Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi come face-to-face.
WWE
Oba Femi and Cody Rhodes’ highly entertaining opener ended in a disqualification after Drew McIntyre interfered. This was a back-and-forth match that showcased Oba Femi’s strength and power. Femi controlled most of this match as WWE was clearly intent on promoting its most talented young monster as the future.
As the match grew more heated, with fans split in their support between both Rhodes and Femi, Drew McIntyre interfered by attacking Cody Rhodes. Both Rhodes and Femi got the better of Drew after the match, and Oba Femi certainly leveled up despite the spineless finish.
Much like last night on SmackDown, fans were fully on board with Oba Femi as they chanted his name and yelled “hoo!” during his entrance the way they do in NXT. Win or lose, to borrow a phrase: Oba’s time is now.
Oba Femi Leveled Up Against Cody Rhodes
Last week on SmackDown ahead of NXT Deadline, Cody Rhodes told Ricky Saints and Oba Femi that the winner of their NXT World Championship tilt at Deadline would face Rhodes in a special showcase match on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The John Cena bump gave this match more eyeballs than just about any special showcase outside of WrestleMania.
As loaded as NXT’s current class is, Oba Femi is on the short list of future WrestleMania headliners. Despite only debuting at the end of 2022, Oba Femi has everything a top promotion like WWE desires in a main eventer. Size, strength, speed, athleticism and most importantly charisma. Oba Femi’s aura was undeniable in his one-on-one confrontation with Cody Rhodes on SmackDown. As quickly as he seems to be rising up the main roster ranks, Femi is already a two-time NXT champion in his three years with the promotion.
It feels like a foregone conclusion that Oba Femi will be a main event player, almost from Day 1 of whenever his main roster career begins. But instead of the typically calculated, slow-playing push of a young star, WWE would have been wise to show a sense of urgency with up-and-coming talent to jumpstart their 18-34 viewership. Both the 18-34 and 18-49 key demo have taken a hit under the flawed big data Nielsen ratings system. WWE SmackDown has failed to crack 0.30 in 18-49 for the past two months. The last time SmackDown did such a number was when the September 26 broadcast garnered a 0.35 right before the start of big data.
Oba Femi’s Outlook On The Main Roster
Though Oba Femi just regained the NXT Championship, it’s hard to imagine Femi ends next year in NXT let alone next month. Oba Femi has bigger fish to fry, and seems like a better fit for the main roster than some tenured veterans.
Oba Femi already has the entire package of a sports entertainer ready to connect with a more mainstream WWE audience. Brock Lesnar, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and other top big men make for mouthwatering meat matchups that can propel Femi to the top of the card.
WWE ending this match in a DQ was almost as much of an endorsement of having Oba win outright. Though nobody pines for an inconclusive finish—especially given how much fans paid for tickets—there should be no doubt that WWE has big plans for Oba Femi sooner rather than later.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2025/12/13/wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-results-as-oba-femi-vs-cody-rhodes-is-spoiled/
