Exclusive on why WWE had Oba Femi give up SummerSlam title shot
In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer shed some light on WWE’s decision to have Oba Femi give up the World title shot he earned through King of the Ring.
Meltzer reports that Femi forgoing the SummerSlam title shot was always WWE’s plan. The idea is to continue building up Femi vs. Roman Reigns as the biggest match possible for when it does happen down the road. WrestleMania would presumably be the destination, though Meltzer does not know that for sure:
- 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. 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.
- 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.
Femi vs. Lesnar in Hell in a Cell and Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight title are two of the biggest matches on the SummerSlam card. The PLE is being held at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on August 1-2.
Oba Femi’s King of the Ring win and SummerSlam decision —
At Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia last weekend, Femi was crowned King of the Ring by defeating Jey Uso in the finals. The King & Queen of the Ring tournaments each had SummerSlam World title shots at stake, but WWE ran an angle on Raw where Femi accepted a challenge from Lesnar instead. They have a 1-1 record going into this trilogy bout.
“The title is always going to be there,” Femi said in a promo. “The championships are not going anywhere. I’ll take that when I want it.”
IYO SKY won Queen of the Ring and will be challenging Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan at SummerSlam.
The full new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which includes notes on WWE’s plans for the SummerSlam card, can be accessed here by subscribers.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.