Oba Femi is the next big thing on the WWE main roster.
During an appearance on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast that was released this week, the former NXT World Champion spoke about his memorable moment in the 2026 Royal Rumble with the previous “Next Big Thing” — Brock Lesnar.
Also during the discussion, the emerging WWE main roster Superstar touched on a special moment behind-the-scenes with John Cena after Cena’s retirement match, getting to work the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show that included Cena’s retirement and more.
The following are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his memorable appearance in the 2026 Royal Rumble and how he didn’t think fans in Saudi Arabia would be “hip to his stuff”: “The Rumble debut was more of a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think the Saudi crowd would be hip to [my] stuff, so shoutout to the Saudi crowd. I slept on them. I’m there, I’m not doing anything. There’s no planned meet and greets for me because I was supposed to be a surprise. The one time I ended up leaving the hotel, those people who saw me and recognized me and they did the chant. I was like, ‘Oh, okay, maybe I’ll be okay come Rumble night.’ Very pleasant surprise. Saudi, I apologize, you guys know what’s going on.”
On his brief interaction with Brock Lesnar in the 2026 Royal Rumble and how they were careful not to give too much in that isolated moment: “There so much nuance to that moment because there’s one thing to have buzz online, but a lot of times, buzz online doesn’t necessarily translate to what the casual crowd or the live crowd wants. At the beginning stages of the face off, me and Brock know that based on our reaction, we both have the understanding that there might be something here. They’re getting louder, they’re getting louder, it’s rumbling, we have something. In that moment, you have that mental agreement like yes, we know we have something so let’s not give away too much right now. I’m glad it got the reaction, I’m glad the IWC desires actually translates to the live crowd and what’s the casual fans want to see. That’s an amazing realization. We have something there, it’s a big money fight. We’re not going to blow our load on just a Rumble interaction, there’s so much more than can happen there. We’ll see down the line.”
On working the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show that included John Cena’s retirement match and how he wanted to work with Cena: “It was a feeling of privilege for sure because that is another short list, the number of people who got to perform at John Cena’s retirement match. It’s very symbolic that John’s end is my beginning and that fact I kind of enjoy. I really wanted to work with John, I was really hoping and praying like, don’t go too fast. I was really hoping to you know work with him, especially when a lot of people were putting fire under the idea of me being the one to retire him and stuff like that. I had already rubbed minds with John in the past, he had given me advice and he had seen me wrestle before. He knew who I was and what I was all about. He had good things to say about me, whatever he felt like was a correction or something I could do better, he always told me. I’m glad that before that day came, I was at least able to have some sort of relationship with John.”
On being part of a little-known special moment with John Cena and others backstage after Cena’s retirement match: “A lot of people don’t know this, but after the show, John came back to the locker room with all the boys and he shared one last toast and took shots with us. I’m glad that I got to be a part of that, it really showed how humble he was. No matter how big he got in WWE or Hollywood, he was at his core still one of the boys. Respect to John.”
Watch the complete No-Contest Wrestling podcast interview with Oba Femi via the YouTube player embedded below.
