Yanbo Wang is a Chinese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he works on the NXT brand, under the ring names Big Boa or simply Boa.
Early career
Boa is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was named the 2016 Brazilian jiu-jitsu China Open Gi/No-Gi champion and represented China at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment
NXT (2016-present)
In September 2016, it was reported WWE signed a total of seven Chinese athletes to train in the WWE Performance Center, among them Boa was signed.
Boa made his in-ring debut in 2017 on 8 July in NXT, where he teamed with No Way Jose to defeat Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake. On 22 July, Boa teamed with Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford in defeating Brennan Williams and the twin Ealy Brothers Gabriel and Uriel in a six-man tag match. Two months later on 22 September, Boa defeated Aiden English. During 21 October and 22 October, Boa was defeated twice by Christopher Dijak. On 3 November, Boa teamed with Oney Lorcan in defeating Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli in a tag match. He ended his debut year on 2 December with a victory over fellow Chinese recruit Tian Bing.
During January 2018, Boa enjoyed a string of successful singles matches, defeating new opponents including Kona Reeves, Marcel Barthel and Kishan Raftar. On 9 February, Boa won an upset victory over former Impact Wrestling star Chad Lail (formerly known in Impact Wrestling and other promotions as Gunner). During April, Boa mostly wrestled in tag matches including a mixed tag match on 19 April, teaming with his fellow recruits Rocky & Xia Li against Adrian Jaoude, Cezar Bononi & Taynara Conti. On 11 May, Boa teamed with Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) in a match won by The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong). At the 17 May house event, Boa defeated fellow Chinese NXT recruit Cheng Yuxiang. He finished the month with a loss to fellow rookie Babatunde Aiyegbusi. Two months later, Boa returned during the 27 July house event where he lost to Jeet Rama. He returned a month later during the 11 August house event, where he teamed with fellow countrymen and rookie Mars Wang in a tag match lost to The Coffey Brothers (Joe Coffey & Mark Coffey).
Returning for the 27 September house event, Boa defeated Cezar Bononi. During the 28 September and 29 September house event, Bononi defeated Boa in two consecutive rematches. During the 12 October house event, Boa began the month with a loss to Jeet Rama. The following week, Boa returned for the 19 October house event, wrestling two matches. His first was a singles match lost to NXT recruit Matt Riddle. The second match was in a tag team with Mars Wang & Rocky. He finished the month with an appearance during the 27 October house event, competing in a Number One Contender battle royal for the NXT North American Championship, eventually won by Stacey Ervin Jr.. The following month, Boa competed in two tag matches during the 9 November and 10 November house events. He finished the year with a match during the 6 December house event, where he lost against Shane Thorne.
The following year in 2019, Boa and his tag partner Rocky competed in a Number One Contender Gauntlet match during the 12 January house event, but were eliminated by team Heavy Machinery before the match conclusion. The following week, Boa competed in a Unleash The Universe Tournament during the 17 January house event, advancing in the first round after eliminating Ric Bugez. Later on during the show, Boa was eliminated in the semi-final by Mansoor Al-Shehail. From February to April, Boa only wrestled once during each of those months. He wrestled two house shows during the month of May, losing a singles match against Garza Jr. and winning the second singles match defeating Brendan Vink. Two months later, Boa made his televised debut during the 10 July episode of NXT. There, Boa competed in a NXT Breakout Tournament where he was eliminated during the first round by Jordan Myles. Two months later, Boa returned to television on the 11 September episode of NXT, losing a singles match against recent recuit Damian Priest. The following month, Boa returned on the 9 October episode of NXT, where he lost to Cameron Grimes in only nine seconds after a knock-out blow. After the match however, Killian Dain entered the ring to assault Grimes. After Grimes escaped unharmed, Killian Dain turned his frustrations onto Boa, ending with Boa being slammed onto the announcer's table. The following week, Boa returned on the 16 October episode of NXT in a loss to Killian Dain, marking his final television appearance of the year. Boa spent the remainder of October in matches at house shows, with his final match of the year held on 26 October.
It was reported on 15 November, Boa underwent shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff and labrum.
