Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi is taken into account “the next big thing” in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The 6-foot-6, 310-pound powerhouse defeated legend Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas on April 19, forcing the embellished WWE celebrity into doable retirement.
“I will say that Brock was … one of those guys I idolized when I was growing up, but now I’m here and he’s still here … and I’m the one who’s going to knock him off the throne,” he advised NCS’S Larry Madowo throughout an interview in Stamford, Connecticut, days earlier than the much-anticipated match. “I’ve idolized him, I’ve villainized him, so at WrestleMania when I beat him, I’m going to humanize him. I’ll show him the door.”
Femi, who goes by the moniker, The Ruler, used his signature “fall from grace” transfer to defeat Lesnar in underneath 5 minutes. When explaining the approach’s identify he mentioned, “when you’ve fallen out of favor with the king and you’re no longer special in the king’s eyes, you’ve fallen from grace. So that’s where the name comes from. It’s very symbolic. When my opponents are no longer in favor with The Ruler, they fall from grace.”
The transfer itself includes Femi choosing up an opponent, sitting them on his shoulders, then slamming the opponent to the mat on their again.
And after falling from grace, Lesnar, who dominated the house for nearly 25 years, hung up his boots, actually, leaving them and his gloves in the ring — a standard image of retirement in the sport — permitting Femi to established himself as a top-tier power.
Femi, whose actual identify is Isaac Odugbesank, was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. The 28-year-old says growing up in the west African nation ready him to tackle the world stage.
“The way the country is structured, if you can make it there, if you can survive there, you can survive anywhere. I feel like that’s where the … saying really comes from: ‘Naija no dey carry last,’” he defined. The standard Nigerian Pidgin phrase interprets to “Nigerians never finish last.” It is usually used to convey excellence, resilience and a drive to excel.
Femi additionally credit his Yoruba upbringing with shaping his way of living and work. “The ‘respect culture’ that comes with being Yoruba, you know … it takes you far. You have to bring some element of respect and likability to the table … and that’s one thing that Yoruba people are pretty good at,” he mentioned.
Femi was a school athlete in Nigeria earlier than coming to the US, the place he attended the University of Alabama. He was a standout shot putter there, successful the Southeastern Conference Indoor Shot Put Championship in 2021 and 2022, and the SEC out of doors title in 2022, setting a tossing file of 20.7 meters (67.9 ft) at the faculty.
“I definitely had aspirations to go to the World Championships, to go to the Olympics, to win medals,” he mentioned.
Then, the WWE reached out to him on social media.
“I’m guessing they saw the package, they saw the size, you know, they saw some of my throwing videos. I showcase some sort of intensity during my throwing, so I’m sure that’s what drew them (to me).”
“I qualified for … the 2022 World Championships, but at the time when I found out that I qualified based on points, I was already gearing up to start my WWE journey … I took that piece of information, put it in my pocket and I continued heading towards the WWE because that chapter was closed,” he mentioned.
That chapter isn’t the just one presently closed.
Femi, who routinely picks up grown males and tosses them round the ring with ease, advised Madowo, “we can’t always assume that human beings are one dimensional.” That assertion displays his multifaceted skills completely.
On high of being an achieved shot putter and a world-class wrestler, Femi can be an artist. “As a kid, because they told me I was good at it, I thought I was going to be an artist,” he mentioned.
But Femi, who has a bachelor’s diploma in visible arts, hasn’t drawn in a very long time. “As I grew older, it kind of became a chore,” he mentioned. “It grew to become this factor the place individuals put me in a field, as a result of I used to be good at it. They mentioned, ‘Oh, you are going to be an artist. Oh, he’s good at artwork,’ and it didn’t actually give me the alternative to discover and, you already know, see what I really was good at.
“So after a while there was a little bit of burnout and … it just became something I was good at as opposed to a passion.” But, he provides, it has a “a place in my heart,” and left the door open to probably returning to it sometime.
Not but 30, Femi has already achieved so much, and as for the future, he mentioned he “simply need(s) … to be that image of emotional attachment for some younger little one watching proper now, so once they develop up, they are often like, ‘Wow, I remember watching Oba Femi.’
“I just want to leave an impact on the generation coming up so they can feel how I felt coming up.”
For now, the outlines of that legacy are rising: a proficient artist, an achieved shot putter, and a world-class wrestler — decided to by no means come in final.