Oba Femi won the 2026 King of the Ring tournament, which earned him a world title match at WWE SummerSlam. However, he gave up that opportunity on WWE RAW.
Femi shocked WWE fans after turning down his guaranteed world title match. The King of the Ring winner instead chose Brock Lesnar for a Hell in a Cell match. The decision surprised many fans watching the show. Many fans have wondered why WWE booked the title shot this way.
WWE reportedly always planned for Oba Femi to reject his title shot
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this was always WWE’s plan. The company reportedly wanted to make a future match between Oba Femi and Roman Reigns feel even bigger.
He said, “The decision was always for Femi to win King of the Ring but turn down his title shot at Reigns for a match with Lesnar. The idea was to create Reigns vs. Femi as the biggest match possible.”
“I can’t say with certainty that means save it for WrestleMania, but my thought going in was that why should he win a shot at Reigns for SummerSlam when it’s too soon and needs more of a chase, and I don’t think his losing the first time to Reigns is the right idea,” he explained.
He also explained that SummerSlam was simply too early. “Of course it did work for Cody Rhodes in the long run. But each person is different. What works for Rhodes would work for Will Ospreay but failed to work for Lex Luger and wouldn’t have worked for Bill Goldberg. Femi is closer to a Goldberg. But SummerSlam was too early.”
Meltzer also believes WWE made the right choice by shifting Femi toward Brock Lesnar instead. He said the rivalry has become one of the hottest stories in the company. He added, “As it turns out, Lesnar vs Femi, which at least based on YouTube numbers and crowd reactions is the hottest program in the company, is now in a Hell in a Cell match.”
“The only ending that would make sense in this one is Femi winning, although with a fan base that doesn’t really care about wins and losses, it probably won’t hurt him to lose. Still, I can’t see an upside in Lesnar winning. His winning the last one was clearly to set up this one,” he said.
Femi is now set to face Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns will challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.
With Femi focusing on Lesnar instead of his guaranteed title shot, it will be interesting to see when he finally cashes in his championship opportunity.
Read More: Oba Femi Traded a WWE Title Shot for Brock Lesnar — Did WWE Elevate or Devalue King of the Ring?
