10 WWE Performance Center Success Stories
The WWE PC opened eight years ago.
The WWE Performance Center officially opened on July 11, 2013.
Happy eighth birthday, WWE PC! Ya big building, you.
A state-of-the-art facility designed to create the WWE stars of the future, the PC's record for producing those stars has, over the years, been inconsistent.
Of the hundreds of recruits that report to the school in Orlando, Florida, few make it to NXT and fewer still make it to the so-called 'main roster' of Raw and SmackDown.
While many of WWE's newer stars of the last decade or so did report to the PC before moving onwards and upwards, it would in a lot of cases be unfair to give the system too much credit, as a fair few of those - such as Finn Balor, Neville and Samoa Joe - had established careers and glowing international reputations before they put donned their grey 'property of' t-shirt.
But, to give credit where it's due, the PC has created some fine sports entertainers pretty much from scratch.
While some of the names on this list may have had a small amount of professional experience prior to their stay at the PC, most of the credit for their development can be attributed to what they learned in the PC itself.
It may not be a perfect replacement for the long-gone territory system, and having millions of dollars' worth of equipment and some world-class trainers on hand isn't a guarantee for success in a tricky business like wrestling, but the WWE Performance Center has gotten it right many times before.
Here are ten of its biggest success stories.
10. Omos
One of the PC's big strengths has been recruiting people from outside the world of wrestling, looking at other sports or areas of entertainment.
Basketball, with its naturally taller breed of athlete, is obviously somewhere that WWE have looked and is where they came across Jordan Omogbehin, AKA Omos.
A former player for the University of South Florida and Morgan State University, Omogbehin was signed by WWE in January 2019 and reported to the PC. He made his debut at an NXT house show in July, managed by Malcolm Bivens, the giant destroying Team 3.0 in a two-on-one handicap match.
Standing at 7ft3in and weighing close to 400lbs, the Nigerian-born behemoth certainly had the size to become an attraction.
As part of his training, WWE brought in a couple of other big fellas, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, to work with him and the taller prospects at the PC.
Both Big Sexy and The Bad Guy subsequently raved about Omogbehin and his potential and it was obvious then that his coachability, size and youth would ensure he showed up on WWE television sooner than later.
During the early pandemic times of 2020, Jordan got screen time as the giant ninja in Akira Tozawa's gang and then as the doorman for the short-lived Raw Underground, but he has really come into his own as the bodyguard and tag partner of AJ Styles.
Having his official WWE debut at WrestleMania 37 (no pressure, kid), Omos teamed with the Phenomenal One to beat New Day for the Tag Team Titles (which they still hold as of this writing).
He doesn't do too much in the ring - and nor should he, really - but what Omos does he does well. Watching one of the best in the world from ringside every night is sure to rub off and, in the years to come, Omos has the chance to become one of the industry's great big men.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
