Published: Apr 18, 2026 by Jamie Toolan | Last Updated: Apr 18, 2026 by Jamie Toolan
Jamie has been covering the world of wrestling for four years and currently holds the position of Assistant Editor of WrestleTalk.com. During his time working for WrestleTalk.com he has written and published over 4,000 news and feature articles covering events and happenings from WWE, AEW, TNA and a variety of international and independent wrestling promotions.
WWE
Paul Heyman has heaped praise on Oba Femi ahead of his WWE WrestleMania 42 match with Brock Lesnar.
In what has been confirmed to be the opening bout of WrestleMania 42 Night Two this Sunday, Oba Femi will compete at his very first WrestleMania as he takes on “The Beast” Brock Lesnar.
While Femi had a brief feud with Rusev beforehand, Femi’s rivalry has been his first major program on WWE’s main roster since being called up from NXT at the 2026 Royal Rumble.
The fan investment in the 27-year-old has been evident for anyone tuning in to watch his meetings with Lesnar, and expectations are understandably high for the Nigerian star’s future in WWE.
During an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show ahead of Lesnar vs. Femi, Heyman was asked if “The Ruler” is as great as everybody has been saying he is, to which Heyman replied:
“Yeah. He’s poised, he’s calm. He knows it. He knows it but it’s with no arrogance.
“He’s not walking around saying, ‘Yeah, I know it all, you bitches just bow down and kiss my ass.’ And it’s not that way, you sit there and you look in his eyes and you realize he’s not nervous. He’s not flinching. It’s not overwhelming to him…
“He calls himself ‘The Ruler’ Oba Femi and that’s exactly what he was born to do. He was born to rule.”
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Stephen A. would then mention that Heyman sounded more confident when talking about Femi than he ever has when talking about Lesnar, and the WWE Hall of Famer explained why that was an “accurate” assessment:
“It is, except for one reason. I would love someone that I could look at and say, ‘That man can beat Brock Lesnar. That man is bigger than Brock Lesnar, than man is faster than Brock Lesnar, that man is a better combat athlete than Brock Lesnar.’
“Because that’s when Brock Lesnar gets challenged. The problem for Brock Lesnar in life is it’s tough to find a challenge for him. It’s tough to find someone that can make him raise his levels…
“Yes Brock Lesnar has lost in life but who amongst us has not suffered a defeat? But it’s those that come back. What’s the first lesson you learned when you were a kid and you’re riding a bike? You fall off, you get back on. It’s the first thing your parents teach you about riding a bike.
“Same thing in athletics, you can’t win a Super Bowl every year, but if you lose one or two of them, you want it even more the next year.”
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Both Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi separately signed contracts for their WrestleMania 42 match on the April 13 episode of Raw
Heyman then confirmed that he wants a victory over Oba Femi more than any other match in recent memory, due to Femi being a true match for Lesnar and someone who can push him to be at his best:
“Finally there’s somebody who can push Brock Lesnar and we can see what Brock Lesnar’s limits are. We can see what Brock Lesnar’s limits are. We can see what Brock Lesnar’s capable of cuz otherwise it’s just Brock Lesnar sitting there going, “I’ll just take this guy to Suplex City, I’ll go home, I’ll have a steak.’
“But this man, this Oba Femi, the momentum he’s riding, the physicality that he brings, the sheer violence that he now returns to WWE is going to enable us to present the best Brock Lesnar ever.”
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