Massive Update on Oba Femi’s Main Roster Plans After Shockingly Vacating His NXT Title at New Year’s Evil

Oba Femi is slated to be called up to the main roster relatively soon, especially after the fact that he has vacated his NXT Championship.

Massive Update on Oba Femi’s Main Roster Plans After Shockingly Vacating His NXT Title at New Year’s Evil

Oba Femi [via- WWE]

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Been teased for a main roster upgrade since blowing away the WWE brass with his authoritative showing against Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event last month, Oba Femi is getting closer and closer to the moment of truth.

This week on NXT New Year’s Evil, the 27-year-old put away Leon Slater to remain the NXT Champion. However, he’s not anymore. Femi left the championship belt in the ring and walked away. It prompted rampant speculation on social media regarding The Ruler’s WWE future, which has finally been disclosed.

The company has officially confirmed that the Nigerian wrestler has vacated the NXT title. That being said, BodySlam is now reporting that the Lagos-born grappler’s name has been brought up in creative pitches for the Raw brand. And he might be getting there soon.

Over the last few weeks, WWE has time and again featured Oba Femi in video packages on both Raw and SmackDown in order to hype his impending main roster arrival. The aforementioned report added that his on-screen presentation has impressed many within the company.

It was specifically noted that those in WWE view the longest-reigning NXT North American Champion as a major piece of not only the future but also the current-day scenario.

Shortly after BodySlam’s reporting on Femi, it was revealed via WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select that there are internal creative pushes in WWE to feature Femi in a prominent spot at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

While there is a litany of mouthwatering first-time matchups for ‘The Ruler’, the fans have been clamoring for Femi to share the ring with someone like Brock Lesnar. Even Triple H, the WWE CCO, was directly asked about it during the SNME post-show on December 13. ‘The Game’ hailed the former NXT Champion for being ready to make a giant leap into a whole other stratosphere, which is a rarity.

The 14-time world champion didn’t comment on the prospect of Femi vs. Lesnar but smirked when Peter Rosenberg from the panel mentioned that the Royal Rumble is coming up. And who knows if ‘The Ruler’ finds himself standing across from ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in the 30-man Royal Rumble match this year?

What went into the making of Oba Femi, the character?

This year could be very telling of what WWE has on deck with Oba Femi. Now that he’s poised to be officially called up to the main roster, fans have flagged concerns about the company potentially tweaking some elements of the character that made him a legit monster-type figure on NXT.

In his recent short-term program with Cody Rhodes, ‘The Bringer of War’ didn’t change anything about himself, and he instantly resonated with the live crowds.

Oba Femi
Oba Femi [via- Wrestling Inc]

Speaking of the origins of his on-screen gimmick, the 27-year-old revealed the thought process that went into achieving it. In an interview with BBC Sports, ‘The Ruler’ underscored the importance of humanizing a character and subtly jibed at wrestlers who step out in front of the audiences pretending to be something that they’re not.

Femi, a born Nigerian, speaks with the sort of cadence that a Nigerian man would usually possess. ‘The Destroyer’ affirmed that he wanted to instill an egotistical and poised Nigerian man into the wrestling metaverse. Femi denied any rumors of his mindset influencing young Nigerian kids to follow in his footsteps of becoming a pro wrestler.

‘The Ruler’ said that he himself grew up a fan of professional wrestling, and he’d kill to be a wrestler, as he described it. However, it just didn’t seem plausible to him at the time, with Africa being so far off from the epicenter of WWE, which is the United States.

Oba Femi also clarified that he didn’t necessarily intend to lure kids into wrestling. He instead wanted them to learn that one should dream big enough.

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