Odyssey Jones

Odyssey Jones
Jones in 2024
Birth nameOmari Jahi Palmer
Born (1994-05-17) May 17, 1994 (age 30)[1][2]
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.[3]
Alma materSyracuse University[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Odyssey Jones[4]
Omari Palmer[4]
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[4]
Billed weight405 lb (184 kg)[4][5]
Trained byWWE Performance Center[4]
DebutNovember 7, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-11-07)[1][4]

Omari Jahi Palmer (born May 17, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Odyssey Jones from 2019 to 2024.

Early life

Palmer was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Coram, New York.[3] He attended Longwood High School, where he competed in football, basketball, lacrosse, and wrestling. In 2012, Palmer began attending Syracuse University, majoring in sociology. He joined the roster of the Syracuse Orange football team, playing 36 games for the team as an offensive guard until suffering a lower leg injury during his senior year in 2016.[2][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Professional wrestling career

In June 2018, Palmer attended a try-out with the professional wrestling promotion WWE.[12] In February 2019, he was hired by WWE and assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for training.[8][9][13] In May 2019, Palmer set an 800 lb (363 kg) trap bar deadlift record at the WWE Performance Center Combine, beating the previous record of 775 lb (352 kg) held by Otis.[14][15][16] He wrestled his first match on November 7, 2019, losing to Dexter Lumis at a house show in Ocala, Florida under his birth name.[17] He wrestled a handful of matches in late-2019 and early-2020 before going on hiatus for over a year.[17][18]

Palmer returned to the ring in July 2021 under the new ring name of "Odyssey Jones", wrestling dark matches at WWE SmackDown tapings. He wrestled his first televised match on the July 6 episode of WWE 205 Live, defeating Grayson Waller. On July 20, he wrestled his first televised WWE NXT match, defeating Andre Chase in the first round of the WWE NXT Breakout Tournament.[19][20] He went on to defeat Trey Baxter in the semi-finals[21] before losing to Carmelo Hayes in the finals.[22] Jones then spent the rest of the year on NXT engaging in feuds with heels such as Andre Chase and the Diamond Mine.[19] In January 2022, Palmer ruptured his patellar tendon during a match with Saurav Gurjar; he underwent surgery later that month.[23]

Jones returned on the October 25, 2022 show of NXT, inviting Edris Enofé and Malik Blade to a party.[24] The next week, he made his in-ring return defeating Javier Bernal.[25] In the 2023 WWE Draft, Jones was drafted to the Raw brand.[26] In September 2023, he took part in the Superstar Spectacle in Hyderabad, India, losing to Bron Breakker.[27] In the 2024 WWE Draft, Jones was once again drafted to the Raw brand,[28] debuting in August 2024, starting a program with The New Day.[29] In September 2024, after allegations of domestic abuse were made against him, Jones was abruptly removed from WWE television and subsequently fired by WWE.[30][31]

Professional wrestling style and persona

Jones wrestled in a "powerhouse" style.[4] His finishing moves included a sidewalk slam,[4] a falling powerslam[20][32] and a diving splash.[33] He wore orange and blue ring attire; a reference to the Syracuse Orange colors.[15] He was nicknamed the "Future Favorite".[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Odyssey Jones". WrestlingData.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Omari Palmer". Cuse.com. Syracuse University. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Palmer, Omari. "_o_show_". Instagram. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024. Brooklyn Born, Coram Raised, Cuse Alum
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Odyssey Jones". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Odyssey Jones". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Von Moffaert, Dave (February 1, 2012). "Meet Syracuse's class of '12: Omari Palmer – grew up Orange on LI". OrangeFizz.net. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "Meet the 2012 Syracuse football recruiting class: 22 new players join the roster". Syracuse.com. Advance Publications. February 1, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "ACH, Samuel Shaw and Karen Q among new WWE Performance Center recruits". WWE.com. WWE. February 11, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021. WWE's new class pulls in two recruits from the gridiron: Omari Palmer and Ricardo Miller. Twenty-four-year-old Palmer is a 6-foot-3, 350-pounder who was a member of the Syracuse Orangemen's offensive line. Originally from Coram, N.Y., Palmer also played basketball and lacrosse, as well as wrestled, in high school. The imposing big man attended a WWE Performance Center tryout in June 2018.
  9. ^ a b McAllister, Mike (July 20, 2021). "Former Syracuse offensive lineman taking a shot at pro wrestling career". SI.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Gilberg, Ari (April 26, 2016). "Syracuse NFL Draft 2017 profile: OL Omari Palmer". NunesMagician.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "Ex-Syracuse football player turned pro wrestler headed to WWE 'Monday Night Raw'". Syracuse.com. Advance Publications. May 4, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  12. ^ "Collegiate wrestling champion Jacob Kasper, Tough Enough alumna Chelsea Green among prospects at WWE tryout". WWE.com. WWE. June 29, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021. 24-year-old Omari Palmer, a 6-foot-3, 350-pounder who played football at Syracuse University for five seasons. Palmer was a multisport athlete in high school, with experience in basketball, wrestling and lacrosse.
  13. ^ Rose, Bryan (July 2, 2021). "Four NXT wrestlers compete in dark matches prior to WWE SmackDown". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Odyssey Jones, real name Omari Palmer, faced Robert Roode in a singles match. He is a former football player for Syracuse University who has been signed with WWE since 2019.
  14. ^ "Full WWE PC Combine to stream on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter". WWE.com. WWE. May 31, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Wall, Kevin M. (July 14, 2021). "Former Syracuse Football player Omari Palmer looking to break out in WWE". NunesMagician.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Stoup, Tom (May 30, 2019). "WWE Performance Center Combine report including Trevor Lee, Strickland, Catanzaro, Riddle, Sam Shaw, Road Dogg, Cole". PWTorch.com. Retrieved August 2, 2021. ...Omari Palmer crushing Otis Dozovic's 775lb trap deadlift record and making it look like nothing...
  17. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Odyssey Jones - matches - 2019". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  18. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Odyssey Jones - matches - 2020". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Odyssey Jones - matches - 2021". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "NXT results: July 20, 2021". WWE.com. WWE. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021. ...the imposing Jones smashed his way into the next round of the NXT Breakout Tournament with a final thunderous slam.
  21. ^ Currier, Joseph (August 10, 2021). "Odyssey Jones advances to NXT Breakout Tournament finals". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  22. ^ Aiken, Chris (August 25, 2021). "WWE NXT live results: Hit Row vs. Legado Del Fantasma". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved August 26, 2021. Carmelo Hayes defeated Odyssey Jones to win the NXT Breakout Tournament.
  23. ^ Currier, Joseph (January 27, 2022). "WWE NXT's Odyssey Jones undergoes surgery, 'probably' out until fall". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  24. ^ Moore, John (October 25, 2022). "10/25 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles, Pretty Deadly vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Shotzi vs. Lash Legend, The Schism unveil their newest member, Halloween Havoc fallout". ProWrestling.net. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  25. ^ Moore, John (November 1, 2022). "11/1 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Mandy Rose celebrating one year as NXT Women's Champion, NXT Champion Bron Breakker's appearance, Grayson Waller vs. R-Truth, Thea Hail vs. Kiana James, Odyssey Jones' return to the ring, The Schism addresses the addition of Ava Raine". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  26. ^ Renner, Ethan (May 1, 2023). "Eleven NXT wrestlers called up on WWE Draft night two". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  27. ^ F4W staff (September 8, 2023). "WWE Superstar Spectacle results: John Cena teams with Seth Rollins". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Rose, Bryan (April 29, 2024). "WWE Draft 2024: Full list of night two picks, post-show selections". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  29. ^ Quiles Jr., Fernando (August 6, 2024). "WWE Raw results". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  30. ^ Rueter, Sean (September 3, 2024). "Report: Odyssey Jones removed from WWE TV due to domestic violence allegations". CagesideSeats.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  31. ^ Gibbons, Aidan (September 3, 2024). "WWE fires Odyssey Jones". Cultaholic.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  32. ^ Fritts, Chick (July 9, 2021). "WWE 205 Live results: Odyssey Jones vs. Grayson Waller". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved July 27, 2021. ...Jones connected with the world's strongest slam before pinning Waller clean in the middle.
  33. ^ Wilkins, Rob (September 21, 2021). "WWE NXT Results for 9/21/21 NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match Kushida vs. Roderick Strong". Fightful.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021. Jones then lays his competitors on top of each other, lands the 747 Splash, and then gets the pin for the victory.
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