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Oba Femi has the physical tools to be WWE’s next big thing, and on the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast, he showed the kind of professionalism WWE demands from its top talent.
When hosts O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson asked if he was shocked to drop the NXT Championship at No Mercy to Ricky Saints, Femi said, “No. It’s a job, you understand, and I am very well aware of that. Whatever the booker wants.”
He explained that wrestlers are “tools” to execute the vision of creative leaders Shawn Michaels and Paul Levesque.
“When people lose sight of that, that’s when they get caught up in their feelings,” Femi said. “When I did that, I was like, ‘I’m sure there’s a good reason why,’ and I went with it.”
Jefferson praised his mindset, saying Femi is “already ahead of the curve” because many people don’t understand that perspective.
At the time, Femi was in the midst of one of NXT’s most dominant title reigns — 262 days — when he was beaten cleanly by Saints in September. He regained the title from Saints in December at Deadline, but vacated it 31 days later following his call-up to the main roster.
Femi is currently listed as a “free agent” on WWE’s roster page.
A Possible Test
In the past, WWE’s agents and bookers sometimes tested talent by booking them to lose to gauge their attitude.
In a 2021 interview with Wrestling Shoot Interviews, veteran journeyman Steve Lombardi recalled a 1987 incident where he told second-year pro the Ultimate Warrior that the agents would test him by telling him he had to lose to Lombardi.
“I just told Warrior to say, ‘Anything you want, anything you want,’” Lombardi said, adding that it helped him a lot as less than three years later, Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania VI.
Big Man Sees Big Picture
It’s unclear whether Femi’s title loss was meant as a test or if Shawn Michaels — NXT’s creative head — simply saw value in Saints having a brief run as champion.
Either way, Femi understands the system and is responding the way WWE likes. He’s saying the right things publicly, putting the company first and prioritizing business. If it was a test, he passed — which is likely why he’s on the main roster today, positioned as a dominant presence.
