Bully Ray revealed a backstage moment from WWE SummerSlam between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi that took place after their Hell in a Cell match on August 1.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, the WWE Hall of Famer said he was in Lesnar’s locker room after the show when Femi knocked on the door. According to Ray, Femi went in to thank Lesnar for the match and for passing the torch to him in front of the Minneapolis crowd.
The private exchange went beyond what played out on air. After Femi won the Hell in a Cell, Lesnar embraced him, grabbed a mic, and called him the future of WWE. The win gave Femi a 2-1 edge in their trilogy — he also won at WrestleMania 42, while Lesnar took the rematch at Clash in Italy.
Lesnar made it official days later. On August 4, he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and confirmed the SummerSlam match was his last.
Lesnar said he had considered retirement after WrestleMania, came back because he believed he still had something left, but decided to walk away for good in Minnesota.
Before that public confirmation, Femi had already moved forward on the August 3 RAW. In his first segment after SummerSlam, he asked Paul Heyman to thank Lesnar on his behalf. Later that night, Femi declared that the future had arrived before coming face-to-face with Bron Breakker.