Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal) ‘Didn’t See’ Oba Femi Having A Bright Future In WWE During His Early Training In NXT, But Now He’s ‘Completely Blown Away’

WWE

Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal) has admitted that he “didn’t see” Oba Femi having a bright future in WWE when he saw him training in NXT early in his career, but now he’s “completely blown away.”

While he recently suffered his first loss on WWE main roster to Brock Lesnar at Clash in Italy, it’s evident that Oba Femi is destined for major success in WWE.

With a King of the Ring semifinal against Dominik Mysterio now confirmed, which could in turn lead to “The Ruler” earning his first World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at SummerSlam 2026 this August, Femi is on track to become one of the quickest NXT call-up success stories, after only moving to main roster just over four months ago.

Although Oba has found very little but success since beginning with WWE in 2022, his former NXT colleague Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal) admitted during an appearance on Busted Open that he didn’t see the Nigerian star having as high of a ceiling as he has now when watching the beginnings of his journey at the Performance Center.

Dhesi said:

“I love Oba Femi. When I was in NXT two years ago, Oba Femi had just started training and I remember Terry Taylor telling me that this kid has a very very bright future, and at the time I didn’t see it. But as he evolved, as he progressed, as he grew into himself as a superstar, wow. I am completely blown away.”

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Continuing his praise of Oba Femi, Dhesi noted the importance of the viral success of the WWE star’s entrance march, which is recreated by fans on social media and in person at WWE arenas every time he makes his way to the ring.

Predicting that Femi’s march could “transcend wrestling” and break through into pop culture, Dhesi said:

“Now I’m going to make a bit of a controversial statement: wrestling, actual in-ring wrestling, is one of the least interesting parts of the wrestling business to a wrestler. I’m all about the aura, the showmanship, the story. So obviously Oba, that entrance, it reminds me of Alex Pereira’s entrance in UFC when he does the march and he points the arrow and releases it and the crowd goes crazy.

“The Oba march, wow. That march is going to transcend wrestling, it’s going to be in pop culture if it isn’t already. It’s just so catchy and super cool, especially when he does it. It’s one of those viral things where people can film themselves doing it, it’s a way of interacting with fans and building that connection.”

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Raj Dhesi Names The One Piece Missing From The Oba Femi Puzzle

While Raj Dhesi is full of praise for Oba Femi, and believes he has all the tools for success in WWE, he says he’s still been left wanting more from “The Ruler” when it comes to his personality.

Pitching for WWE to explore more personal elements of Femi’s character, Dhesi said:

“The physicality, incredible. Really, really tremendous athlete. Strong, agile, fast. Highly coachable, I can already tell that, I don’t know that personally but the short time that he’s been wrestling, his understanding far exceeds where he should be, compared to others that I’ve seen… 

“The thing that I want to see the most from Oba is more of his personality, more of his struggle. I’m a story guy, I want to know about his journey from Nigeria coming to America. I believe he was a Shot Putter from college, tell me about that journey. Tell me what it was like growing up. Bring some personal elements into it.

“And I do think it’s going to be brought out in due time, I think that’s the piece of the puzzle that’s missing: that true connection. The physicality’s there, the look is there, the aura is there, the promo is there.”

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• wwe
• Jinder Mahal
• Oba Femi
• raj dhesi

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