Oba Femi

Femi in April 2025
Personal information
Born	Isaac Odugbesan (1998-04-22)April 22, 1998 (age 27) Lagos, Nigeria
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Isaac Odugbesan Oba Femi[1]
Billed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1]
Billed weight	310 lb (140 kg)[1]
Billed from	Lagos, Nigeria[1]
Trained by	WWE Performance Center[2]
Debut	November 11, 2022

Isaac Odugbesan (born April 22, 1998) is a Nigerianprofessional wrestler and formershot putter. He is signed toWWE, where he performs on theNXTbrand under thering nameOba Femi. He is a formerone-timeNXT Champion as well as a formerone-time and longest reigningNXT North American Champion.

Born in Lagos, Odugbesan competed in track and field during his high school and college years. After signing with the WWE in 2021 through itsNIL program, Obugbesan won the 2023NXT Men's Breakout Tournament and2024 Men's Iron Survivor Challenge.

Isaac Odugbesan was born inLagos on April 22, 1998,^[2][3] the son of Maria and Niyi Odugbesan.^[4] He has been a fan ofprofessional wrestling since the age of six, withTriple H andThe Undertaker being his favorite wrestlers.^[5][6] Odugbesan attended theUniversity of Lagos, studying studio art and winning tenshot put medals in theNigerian University Games Association during his freshman season in 2016.^[5][7]

In the fall of 2017, he relocated to the United States to attendMiddle Tennessee State University on a track and field scholarship, being namedConference USA Male Freshmen of the Year and an outdoor first-team All-USA selection.^[6][8] Odugbesan transferred to theUniversity of Alabama in 2019,^[4] where he won the shot put title at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2021 and 2022, also winning the outdoor title the year prior.^[5] He officially graduated in May 2022 with adegree invisual arts.^[9]

On December 8, 2021, Odugbesan signed withWWE as part of its newNext In Line program to develop college athletes into potential WWE wrestlers.^[2] Following his graduation, he began training at theWWE Performance Center.^[9] He made his in-ring debut at anNXTlive event on November 11, 2022, losing toChanning "Stacks" Lorenzo.^[10] Under thering nameOba Femi, he made his on-screen debut on the November 18 episode ofNXT Level Up, losing toDante Chen.^[11] In his formal NXT debut, Femi defeatedOro Mensah atSpring Breakin' on April 25, 2023.^[12] After a hiatus from television, he won the2023 Men's NXT Breakout Tournament by defeatingRiley Osborne in the finals on January 2, 2024, atNXT: New Year's Evil, earning a contract for a championship opportunity for a title of his choosing.^[5]

The following week onNXT, Femi cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract and defeatedDragon Lee to win theNXT North American Championship, becoming the first Next In Line (NIL) program graduate to win a championship in WWE.^[13] Femi would go on to retain the title against Lee atNXT Vengeance Day on February 4,^[14]Dijak andJosh Briggs in atriple threat match atNXT Stand & Deliver on April 6,^[15]Wes Lee in a triple threat (also involvingJoe Coffey) atNXT Battleground on May 25 andlast chance match atNXT Heatwave on July 7,^[16][17] andTony D'Angelo atNXT No Mercy on September 1.^[18] On October 5, Femi surpassed Wes Lee's 269 day title reign, thus becoming the longest-reigning NXT North American Champion.^[19] At Week 2 ofNXT's CW premiere on October 8, Femi lost the title to D'Angelo, ending his reign at a record 273 days and suffering his first loss in 2024 after a 30 match winning streak.^[20] He failed to regain the title from D'Angelo in aTables, Ladders and Scares match on October 27 atNXT Halloween Havoc, after interference fromThe D'Angelo Family.^[21]

After a short hiatus, Femi returned atNXT Deadline on December 9, where he entered theIron Survivor Challenge match in place of an injuredEddy Thorpe and won, earning anNXT Championship match againstTrick Williams atNXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025,^[22] where he defeated Williams in a triple threat match also involving Thorpe to win the title, becoming the first NIL program graduate to win a top championship in WWE.^[23][24] He successfully defended the title againstAustin Theory andGrayson Waller in a triple threat match atNXT Vengeance Day on February 15.^[25] AtNXT Roadblock on March 11, Femi defeatedTNA X Division ChampionMoose to retain the title.^[26] Over the following months, he successfully defended the title against Williams andJe'Von Evans in a triple threat atNXT Stand & Deliver on April 19,^[27]Myles Borne atNXT Battleground on May 25,^[28]Yoshiki Inamura atNXT The Great American Bash on July 12,^[29] and Evans atNXT Heatwave on August 24.^[30] AtNXT No Mercy on September 27, Femi lost the NXT Championship toRicky Saints, ending his reign at 263 days.^[31] He returned on the November 11 episode ofNXT to confront Saints.^[32]

AfterMoose confronted Femi on the February 18, 2025 episode ofNXT,^[33] he appeared forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the February 20 episode ofImpact!, confrontingThe System.^[34] The following week onImpact!, Femi andTNA Tag Team ChampionsThe Hardys (Jeff Hardy andMatt Hardy) lost to The System in asix-man tag team match.^[35]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 14 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in thePWI 500 in 2025^[36]
• WWE
  • NXT Championship (1 time)^[37]
  • NXT North American Championship (1 time)^[38]
  • NXT Men's Breakout Tournament (2023)
  • Men's Iron Survivor Challenge (2024)
  • NXT Year-End Award (2 times)
    • Match of the Year (2024) –vs.Dijak andJosh Briggs atNXT Stand & Deliver^[39]
    • Male Superstar of the Year (2024)^[39]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toIsaac Odugbesan.

• Oba Femi's profile atWWE,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database

• 1998 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Lagos
• Nigerian men shot putters
• NXT Champions
• NXT North American Champions
• Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's track and field athletes
• Alabama Crimson Tide men's track and field athletes
• Nigerian male professional wrestlers
• 21st-century male professional wrestlers
• 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen
• WWE personnel

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata