While speaking to ABC 33/40, Femi addressed the moment…

“I remember him. I see, you know, I see him on his wide back walking away. I’m like, ‘Wow, that was tough.’ And then I see him spin the block. I’m like, ‘Oh man, what’s going on? What do we have now?’

The post Oba Femi comments on moment with Brock Lesnar that “nobody saw coming” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

While speaking on Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray described what he witnessed backstage after the match…

“When I went to Brock’s door and I knocked on it and Brock opened it up and greeted me with a big smile and open arms and blah blah blah. We just stood there, he had closed the door behind him, and we just stood there in his locker room and we were talking, we were reminiscing. Paul Heyman walked up to us, and me and Paul hugged. We all have a history with one another.

There was a knock at the door. And when Brock Lesnar opened that door, who was on the other side? Oba Femi. And why was Oba Femi coming to Brock Lesnar’s locker room? To thank him.

And as much faith as I have lost in wrestling because I see the watering down of the industry, especially within the locker room, it made me so happy and warmed my heart to see Oba coming to thank Brock. Not just the handshake afterwards, ‘Thanks, brother. I appreciate it.’ It’s the going out of the way to come to the veteran’s locker room and show the appreciation.

And I saw the look on Oba’s face, this was a different person than the Oba Femi in front of the camera. This was the appreciative, younger wrestler coming to pay respect to the veteran who just passed the torch to him.” (quote courtesy of F4WOnline.com)

The post What happened backstage after Oba Femi’s match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

While speaking to Pat McAfee this week, Lesnar announced that he is officially retired from professional wrestling. WrestleVotes Radio noted that despite Lesnar’s comments, there are still high-ranking WWE officials who believe he could be involved with WrestleMania 43 in some capacity.

One source reportedly said that if another match is not planned, the possibility of Lesnar headlining the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Saudi Arabia would be a realistic option. The same source added that they cannot envision Lesnar walking away before one final lucrative appearance in Saudi Arabia, believing the right circumstances and financial offer could bring him back for one more event.

The post What is being said about Brock Lesnar’s status for WWE WrestleMania 43 following retirement announcement appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Plus, is Brock Lesnar really finished? We discuss the rumors surrounding Brock’s retirement, whether this is truly the end of his legendary career, or if there’s still one more comeback left in “The Beast Incarnate.”

The post NoDQ Review 399: Is Brock Lesnar REALLY retired from WWE? SummerSlam 2026 fallout appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com noted the following in regards to what was originally planned for the match…

“In speaking to WWE sources with direct knowledge of the company’s creative this afternoon, we are told that the original plan for the show was for Hell in A Cell to open Summerslam Night One but over the course of SS week, the decision was made (I would assume by Paul Levesque) that Lesnar’s match should close the show given it was HIAC with Lesnar in Minneapolis.”

The source also mentioned that, to the best of their knowledge, Lesnar was not involved in any alterations to the show’s formatting or match order.

The post Backstage news regarding what was originally planned for Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi at SummerSlam appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

While speaking at the post-show press conference, Paul “Triple H” Levesque stated the following about Lesnar…

“One thing I will say about Brock, Brock does not get the credit for being as good as he is because he’s not your prototypical pro wrestler, right? He’s not looked at when you talk about the greats technically in the business. I would put him up there as one of the best of all time. Psychology-wise, in-ring performance-wise, he did it in a completely unique way that was all Brock Lesnar in a believable way.

Sometimes when you saw him in there doing what Brock would do, you would think, ‘Is he off script now?’ He brought a realism and he brought a uniqueness. He brought a bit of that UFC to WWE, and it was awesome to watch.”

The post Triple H says Brock Lesnar “does not get the credit for being as good as he is” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

In a post-match interview, Oba commented on the moment…

“The hug and the public endorsement was definitely a swerve. I did not see that coming. But I knew that deep down, deep down, Brock has always respected me. And he knows that deep down, I respect him as well.

This moment means everything to me. All my hard work, all my dedication, all my years in Nigeria, all my years throwing the shot put, all my years fighting, every single thing has led up to this moment. Destiny has been kind to me. She will never forget me. She will always forgive me. She remembers her son, Oba Femi!”

The post Oba Femi says his public endorsement from Brock Lesnar “was definitely a swerve” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Nic Nemeth aka Dolph Ziggler: “Do you think going forward live events will be that meaningful, actually having like a torch passed down or some knowledge passed down? Or is it more we, we learn in this, in the scenes, and you get to learn from Sean behind the scenes and talk to you in a rehearsal? Either one of these things going forward would be like the better business plan.”

“Brock is hands on with Oba Femi, he sees something special there…”

-Triple H on the role of live events and coaches moving forward in WWE.@siriusxmwwe @TripleH @wwe #bustedopen247 pic.twitter.com/lmDmtmTlwz

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) July 29, 2026

The post Brock Lesnar said to be mentoring Oba Femi behind the scenes ahead of WWE SummerSlam 2026 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

I say that because as of me writing this column, ticket sales have been pretty meh for the WWE. Blame the economy, the market the show is in, people burned out and so and so forth. Whatever the reason, Summerslam has only sold a little over 22 thousand tickets. @Wrestletix on Twitter/X says the show is only set up for around 29,000 tickets to be sold. If you look at the ticket sales map, an entire half of the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will not be used. Now if they were in an arena, 22 Thousand would be a massive sell out. In a stadium that holds over 72 thousand for football games…to say that’s disappointing would be an understatement.

First off, I don’t understand why Summerslam has to be a two day event. They did it last year and last year was forgettable to be honest. I know I can’t remember anything about that show that was special without looking it up. This year’s show is shaping up to be the same way. Hell in A Cell aside, is there really anything about this show that screams “I HAVE TO SEE THAT”. I’m being generous with the HIAC match too because I really don’t see a logical reason for it. Brock Lesnar all ready got his win back against Femi…so what’s the real point of this match?

Had they held off Lesnar’s return for a few months rather than having him come back right away for that Clash in Italy show, it would have made more sense. He could have attacked Oba after he won the King of the Ring and set up all of this. The story we have for this match is Brock is undefeated in HIAC matches and Oba is looking to end him once and for all. I will say this though. On RAW on Monday Night, Paul Heyman delivered a great promo video about the match. But when does Paul Heyman ever not deliver a great promo? Heyman can sell you a match. Question is will anyone buy it?

Moving along to more problems the WWE has with Summerslam, Rhea Ripley is out with some sort of injury. Instead of stripping her of the WWE Women’s Championship, the WWE is creating an interim WWE Women’s Champion that will be decided in a ladder match at Summerslam. Every other champion that gets hurt or whatever and can’t defend their title have been stripped. Why is Rhea so damn special that she gets to keep her title till she comes back. And make no mistake, she will be keeping her title no matter who wins the ladder match to become the interim champion.

I like Rhea, I really do. So I don’t want be one of these guys on the net who bashes her. But if she’s injured…just take the title off her. It’s not like she needs the title to be over. You know me, I prefer a good chase in my championship feuds. Have her be stripped of the title and have a good heel hold that belt while she’s in the hunt.

As of my writing this, so far it’s Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargil in the ladder match. I love Tiffy Time, but they made a huge mistake having her win over Jacy Jayne. She’s all ready the Women’s US Champion. What does she need to be in this match for? If you want a good heel to hold that title…look no further than Jacy Jayne. She did really well as NXT Women’s champion and with Fallon Henry and Lainey Reid would provide great interference for a Jayne title run while she fends off Rhea Ripley.

So yeah this “Interim” championship makes no sense to me.

One feud that does make some sense is the feud between GUNTHER and Nick Aldis. I don’t know if they needed a Summerslam match, but I’m glad Aldis is getting back into the ring. I always found him to be a really good wrestler and I think the WWE fans who live in a bubble and have never seen anything of his since it’s outside the bubble will be pleasantly surprised. Aldis should give Gunther a competitive match, but ultimately I see Gunther winning this one.

It’s funny how WWE Unreal has debuted over on Netflix and I’ve seen some comments from people saying the show proves how disorganized creatively the WWE is. Well, I’m probably being nice by saying that. As you have probably guessed by the tone of this column, the WWE is all over the place creatively. I didn’t even hit on CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes. In last week’s column I posted a link to a report RIGHT HERE on NoDQ.com about how the USA Network wanted Punk because they see him as a top star. Honestly between Punk and Rhodes…one of them needs to turn heel. Punk is so naturally a heel, it makes sense it would be him. But if the WWE really wanted to throw things up and shake em, Cody would turn heel on Punk. I know it won’t happen because the WWE makes too much money off all that Cody merchandise. You just know there is a heel dying to come out of Cody Rhodes.

Summerslam is a real test for the booking strategy of Triple H and company. If the show falls flat, what does that say for their long term planning for the rest of the year and beyond. RAW has been pretty ho-hum lately and Smackdown isn’t that far behind. I mean things can change. They always do.

On that note I am done for this week. I need to try and write more about AEW next time because being all WWE all the time can get boring. AEW Redemption is on PPV this weekend and from a wrestling standpoint it looks like it should deliver as a top notch show. As we know, wrestling isn’t AEW’s problem.

So yeah as always you can leave feedback down below, over on Twitter or e-mail me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: The Problems with Summerslam 2026 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

It was noted by Twitter/X account @DreamWresling that WWE heavily edited Lesnar’s appearance in the Netflix replay of RAW. During his entrance, multiple camera angles were used to minimize the visibility of his “TALK SH*T, GET HIT” t-shirt. Brock was also edited out of Oba Femi’s promo segment as much as possible.

DreamWresling provided a side-by-side comparison…

In the Netflix replay, they have insanely edited Brock Lesnar’s entrance with multiple camera angle just because he was wearing a “TALK SHIT, GET HIT” T-shirt.

They even edited Brock out of Oba’s promo too.

Man, the way Netflix over-censors and alters stuff is so lame. pic.twitter.com/sibgntLsVr

— DREAM (@DreamWresling) July 16, 2026

The post Brock Lesnar’s segment with Oba Femi from WWE RAW heavily edited in Netflix replay appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.