Oba Femi Biography: Early Life, Career, Family & Net Worth
Oba Femi (born on April 22, 1998) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former shot putter. He is signed to WWE from the NXT Championship division.
He has won the NXT Championship twice and the NXT North American Championship once. After signing with WWE’s NIL programme in 2021, Odugbesan won the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament and the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor challenge.
In 2026, Femi came to prominence after accepting Brock Lesnar’s open challenge and defeating him at WrestleMania 42.
Oba Femi Biography
Isaac Odugbesan was born in Lagos on April 22, 1998, as the son of Maria and Niyi Odugbesan. He has been a fan of professional wrestling since the age of six, and his favourite wrestlers are Triple H and The Undertaker.
Odugbesan attended the University of Lagos and earned 10 shot put medals in the Nigerian University Games Association during his freshman year in 2016.
In the fall of 2017, he moved to the United States to pursue a track and field scholarship at Middle Tennessee State University, where he was named Conference USA Male Freshman of the Year and an outdoor first-team All-USA pick.
Femi transferred to the University of Alabama in 2019, where he studied studio arts and won the shot put title at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2021 and 2022, after also winning the outdoor title the previous year. In May 2022, he received his degree in visual arts.
Career
Following a WWE audition in August 2021, Odugbesan joined on December 8 as part of the company’s new Next In Line programme, which aims to groom college athletes into potential WWE wrestlers. In August 2022, he reported to the WWE Performance Centre.
The following month, Odugbesan made his NXT on-screen debut as a Chase University student during a pep rally segment. He made his NXT live event debut on November 11 and lost to Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo.
On the November 18 edition of NXT Level Up, he made his ring debut as Oba Femi and lost to Dante Chen. Femi made his NXT debut on April 25, 2023, defeating Oro Mensah at Spring Breakin’.
After a hiatus from television, he won the 2023 Men’s NXT Breakout Tournament by defeating Riley Osborne in the finals on January 2, 2024, at NXT: New Year’s Evil, earning a contract for a championship opportunity for any title he desired.
The following week, Femi cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract and defeated Dragon Lee to win the NXT North American Championship, making him the first Next In Line (NIL) programme graduate to win a WWE championship while also portraying himself as a heel.
Femi would go on to defend the title against Lee at NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, Dijak and Josh Briggs in a triple threat match at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, Wes Lee in a triple threat match (also involving Joe Coffey) at NXT Battleground on June 9, and a last chance match at NXT Heatwave on July 7, and Tony D’Angelo at NXT No Mercy on September 1.
On October 5, Femi surpassed Wes Lee’s title run of 269 days, becoming the NXT North American Champion with the longest reign. On October 8, during Week 2 of NXT’s CW premiere, Femi dropped the championship to D’Angelo, bringing his reign to a stop after 273 days and his first loss in 2024 after a 30-match winning run.
He failed to reclaim the championship from D’Angelo in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares match on October 27 at NXT Halloween Havoc due to interference from The D’Angelo Family.
Following a brief hiatus, Femi returned to NXT Deadline on December 7, where he won the Iron Survivor Challenge match in place of an injured Eddy Thorpe, earning an NXT Championship match at NXT: New Year’s Evil on January 7, 2025, where he defeated Trick Williams in a triple threat match that also included Thorpe to win the title, becoming the first NIL programme graduate to win a top championship in WWE.
He successfully defended the championship against Austin Theory and Grayson Waller in a three-way match at NXT Vengeance Day on February 15. As part of WWE’s collaboration with TNA Wrestling, Femi appeared on two episodes of Impact! in February. At NXT Roadblock on March 11, Femi defeated TNA X Division Champion Moose to retain the title.
Over the next few months, he successfully defended the title against Williams and Je’Von Evans in a triple threat at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 19, Myles Borne at NXT Battleground on May 25, Yoshiki Inamura at NXT The Great American Bash on July 12, and Evans at NXT Heatwave on August 24.
Femi lost the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints at NXT No Mercy on September 27, bringing his first reign to an end after 263 days, but he reclaimed the title at NXT Deadline on December 6.
As a result, Femi made his main roster debut against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in a non-title Champion vs. Champion battle at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII on December 13, which ended in a no-contest due to interference by Drew McIntyre.
After successfully defending the NXT Championship against Leon Slater at NXT: New Year’s Evil on January 6, 2026, Femi left the championship in the ring. The next day, it was confirmed that Femi had formally vacated the championship, bringing his reign to an end after 32 days.
Over the next few weeks, Femi’s vignettes would appear on both Raw and SmackDown, but he would not join any brand. Femi was the first wrestler to enter the Royal Rumble and defeated five others before being eliminated by Brock Lesnar.
On the March 16 episode of Raw, Femi responded to Lesnar’s open challenge for WrestleMania 42, defeating him on Night 2 of the event on April 19. After overcoming Lesnar, Femi launched a weekly open challenge series, first against Otis.
Oba Femi Wife
Oba Femi’s wife and children are not publicly available.
Oba Femi Net Worth
Oba Femi’s net worth is expected to be between $200,000 and $500,000 by 2026. His earnings are mostly from WWE NXT wages, performance bonuses, product sales, and early sponsorships.
Social Media
Instagram: @oba_of_wwe