Oba Femi is WWE's new Bill Goldberg, but with one major upgrade

The Birth of a New Monster

Pull up a barstool, grab a cold pint of cheap domestic light beer, and let’s talk about the absolute freak show WWE has built. For twenty-five years, pro wrestling bookers have been trying to recreate the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of 1998 WCW. Instead of Goldberg, we got Ryback marching around like an angry toddler and Vladimir Kozlov making us want to gouge our eyes out with rusty spoons.

But WWE finally stopped copying the past and built something new. Enter Oba Femi. The guy is a walking brick wall built out of pure granite and bad intentions.

He does not just beat his opponents; he tosses them around like cheap lawn darts. If you watched him throw Jey Uso around Riyadh at Night of Champions last Saturday, June 27, 2026, you know exactly what I am talking about. Femi did not just win the King of the Ring tournament; he took the crown and made it look like a brass-knuckle weapon. It was terrifying.

He is the first heavyweight prospect in a decade who makes you sit up and drop your chicken wings. When his music hits, you do not look at your phone. You watch because someone is about to get launched into the third row.

That is the exact aura that WCW stumbled into during the late nineties, and WWE has finally manufactured it from scratch. Let's look at the timeline because this rivalry with Brock Lesnar has been absolute cinema.

The Day Turin Shook

Back in April at WrestleMania in Las Vegas, Oba Femi made his big-stage debut against the Beast. Nobody expected Femi to actually put the veteran down, but he did. He hit a massive powerbomb and pinned Lesnar clean in the center of the ring. It was a shocker.

Lesnar left his gloves on the canvas, causing the internet to go into a meltdown thinking the Beast was retired. Meanwhile, Femi walked out looking like the ultimate titan. The hype was real.

Then came the rematch on May 31, 2026, at Clash in Italy. Turin was electric. Before the bell could ring, Paul Heyman grabbed the mic and Lesnar jumped Femi from behind.

Lesnar hit four consecutive F5s before the bell even rang. Femi kicked out of the pin attempt, which is absolutely insane booking. It was madness, but it set the tone for a war.

Femi fought back like a man possessed, hitting a thunderous spinebuster and a chokeslam that nearly put Lesnar through the mat. The action spilled to the outside where Lesnar hit a sixth F5 through the announce table.

Femi somehow dragged his carcass back into the ring before the ten-count. Lesnar had to counter a powerbomb and hit a seventh F5 to finally keep the young monster down. That evened their head-to-head scoreline to 1-1.

The Beast survived. Barely. But Femi walked out looking like a million bucks.

Why Tommy Dreamer is Dead Right

Usually, when veterans get on podcasts to talk about the young guys, they sound like old men yelling at clouds. But ECW legend Tommy Dreamer hit the nail right on the head on a recent episode of Busted Open Radio. As reported by Wrestling Inc, Dreamer believes WWE has successfully built their own version of Bill Goldberg.

Dreamer pointed out that Oba has the Goldberg-style short matches and the massive entrance aura. He noted that unlike Goldberg, Femi is built to survive losses without losing his heat.

WWE has created their version of Bill Goldberg. All his matches were short... How Bill Goldberg lost was what affected Bill Goldberg. But, Oba, Oba's already lost and he was hotter than can be.

Dreamer is spot-on here. When Goldberg lost his streak to Kevin Nash at Starrcade 98 due to a taser, the aura started to crack. Once the invincible monster is shown to be mortal, the fans lose interest.

This is because WCW never taught them to care about Bill Goldberg the wrestler, only Bill Goldberg the streak. With Oba Femi, WWE did the smart thing. They let him lose to the biggest boss in the game, Brock Lesnar, in Turin, and the crowd loved him even more for it.

Femi's resilience in Turin proved he is not a gimmick. He did not lose because he was exposed; he lost because he took seven F5s from a future Hall of Famer. That is how you build a star who can actually work.

The Kevin Nash Warning and the Dumb Babyface Problem

Of course, not everyone is sipping the Kool-Aid. Big Sexy Kevin Nash chimed in on his Kliq This podcast with a very valid warning. Nash pointed out that Femi's run in NXT was different because he actually had to sell for smaller wrestlers during his run as North American Champion.

Let's not forget how he dominated the developmental brand. Femi held that North American title with a death grip, but he also showed he could sell when the story demanded it. Goldberg would have rather eaten glass than sell a DDT from a cruiserweight, but Femi understands that a real monster is built on storytelling, not just three-minute squashes.

Goldberg never sold for anyone, which made him a spectacle but also a booking nightmare. Nash warns that WWE needs to keep Femi human, or the fans will eventually turn on the invincibility act.

But let's talk about the real flaw in this current storyline. After winning the King of the Ring in Riyadh, Oba Femi was guaranteed a world title shot at SummerSlam. Instead, on the June 29, 2026 episode of Raw, during Femi's coronation, Lesnar returned and laid him out.

Lesnar challenged him to a Hell in a Cell match for SummerSlam in Minneapolis. And what did Femi do? He voluntarily gave up his guaranteed world championship match just to fight Brock in a cage. It was a dumb move.

This is classic, brain-dead babyface booking that drives me up the wall. Why on earth would any sane athlete throw away a shot at the richest prize in the business to settle a grudge? It makes the King of the Ring tournament look like a secondary consolation prize.

If the world title is not the most important thing on the show, then what are we even doing here? It is a cheap shortcut to get to the Hell in a Cell match without having to book Femi as a double-champion or figure out what to do with the actual world champion at SummerSlam.

What Happens Inside the Cell

Despite the questionable logic, the match itself is going to be an absolute car wreck. We are talking about two massive human beings throwing meat in Minneapolis. Lesnar is the veteran gatekeeper who does not lose unless it is to make a new superstar.

Femi is the young lion who needs to cement his place at the top of the food chain. If Femi wins, he becomes the undisputed top monster in the company. He becomes untouchable.

But WWE cannot afford to over-book this. We do not need run-ins from Paul Heyman, we do not need referee bumps, and we certainly do not need a taser. We need ten minutes of pure, unadulterated violence.

If they let Femi hit a massive powerbomb off the side of the cage through a table, the roof of the arena will blow off. Just let the big men do what they do best and stay out of the way. Let them fight.

If Oba Femi walks out of Minneapolis with Brock Lesnar's scalp, the sky is the limit. He is the closest thing we have seen to Goldberg's physical dominance, but he has the ring IQ and the work ethic to back it up. Let's just hope the creative team does not over-complicate a simple formula.