Surprising Update On WWE’s Plans For Oba Femi

What’s next for Oba Femi?

At No Mercy, Oba Femi’s long run with the NXT Championship came to an end at the hands of Ricky Saints. Femi had held the title for an impressive 263 days after dethroning Trick Williams back at New Year’s Evil.

Oba Femi has enjoyed an impressive rise since signing with the company, and fans and critics alike are now tipping him to make a huge splash on the main roster. Most recently, Booker T said that he’s got no doubt that Oba Femi can take the main roster by storm, starting right now.

Will Oba Femi Stay in NXT?

Despite those comments and a general feeling that a main roster call-up won’t be far away, things might not be that straightforward. According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there are still plans for Femi in NXT.

However, this note comes with the sizable caveat that WWE is giving little away when it comes to call-ups.

“This is one of those things where the answer as far as everyone knows is no, in the sense Femi is still in the plans for NXT going forward. However, they do swerve people and tell almost nobody about call-ups a lot of the time so people who should know get blindsided. So it’s a no as far as just about anyone knows, but there is no such thing as a 100 percent no.”

This ties into another recent report that suggested WWE is playing NXT call-ups “much closer to the vest” than in the past.

WWE is being more selective and flexible when it comes to moving prospects to Raw and SmackDown. In theory, this allows for a smoother transition and better long-term planning, rather than abruptly removing stars from NXT storylines as has been the case in the past.