Oba Femi

Oba Femi is a Nigerian professional wrestler and a former shot putter signed to WWE where he works on the NXT brand, as of October 2024. The youngest NXT North American Champion formerly held the title for 273 days. His reign was the longest in the history of that title. Before joining WWE, Femi was a track and field athlete.

Early Life

Oba Femi’s real name is Isaac Odugbesan. He was born on May 21, 2001 in Lagos, Nigeria. Odugbesan was quite involved in sports from a very young age and had won several medals in track and field before his high school graduation. Thanks to his exceptional track and field record, he earned a student-athlete scholarship at Middle Tennessee State University.

There he won the Conference USA title before moving to the University of Alabama in 2019. At the University, he won the Shot Put Title at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, he won the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championship as well.

Also Read: Oba Femi Parents

WWE Career (2021-present)

While he was still attending the University of Alabama, Odugbesan was signed by WWE to its Performance Center on December 8, 2021. There, he was signed as a part of the WWE Next In Line program, a program by WWE to develop college athletes into potential WWE Superstars. After being trained, he made his professional wrestling debut on the November 15, 2022, episode of NXT Level Up, where he came up short of the high-flyer Dante Chen. He made his debut under the ring name Oba Femi

Femi failed to register a win on Level Up until February and then made his NXT debut in April 2023 at Spring Breakin. At the event, Femi defeated Oro Mensah and went on an indefinite hiatus thereafter. He then made his return in December that year in the NXT Breakout Tournament. He defeated Myles Borne in the first round, Tavion Heights in the second round, and Riley Osborne in the third round at NXT New Year’s Evil to win the tournament. He also received the Breakout contract.

Next week, on the January 9 episode of NXT, he cashed in his Breakout tournament to face NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee for the title. He defeated Lee and became the new champion, the youngest in the title’s history. He also became the first African superstar to win the North American Championship and the first wrestler from WWE’s Next in Line program to hold any title in the promotion.

He defended his title in a triple-threat match at NXT Vengeance Day, NXT Stand & Deliver, Spring Breakin, NXT Heatwave, and NXT No Mercy. Femi faced opponents like Dijak, Josh Briggs, Ivar, Tony D'Angelo, etc. He went on to beat the 269-day title reign of Wes Lee as an NXT North American Champion. he lost his title to his former opponent Tony D'Angelo at NXT's CW premiere. This defeat was also Femi's first one in 2024 which broke his 30-match unbeaten streak.

Also Read: Oba Femi Salary

Oba Femi Awards and Achievements

Oba Femi Family

Oba Femi's family consists of his mother Maria Belleh Odugbesan, his father Niyi Odugbesan, and his brother Bio Bio. Maria, 58, works as an HR Manager and is associated with the restaurant and hospitality industry. She mainly deals with operational tasks, services, HR operations, etc. Apart from the name, no details are available in the public domain on Femi's father Niyi Odugbesan.