Oba Femi’s Career Saving Decision

Money in the Bank was a show that mostly played it very safe. Outside of Penta winning the briefcase in the men’s ladder match, it was more of the same with victories from Roman Reigns, Tiffany Stratton, and Liv Morgan. Stuck in the middle of the show in a match which didn’t have a contract or title on the line was Oba Femi vs. Bronson Reed. As great as it is to see Reed back from injury and jacked to the gills, everyone knew he wasn’t beating the Ruler. Their contest served as time filler as Femi waits for his showdown with Roman Reigns next April at WrestleMania 43. On the Raw after Money in the Bank, Femi’s future became clear during an exchange with a WWE Hall of Famer. The next face of WWE will not have a mouthpiece speaking for him. He will rule alone.

Paul Heyman Has Shown Respect To Oba Femi

• Heyman was Brock Lesnar’s manager in his feud with Oba Femi.
• Femi won the feud and sent Lesnar into wrestling retirement.
• Heyman congratulated Femi and shook his hand.

Oba Femi was an NXT call-up with a ton of potential until the moment he showed up on Raw this spring to answer Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania 42 challenge. From the moment his music hit, and he destroyed the Beast, fans erupted and began chanting his name. Just like that, Femi became the next big thing.

Over his three-match feud with Lesnar, which Femi eventually won at SummerSlam to send Lesnar into retirement, there was Paul Heyman by Brock’s side. He understood exactly how much of a threat Oba was, and even as he tore him down on the mic, he respected his abilities. After SummerSlam, during a backstage Raw segment, Femi told Heyman to thank Lesnar for him. Heyman responded by offering his hand in congratulations and calling him sir.

After all they went through, Heyman had grown to truly respect Femi. That was seen in the Vision’s feud with Femi. No matter how many times Bron Breakker and company knocked him down, Heyman wasn’t impressed. He knew that, as long as the Ruler was still breathing, he wouldn’t stay down.

On Raw, Oba Femi Said He Will Not Be a Paul Heyman Guy

• Femi is ready to move on from the Vision and focus on becoming a world champion.
• His Raw promo was interrupted by an enthusiastic Heyman, who sees Femi as the future.
• Femi does not want to be like Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns.

That respect continued on the October 12 episode of WWE Raw. In a high-energy promo, Femi talked about how he could make everyone who dared go against him bend the knee. To him, he saw the Vision as being his past. Now he can focus on his destiny. It was left unsaid, but that destiny is to become a world champion.

It was then that Paul Heyman came out and told the crowd that Oba is the future of WWE. He said Femi was even better at Money in the Bank than he was in his victories against Brock Lesnar. There is no stopping Femi and Heyman wanted to be part of it. Before he could get to his point, Femi stopped him. He knew why the Hall of Famer was out there.

“With all due respect, I am not Brock Lesnar, I am definitely not Roman Reigns. Those are Paul Heyman guys. I’m an Oba Femi guy!”

Oba Femi Cannot Be Treated Like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar

• WWE often weakly books their biggest superstars.
• Femi will be the face of WWE for years to come, and his character can’t be messed up.
• Femi is better off ruling WWE alone.

WWE has made some bad booking choices of late, and they often do it with their biggest stars. Roman Reigns, although over with fans, is flat as a Tribal Chief who never changes, never evolves. Cody Rhodes is a generic babyface who has the same type of feud and the same promos over and over. CM Punk is a nostalgia act stuck in another decade. And don’t even get us started on how good-guy versions of John Cena and Reigns were treated for years.

Oba Femi is the next face of WWE for a decade plus to come. Everyone can see it. He passes every single test and fans have turned him into perhaps the most over superstar already. Triple H and TKO can’t mess this up. They arguably already have by waiting too long to crown him when he should have beaten Reigns for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam. He has survived that mistake partially because his character is so compelling.

Femi cannot ever be a Paul Heyman guy. He can never have a manager or mouthpiece to help him out. Imagine a scene of Heyman talking into the mic, selling the story in a feud, as Femi stands silently in the background. It doesn’t work. All this would serve to do is make him a clone of what worked in the past with Reigns and Brock Lesnar. He is not those men and shouldn’t be treated as such. He’s a one-man force, a good guy who rules alone. With all he has accomplished already, it would make no sense for him to need someone now. Paul Heyman is a legend and the greatest manager in wrestling history. It speaks to how great Oba Femi is at this early stage that he doesn’t need him. Femi is going to dominate WWE for many years to come and he’ll do it all by himself.