Oba Femi has been earmarked for a major feud with Roman Reigns. (Credit: Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE’s presumed WrestleMania 43 main event, a blockbuster first-ever clash between Roman Reigns and Oba Femi, sounds better in theory than it does in reality.
The general consensus is that Reigns, currently Raw’s World Heavyweight Champion, will hold that title all the way through the next WrestleMania in April 2026. The presumption is that “The OTC” will then drop that championship to “The Ruler” on WWE’s biggest stage.
In fact, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (h/t Cageside Seats) has long reported that WWE is holding off on the moumental encounter for WrestleMania: “Dave Meltzer indicated the plan is clear and WWE is thinking to build him up good and proper and save the big world heavyweight championship match against Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 43. It’s too big to do at SummerSlam, so that’s really the only other option.”
The problem, or at least one of the issues, here lies within WWE’s reported belief that Reigns vs. Femi was “too big” for SummerSlam. That, of course, would explain why Femi decided to forego the guaranteed SummerSlam world title match he earned by winning the King of the Ring tournament to instead face and retire Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
After all, if SummerSlam isn’t a big enough occasion for a dream match between Reigns and Femi, then what it is? Well, in WWE’s eyes, the only answer to that question is apparently WrestleMania.
Of course, that’s where that long-term approach neglects the short-term issues created by such a backward booking philosophy. With Reigns as champion, Femi and the rest of the red brand’s main event scene will be stuck in a holding pattern for the next several months.
Consider what just transpired on last week’s Raw when Reigns beat Penta in Mexico in an instant classic. The atmosphere and Penta’s continuously increasing popularity presented WWE with the ideal stage to pull off a shocking title change. Instead, Penta lost as widely expected, and though he’s reportedly now viewed as a main eventer in WWE, he didn’t get the shocking upset world title win over Reigns that absolutely would have cemented him as such.
In just a few weeks, fellow Raw fan favorite LA Knight is likely to suffer a similar fate when he faces Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank. WWE has reportedly actually considered having Knight upset Reigns for the title in New Orleans, likely as the next step in The Bloodline saga. But in reality, WWE has done this song and dance with Knight for the past three years, and no matter how close he comes to winning a world title, he still never has.
That will likely hold true at Money in the Bank, meaning Reigns would continue as champion while Femi, based on recent booking, will be stuck feuding with the never-ending faction The Vision likely until Royal Rumble early next year. With a lack of other viable options for Femi on Raw, he’s going to be doing a lot of twiddling his thumbs until a seemingly inevitable match with Reigns.
This is a stark contrast to the wildly exciting and unpredictable nature of SmackDown’s world title scene. There are currently no fewer than half a dozen WWE stars currently pursuing Sami Zayn’s WWE Championship, a list that includes CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Finn Balor, Gunther, Johnny Gargano, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton.
SmackDown’s stacked WWE title scene has made for enthralling weekly TV, with unexpected title changes that have shockingly made Zayn a two-time WWE Champion in a matter of months. Elsewhere on the blue brand, Orton and Rhodes are feuding, Owens and Punk are pursuing Zayn, and the other aforementioned names are still lurking.
This is a much more intriguing scenario than what’s transpired on Raw, where WWE is just biding its time until the inevitable Femi vs. Reigns match. That’s not even to say that Feigns vs. Remi shouldn’t happen. It’s just that WWE has to get over this obsession that Reigns can only win or lose a title at WrestleMania.
And until that happens, Reigns vs. Femi will be a dream match on paper that has left WWE with a nightmare booking scenario on Raw.
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