Few things in pro wrestling are bigger than a promotion’s top title.
Brock Lesnar just provided one of those rarities to Oba Femi during and after the main event of SummerSlam, effectively ushering in a new era for WWE.
Granted, Femi took it by force during his expected triumph. But it came during the outright main event over names such as CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. It went down in Lesnar’s hometown during his record-setting 10th SummerSlam main event. It was The Beast Incarnate who, for large swaths of his career, was notorious for not selling or amplifying others. But not Saturday night.
And it happened in a match that featured Lesnar perhaps saying goodbye to the sport while throwing out odes to the likes of The Undertaker. The iconic Streak itself, in a way, helped put Femi over, too.
All before Lesnar grabbed a mic and made sure onlookers understood that he’s the past while Femi is the future.
Femi, by the way, is 28 years old.
It doesn’t get much bigger than this:
Just like that, a wave of pretty fair criticisms goes forever forgotten. Femi waving off the King of the Ring title shot and Lesnar’s weird fake-out retirement at WrestleMania 42 come to mind as examples. One could even suggest the so-so overall usage of the Hell in a Cell gimmick yet again.
This time, the “new era” talk isn’t just hype from Triple H to move tickets, and it’s not being used sarcastically by fans around the globe.
It’s really the Femi era. What he does on a weekly basis has been captivating since his arrival on the main roster earlier this year. But whereas the glow would start to fade for others by now, this historic acknowledgment from one of the greatest to ever grace the sport just amplifies things.
And sure, fans will want to see The Ruler go for Roman Reigns right away. The headline act in WWE himself even called out Femi during the ‘Mania post-show, hinting at a match down the road.
But there’s no need to rush. If there’s a Femi-Reigns match, it won’t happen anywhere but WrestleMania, most likely.
One could see Femi going any number of ways here. WWE surely loves the fan engagement and merchandise sales as he hits a broad appeal ranging from kids right on up through lapsed fans.
But… one has to wonder if he doesn’t flirt with heel things at some point, too. Especially, by the way, if a certain weasel by the name of Paul Heyman attempts to influence the sport’s next big thing.
The trick with Femi is going to be finding a balance. He’s a monster of a character, so if and when he wins it all, he can’t just be rag-dolling around the rest of a smaller roster while still standing as a babyface. Fans have also seen what overexposure to rarely changing characters like Rhodes and Seth Rollins can do.
Which is to say, WWE has the liberty to make things fresh and interesting with Femi in a lot of ways. Maybe he feuds with Gunther. Perhaps he picks up the scraps of the CM Punk-Rhodes-Randy Orton stuff. Heck, he could become a centerpiece in the Bloodline saga, taking down Reigns’ walls of protection and family one by one until next year’s WrestleMania.
Punk, at least, sounds down for the challenge:
Talk about the perfect veteran and in-ring psychology expert to put over Femi in a big way, even if the fast-riser doesn’t steal a title from him, right?
No matter what Femi and WWE ultimately decide, the utterance of a new era is real this time. If the usually quiet Lesnar proclaims it, few can argue otherwise.
Undeniable as that may be, Femi is even more so. We’ve seen many supposed “next big things” over the years in WWE. Many failed. Others underwhelmed. Some left. Some came back after leaving to great success. Some are even struggling on the roster right now.
All of them, though, now firmly stand behind Femi. He’s the next big thing. And the jolt it has sent to WWE in a time of desperation is impossible to ignore, given the possibility that he can reach non-WWE sports fans in the ESPN era.
