Add as a preferred source on Google Oba Femi giving up his SummerSlam title shot was not a decision WWE made on the fly.
At Night of Champions, Femi defeated Jey Uso in the King of the Ring finals and earned a world title opportunity at SummerSlam. However, on the following Monday Night RAW in Atlantic City, Brock Lesnar returned alongside Paul Heyman, and the direction quickly changed.
After being attacked by Lesnar, Femi grabbed a microphone and challenged “The Beast” to a match at SummerSlam in Minneapolis. Lesnar accepted, but added one condition: the match would take place inside Hell in a Cell.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE always intended for Femi to pass on his SummerSlam title match. The idea is to build Roman Reigns vs. Oba Femi as the biggest possible match for the future.
“He’s going to get his championship match. I think it’ll be at WrestleMania … Maybe Brock didn’t want to make the trip, or maybe they just wanted Oba not to lose twice. I mean, I think from a business standpoint, they got nothing bigger than Roman Reigns against Oba Femi and that’s the WrestleMania match most likely.”
Oba Femi was always planned to turn down his title shot at SummerSlam.
— Cultaholic Wrestling (@Cultaholic) July 3, 2026
The idea behind it is to create Roman Reigns vs Oba Femi as the biggest match possible.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter) pic.twitter.com/L13etp9H2t
With that, the plan would be to avoid handing Femi too big of a loss at this point, especially against Reigns, and extend his presentation as an unbeatable monster until WrestleMania 43.
At SummerSlam, Reigns will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins, while Femi will have his third match against Lesnar. The series between them is currently tied, as Femi won at WrestleMania 42, while Lesnar got his win back at Clash in Italy.
SummerSlam will take place on August 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.