era, indeed!
BEST: Big Show
Paul Wight burst onto the scene in 1995 and was immediately spotted by Hulk Hogan as someone who could revive his tried-and-trusted formula of conquering giants, this time in WCW. Wight went onto win the WCW World title in his first televised match – a pay-per-view main event opposite Hogan, no less – and great things were expected of him. He didn’t quite fulfil his potential in WCW, coasting as the company lurched into extinction. That didn’t stop the WWF signing him in 1999 at great expense and debuting him in dramatic fashion at St Valentine’s Day Massacre. The next few years had their ups and downs, including being sent back to developmental and told to lose weight. Wight persevered and ending up establishing himself as one of the WWE’s most trusted upper mid-carders, with multiple world titles, and a WrestleMania match against Floyd Mayweather to his name.
WORST: Ron Reese
Ron Reis debuted in WCW shortly after Wight, although he was not quite so lucky in the gimmick/storyline department. Whereas Wight got the generic ‘Giant’ tag and a feud with Hogan, Ron Reis became the Yeti, a gimmick that would go down in wrestling history as one of the worst ever. In addition to the stupid concept, it was not helped by the fact that the Yeti was in fact dressed as a mummy, and showed no idea of how to actually wrestle when attacking Hogan on his arrival. Forgettable spells as Big Ron Studd (in tribute to his mentor Big John Studd) and Reese, a member of Raven’s Flock followed but to no avail.
BEST: Braun Strowman
It was clear when Braun Strowman debuted on WWE’s main roster in 2015 that the company had big things for him. After a career as a competitive weightlifter, Strowman was signed to the Performance Center two years earlier but competed very little on NXT, as is customary. Instead, Strowman was fast-tracked to Raw, as a new member of the Wyatt Family. This gave WWE the ability to mask Strowman’s shortcomings as a performer and highlight his positives, such as his immense strength and impressive mobility. He never quite got over and connected with fans to the extent the company had hoped, so his release earlier this year was perhaps not the greatest surprise. However, he departed with a number of notable accolades to his name and options to mull over before his inevitable return.
WORST: Loch Ness
Our very own Giant Haystacks, Martin Ruane from Lancashire via London. As his most well-known persona, Giant Haystacks, Ruane was one of the key figures in the popularity of British wrestling on ITV in the 1970s and 80s, including his well-known feud opposite babyface Big Daddy. Unexpectedly, Ruane turned up in WCW in 1996, despite being nearly fifty years old and well past his prime. He was dubbed ‘Loch Ness,’ revisiting the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ name he had used on a tour of Calgary in 1983. This time though, he was simply ‘Loch Ness’ – the name of the lake, not the monster. Ruane worked a handful of matches, lost most of them, and disappeared. Should have probably stayed in the UK, to be honest.
BEST: Yokozuna
The story of Rodney Anoaʻi was recently told with love and affection as part of the WWE Network’s Icons series. Yokozuna’s most storied achievements in the ring will always be his two reigns as WWF Champion, his Royal Rumble victory in 1993, and defeating Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart on consecutive pay-per-views. But the recent WWE documentary showed that Anoa’i played an equally important role as integral part of the Samoan wrestling dynasty which today continues to thrive with the likes of Roman Reigns and the Usos. Friends and colleagues have described how talented Yoko was, but he ultimately could not overcome his battle with his ballooning weight, passing away far too young at 34.
WORST: Giant Gonzalez
Often the butt of jokes when it comes to stories about big men in wrestling who had no aptitude for it, step forward Jorge Gonzalez. Billed at eight foot, Gonzalez was a genuine 7-foot-7, making him significantly taller than Omos, and anyone who has ever stepped foot in a wrestling ring. Similar to Paulo Silva, his height as a young man led him towards basketball. He was a third-round pick in the 1988 NBA draft for the Atlanta Hawks. When Gonzalez struggled to adapt to the demands of the NBA, the Hawks’ owner – Ted Turner – offered the towering behemoth a job with his other company…WCW. Despite an unimpressive run in Atlanta, Vince McMahon snapped him up in 1993 as a giant to be fed to the Undertaker. Sadly, he couldn’t embody the monster the WWF envisioned. Not while dressed in a caveman bodysuit, anyway.
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