Oba Femi appears to have lost the title opportunity that he earned as the 2026 King of the Ring winner.
An unclear series of events on Monday Night Raw left fans debating online whether Femi still had a world title match in reserve after opting to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
That question appeared to be answered on Tuesday during WWE’s official ‘Raw Recap’ podcast.
Femi opened the June 29 episode of Monday Night Raw after defeating Jey Uso to win the King of the Ring tournament at WWE Night of Champions.
The tournament win entitled Femi to challenge either Undisputed WWE Champion or World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam.
Before Femi could formally announce a championship opponent, he was interrupted by Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Lesnar attacked Femi, who then challenged him to a match at SummerSlam.
Lesnar accepted on the condition that the match take place inside Hell in a Cell. WWE has since added the match to its official SummerSlam page.
In a later backstage segment, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce asked Femi to confirm that he was choosing Lesnar over the championship opportunity.
ADAM PEARCE: Oba, it’s a little unorthodox, a little unexpected, I wanna make sure I heard you right.
OBA FEMI: You did, because the title is always going to be there. The championships are not going anywhere, I’ll take that when I want it.
ADAM PEARCE: So SummerSlam, Oba Femi, Brock Lesnar, Hell in a Cell. You’re sure, 100% sure?
OBA FEMI: Yes, I’m sure. It needs to happen. This needs to end, and I will be the one to put an end to it.
The segment led to some confusion among fans in online discusssion over whether Femi’s comments meant he still had a title shot available to him after the Lesnar match.
On Tuesday’s official WWE Raw Recap podcast, hosts Sam Roberts and Megan Morant heavily implied that Femi had forfeited the championship opportunity he earned by winning King of the Ring.
SAM ROBERTS: Oba Femi, who is not only haunted by that loss [to Lesnar], has been embarrassed on his day. So he says, ‘Enough, I understand I’m entitled to an opportunity for the World Championship or the WWE Undisputed Championship.’
But as he said backstage to Adam Pearce, ‘I know I will get another opportunity at the Championship.’ And there is no doubt in anybody’s mind — like nobody looks at SummerSlam and goes, ‘Well, this is the one time Oba Femi is ever going to get a championship match.’
MEGAN MORANT: No one’s looking at this and saying Oba’s blowing it. Oba’s throwing away an opportunity.
SummerSlam takes place Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, from Minnesota.
