WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi shocked the wrestling world during last Tuesday night’s NXT New Year’s Evil special by leaving the NXT Championship in the middle of the ring after successfully defending the title against Leon Slater in the main event, seemingly vacating the belt.
WWE has since confirmed the status of the NXT Championship following Femi’s actions. The official WWE website now lists the NXT Championship as vacant. The announcement reads, “🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 After his victory at #NewYearsEvil, Oba Femi has officially vacated the #WWENXT Championship. Stay tuned for more details.”
Shortly after the show, Femi took to Instagram and commented, “The End is also part of the journey 🪶 FIN!” With his decision to vacate the title, Femi is expected to join the main WWE roster very soon.
Femi had recently regained the NXT Title from Ricky Saints at NXT Deadline 2025. He held the championship for just over 30 days before vacating it.
Femi signed with WWE in late 2021 as part of the NIL program. At last month’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, he competed in a singles match against the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. The match ended in a no-contest due to interference from Rhodes’ bitter rival, Drew McIntyre.
During his time on the NXT roster, Femi became a two-time NXT Champion and a North American Champion. Now, he appears to be preparing for the next phase of his WWE career as part of the main roster.
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