The Most Famous
WRESTLERS from Nigeria
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Nigerian Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Nigerian Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Daniel Igali (b. 1974)
With an HPI of 33.45, Daniel Igali is the most famous Nigerian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.
Baraladei Daniel Igali (born February 3, 1974) is a Nigerian-Canadian wrestler. He won Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics and remains Canada's only male Olympic gold medalist in wrestling.
2. Omos (b. 1994)
With an HPI of 28.30, Omos is the 2nd most famous Nigerian Wrestler. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Tolulope "Jordan" Omogbehin (born May 16, 1994) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former college basketball player. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Omos and is the tallest wrestler on WWE's active roster. In the course of his career as a college basketball player, he played for the University of South Florida and Morgan State University from 2014 to 2015 and played as a forward for King University men’s basketball team from 2015 to 2016. Omogbehin signed with WWE in January 2019 and became a one-time Raw Tag Team Champion with AJ Styles in 2021. In 2012 while at USF Omogbehin was partially medically cleared. His medical testing showed he had a pituitary tumor in his brain. The tumor was responsible for his high Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) levels, gigantism and Cushing Disease. The tumor was pressing on his optical nerves as well and would have caused blindness. He underwent surgeries in 2012 and 2013 to remove the tumor. As a result, he now requires lifelong hormone replacement therapy since his body no longer produces testosterone naturally.
3. Aminat Adeniyi (b. 1993)
With an HPI of 0.00, Aminat Adeniyi is the 3rd most famous Nigerian Wrestler. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Aminat Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi (born 21 April 1993) is a Nigerian freestyle wrestler. She competed in the women's freestyle 58 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a gold medal. She has been the National Champion in Wrestling in Nigeria since 2009 till date, a feat that has never been achieved by anyone in Nigeria. In 2010, she competed in Junior African Championship in Egypt, where she won a gold medal. She further continued her quest for glory when she competed in Senior African Wrestling Championship in Morocco in 2012, where she was a silver medalist. In 2013, Aminat Adeniyi was also a Nigerian sportswoman representative to the Commonwealth Championship in South Africa, where she won a silver medal. She equally participated in the Senior African Wrestling Championship in Tunisia, 2014, where she was crowned African champion of her category. Her international achievement outside the shore of Africa was in Commonwealth Championship in the same 2014 Glasgow, Scotland, where she won gold. She also, as an athlete, participated in the Senior African Wrestling Championship in Egypt, 2015, where she completed the tournament as a silver medalist. In 2015, the eleventh All African African Games in Congo Brazzaville, she was a Nigerian representative in her category as a wrestler, and she won gold. A year later, in 2016, she competed in the Senior African Wrestling Championship held in Egypt, where she won a gold medal. During the same year, 2016, she won silver medal in an Olympics qualification in Algeria, which qualified her as an athlete in Rio 2016 Olympics events. She participated in the Grand Prix of Spain in 2016, where she won bronze medal. In 2017, she was an African champion in the senior category of the wrestling championship held in Morocco. In the same 2017, she wrestled at the Wrestling World Championship in France, where she became Number eight(8) in the world. Also, in 2018, she participated in the Senior African Wrestling Championship held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria and won the gold medal. She was bestowed with national honour, Member of Order of Niger, MON by the former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 in recognition of her grand achievements in sports. She was part of Nigerian contingents, as a freestyle wrestler, to the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco, where she defeated Etane Ngollo B. from Cameroon, on a winning streak, without conceding a point during the final encounter, to emerge gold medalist of 62kg category which has made her be the back-to-back champion. Education She attended Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria where bagged first degree in Political Science, 2012. While in university, she was the sporting director of the political science department between 2010- 2011. She was also voted unopposed as the sporting director of the faculty of the social and management sciences of Adekunle Ajasin University between 2011-2012, the post she held till she finished her first degree in 2012. In 2020, she won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 62 kg event at the 2020 African Wrestling Championships. She qualified at the 2021 African & Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament to represent Nigeria at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's freestyle 62 kg event.
4. Odunayo Adekuoroye (b. 1993)
With an HPI of 0.00, Odunayo Adekuoroye is the 4th most famous Nigerian Wrestler. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye (born 10 December 1993) is a Nigerian freestyle wrestler. She competed in the women's freestyle 53 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won the gold medal and at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships where she won a bronze medal. She won the silver medal at the women's freestyle 55 kilograms 2017 World Wrestling Championships.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Nigerian wrestlers born between 1974 and 1994. Of these 4, 4 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Nigerian wrestlers include Daniel Igali, Omos, and Aminat Adeniyi. As of April 2024, 3 new Nigerian wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Omos, Aminat Adeniyi, and Odunayo Adekuoroye.
Living Nigerian Wrestlers
Go to all Rankings
Daniel Igali
1974 - Present
HPI: 33.45
Omos
1994 - Present
HPI: 28.30
Aminat Adeniyi
1993 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Odunayo Adekuoroye
1993 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Newly Added Nigerian Wrestlers (2024)
Go to all RankingsOmos
1994 - Present
HPI: 28.30
Aminat Adeniyi
1993 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Odunayo Adekuoroye
1993 - Present
HPI: 0.00
