Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Monday Night Raw episode that aired Monday, July 12. Read at your own risk!
Omos has made a name for himself in the WWE as both the bodyguard and tag-team partner of AJ Styles, but it's fair to say the pairing masked what the far less experienced wrestler could accomplish in the ring. Fans have been eager to see Omos work on his own in the ring without his tag partner, and Monday Night Raw obliged with the star's first singles match.
Just a week ahead of AJ Styles and Omos' tag team title defense against The Viking Raiders, Monday Night Raw booked a singles match between Omos and Erik. Omos managed to score his first singles victory against the Viking Raider via pinfall, and soon after, reactions began to funnel in from social media on his performance. As expected, some proclaimed Omos as the WWE's next great big man.
If fans didn't like seeing massive guys over 7 feet tall dominating in the ring, the WWE wouldn't put a guy so new to wrestling in the ring in a televised match. With that being said, some fans certainly saw Omos' lack of experience in the match and decided that he needed a bit more time to develop his talent before he's on the level with AJ Styles and some of the other talents on Monday Night Raw.
There's no denying there's a limit to what Omos can do in the ring, though it remains to be seen if it's due to a lack of experience or his physical size. Obviously, the move set of a wrestler the size of Omos is going to be limited if only to protect the talent that performs with them, but it is fair to say there wasn't much to see in the match from a technical standpoint. Some also complained about Omos' storytelling in the ring and the fact that he didn't really do much besides roar.
While there were some complaints, the positive is that Omos is only 27 years old. There's still plenty of time for him to develop, continue to hone his skills, and become a more polished wrestler in all facets of the business. And while he may need to work a bit more on intimidation, he's definitely got the comedy part of his character down.
In all honesty, Omos doesn't have to be a great singles competitor just yet. He's still a tag-team champion on Monday Night Raw with AJ Styles, and unless something changes at Money In The Bank, he could hold that title for a while longer. In the meantime, I'm sure he'll continue to develop and train for singles matches and maybe even get a championship run once he has more matches under his belt.
Right now, there are no reported plans of how far the WWE wants to push Omos, but the sky is often the limit for big men. Even The Great Khali was able to be champion once in the WWE despite his limited mobility in the ring. Omos is definitely more athletic than Khali looked in the ring, so doubters will have a chance to be proven wrong.
Monday Night Raw airs on USA Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. For more on the WWE, get hyped for the upcoming Money In The Bank pay-per-view by remembering some of the greatest moments the big night has given fans.
