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Cody Rhodes Says Current WWE Champion Nearly Took His Ear Off

By Harikesh Shekhar • Published Dec 19, 2025 11:25 EST

Cody Rhodes makes a shocking revelation about this WWE champion on latest podcast episode

WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes faced NXT Champion Oba Femi in a Champion vs. Champion match at Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME) on December 13th. Both superstars went head-to-head and a pumped crowd in Washington, D.C, cheered them on as Oba Femi brought his strength-driven offence against Cody’s contrasting agility and speed-driven offence. The match ended in a no-contest when Drew McIntyre interfered and attacked The American Nightmare.

The match received praise from fans and critics for being an entertaining and well-executed bout. Oba Femi is a young upstart, and with the waves he is making in NXT, it won’t be long before he could be a main-eventer on the main WWE roster alongside the likes of Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.

WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi Nearly Took Cody Rhodes’ Ear Off

The 27-year-old Nigerian wrestler has the charisma to match his wrestling ability and is also good on the mic. These qualities did not escape WWE icon John Cena, as he stated on Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast where he was the latest guest.

Cena said that Oba Femi has an “incredibly bright future ahead of him” and that the SNME match definitely isn’t Cody’s final match with “that behemoth”, as he put it.

To which Rhodes said

“Yeah, nearly took my ear off.” (1:00:30 onwards)

Cena also praised Rhodes for introducing the NXT Champion to a cheering crowd who would cheer The American Nightmare as soon as his music hit. Cena thought that this was a great way to expose the top young talent to the top level at WWE.

Oba Femi is also a former shot putter. In wrestling, he is a two-time NXT Champion as well as a former one-time and longest reigning NXT North American Champion.

Also read: John Cena’s Final Advice To Cody Rhodes Before WWE Retirement

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