Nigerian-born professional wrestler, Isaac Odugbesan (Oba Femi) has admitted that he is enjoying a meteoric rise in USA’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is set to highlight one of their historic fight nights just three days to his 28th birthday.
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Sports247 reports that, heading into his battle with maverick American grappler, Brock Lesnar in Las Vegas, Oba Femi recounted the long flight he has taken from obscurity to stardom and admitted he has had a fast-paced surge.
His story becomes more exciting when it is noted that he was an athlete in discuss throw and shot put up till his days as an undergraduate at University of Lagos, where he studied Studio Arts, without any thought of turning to wrestling.
A relocation to God’s Own Country paved the way for Odugbesan, who switched from athletics to grappling and he soon embarked on a voyage through NXT, the WWE’s development ranks, up to the level where the world is now watching.
After being called up to the main roster at the beginning of this year, his popularity has since become stronger than ever and he’s set to battle Brock Lesnar, a future Hall of Famer of the WWE at the biggest wrestling show of the year.
“Your habits, like discipline, you motivate yourself, and you become stronger, emotionally, physically, athletically. You become well rounded as a person. That’s why my rise has been quite meteoric in a sense.
“I had all those qualities doing the shot put, and all I had to do was transfer it over,” reasoned Oba Femi, who left NXT as a two-time champion and a one-time North American Champion.
Born in Lagos on April 22nd, 1998, Oba Femi (aka The Ruler) competed in track and field during his high school and college years then switched to wrestling in the USA and signed up with the WWE in 2021 through its Next In Line programme.
The son of Maria and Niyi Odugbesan had been a fan of wrestling since age six, with Triple H and The Undertaker his favorites, such that he looked set to follow their steps when he won the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament.
Oba Femi also won the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge, two years after his on-screen debut on November 18th, 2022 episode of NXT Level Up, losing to Dante Chen, then beat Oro Mensah at on April 25, 2023 in his formal NXT debut.
He then grew through the ranks, with a handful of victories and some defeats, as he soared into the main WWE status where, on September 27, 2025, he lost the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints, ending his first reign at 263 days.
Oba Femi regained the title on December 6, 2025 at NXT Deadline, then got his main roster debut match against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in a non-title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII on December 13, 2025.
The match ended in a no-contest after interference from Drew McIntyre and, after successfully defending the title against Leon Slater at NXT: New Year’s Evil on January 6, 2026, Femi left the NXT Championship belt in the ring.
The next day, it was revealed that Femi had officially vacated the title, ending his reign at 32 days, only for him to return at Royal Rumble on January 31, 2026, as he entered the namesake match as the first entrant.
He eliminated five wrestlers before he was sent packing by Brock Lesnar, but Oba Femi would begin to transition into a top star, with bouts against Kit Wilson, The Miz, and Rusev across both Raw and SmackDown.
On the March 16th episode of Raw, Femi confronted Lesnar during a dialogue segment, then hit his rival with his Fall From Grace powerbomb and accepted his open challenge for WrestleMania 42, which comes up this Saturday and Sunday.
Sports247 reports that Oba Femi’s bout with Brock Lesner will come up in the early hours of Monday (Nigeria time) as the main event on Day 2 of WrestleMania 42 in La Vegas, USA.
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