Oba Femi revealed as the next big thing – a spectacular way to kick off RAW

Way back 2020, the new WWE fans probably witnessed Brock Lesnar’s monumental feat at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event when he eliminated 13 consecutive men at the Royal Rumble match. I had high hopes that this might be Keith Lee, one of the NXT pillars, will finally have his breakout moment, but it was not what I thought. Keith Lee, a swift-moving and athletic giant known for having such aura and confidence when competing inside the ring, went toe to toe with Lesnar, however he was eliminated after a few minutes. I have nothing but high praises for him at that time.

Moving forward this 2026, several wrestlers are walking to the sunset, making retirement tours and matches, including the 17-time WWE Champion John Cena. Brock Lesnar might be next, and as much as we want him out due to his villainous, final boss-like persona (my apologies to The Rock), our day is not complete without sending someone to Suplex City.

That changed during the opening moments of the March 16th episode of Raw when the lights went out, a monstrous theme song played, and a giant went out of the titantron dancing his signature entrance. This might be one of the Beast Incarnate’s final tests inside the squared circle. The one and only Oba Femi, a former champion in WWE NXT.

This was a great Raw opening in a long time where it was action-packed, and full of grit from wrestlers in their respective feuds and storylines heading to WrestleMania 42. Paul Heyman’s no-sleep face look also expressed his distress from being a victim of an assault from Rollins at Elimination Chamber. Oba Femi’s surprise appearance topped Heyman’s sudden revelation of Lesnar from the LED entrance as a revenge attack.

As “The Oracle” Paul Heyman is trying to take his personal vendetta against the former “The Vision” leader Seth Rollins, Heyman tries to hijack Seth’s promo during the first few moments of Raw to send out Lesnar to the ring and attack everyone in its path. Brock gave several members of the unknown men in black masks with German Suplexes.

Soon after, when Lesnar was distracted by Seth Rollins, Oba Femi made his signature “Fall from Grace” finisher to Lesnar in the middle of the ring. As Oba stood up, he stepped on Lesnar’s chest while pointing at the WrestleMania 42 sign sending a clear message to everyone that he wants the Beast Incarnate to be ruled out at “The Grandest Stage of Them All”.

Unfortunately for the fans of Oba Femi though, if this will be one of the few Brock Lesnar matches leading to his retirement, and it is rumored that Brock wants to win these last few matches before retirement, then this might hurt Oba Femi’s potential as the new “next big thing” since Lesnar will leave wrestling as a dominant behemoth while making Oba Femi as a weak contender moving forward.

This might not be the case however, since the fans will actually witness the chemistry of the two wrestlers when they step inside the squared circle. For sure, the match outcome might be a factor, but the overall basis here is how Oba Femi will be presented in that specific match on a big stage. In other words, this match will determine how WWE will cater Oba Femi to the general audience and what will be his direction in the future.

However, WWE should not repeat how they presented Gunther after his triumph against AJ Styles at 2026 Royal Rumble, which is until now, it is still unclear if The Ring General will compete at WrestleMania. Gunther’s presentation, right after Vince McMahon left WWE, was the epitome of a true dominant main roster competitor that has intimidated all opponents since his days at NXT and NXT UK. Gunther’s 666 day Intercontinental Title reign was one of the best, it had good storylines and matches that some even garnered 5 star ratings or more by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Oba Femi must have a concrete direction towards being a future star in WWE rather than being watered down with horrible creative inputs by WWE, which will leave the audience unsatisfied. Although I can see that this might also lead to a future alliance with Seth Rollins just to fully dismantle Paul Heyman and the rest of The Vision, or probably a new stable in sight.

We will see if this will come into fruition as we draw closer to WrestleMania 42.