Oba Femi has taken WWE by storm in 2026. (Credit: Andrea Kellaway/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE, after a few years of being scorching hot, is slowly but surely cooling off.
It was just in 2023 that WWE was in the midst of its biggest boom period in nearly three decades. WWE’s revitalization was propelled largely by the returns of CM Punk and Cody Rhodes as well as the rise of Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. Now, however, things aren’t going so swimmingly.
Raw viewership is down. So is SmackDown’s. Meanwhile, WWE’s sky-high ticket prices, especially at the beginning of 2026, have been a point of contention among fans throughout the year.
That’s why it may not be a coincidence that WWE is relying heavily on the two names who were at the forefront of that boom that began a few years ago: Reigns and Rhodes. “The American Nightmare” is, unsurprisingly, the WWE Champion on SmackDown while Reigns holds Raw’s World Heavyweight Champion.
WWE is clearly going to the well one more time in hopes that what has worked over the past few years will continue to work now and into the future. But here’s an out-of-the-box idea: why not try something new instead?
Enter Oba Femi.
Next Saturday’s WWE Night of Champions events marks a true crossroads for the company. Rhodes will defend his WWE title in a triple threat match against Gunther and Sami Zayn. Meanwhile, Reigns’ cousin Jey Uso will face Oba Femi in the King of the Ring Tournament finals, with the winner of that bout earning a world title shot (against each other world champion) at SummerSlam in August.
What will most likely play out at Night of Champions is that Rhodes somehow retains his WWE Championship while Uso defeats Femi to win the KOTR, likely due to interference from Brock Lesnar. That would set up a few key SummerSlam matches, including Uso vs. Rhodes for the WWE title and Lesnar vs. Femi III in what would likely be Lesnar’s retirement match.
That is the most probable scenario. It’s also the safest possible route WWE can take. Instead, WWE has the perfect platform to go all in on Femi, which is exactly what the creative team should do.
When WWE turned things around creatively speaking in late 2022 and into 2023, it did so thanks in large part to the huge additions of Punk and Rhodes. In 2026, WWE has seen an influx of talent on Raw and SmackDown that isn’t as well-established but is incredible in its own right. That list includes Femi, Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans, just to name a few.
None, however, has made a bigger splash than “The Ruler.”
In a matter of mere weeks after his main roster debut, Femi made the type of impact that a WWE star can only dream of. His crowd reactions were almost instantly and continue to be among the loudest in WWE, the type of seismic wrestling “pops” that make fans believe he’s already a main event star.
Indeed, Femi is just that, even despite a questionable loss to Lesnar in their second match at Clash in Italy last month. Common sense says that the Lesnar vs. Femi rubber match is a virtual lock for SummerSlam. But this is one of those times that WWE shouldn’t play it safe.
Rhodes as WWE Champion is old news. Reigns as world champion in the middle of the latest drama with The Bloodline is old news, too. Femi as the King of the Ring winner and eventual world champion would not be.
At Night of Champions, WWE has the choice to crown Uso as its king and keep its top title on Rhodes. It also has the choice to put the WWE Championship on Gunther or Zayn and to crown “The Ruler” as its king. Which choices WWE makes will go a long way toward keeping WWE in its creative rut or digging itself out of it.
If WWE decides to hold off on Femi’s world title push just for the sake of Lesnar’s retirement match, it will be playing a long game that it also a dangerous one. With such a cold product right now, WWE needs to do what it takes to get hot again, and Femi as world champion will do that.