Nigerian-born Isaac Odugbesan was a promising shot-putter at a remarkable level while at US college. Now he is one of the greatest wrestling talents in WWE.
He weighs 140 kilos, has an impressive presence and athleticism – and is on his way to a great wrestling career with the leading show fighting brand.
On Tuesday night, Oba Femi was named champion of the WWE’s development roster NXT. At the New Years Evil event in Los Angeles, the 26-year-old defeated the previous champion Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe.
It is a steep ascent for the Nigerian, who made his wrestling debut just under two years ago. Before that, the man, who is actually called Isaac Odugbesan, was a promising shot put talent.
Oba Femi: Past in athletics
Odugbesan came to America in 2017 and was recruited by the University of Alabama, coached by Derek Yush and Dan Waters. In 2021 and 2022, he won the shot put title at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Odugbesan won another title outdoors and has a personal best of 20.85 meters. With this distance, the Nigerian would have made it into the finals at the Olympic Games in Paris. If he had achieved it there, he would have come in ninth.
THE GAME HAS CHANGED.
OBA FEMI IS THE NEW WWENXT CHAMPION!!! NewYearsEvil pic.twitter.com/QfzKztVC1t
— WWE (@WWE) January 8, 2025
But things turned out differently. The 26-year-old began a wrestling career as Oba Femi. It was no coincidence, as his mother recently revealed to the US regional medium The Crimson White: “When he was 12 years old, he would imitate Triple H after a shower and spit out water like he did when he marched in. When he was young, he painted a lot of wrestlers.”
For those who don’t know him: Triple H aka Paul Levesque was one of the biggest WWE stars during Oba Femis childhood – and is now the “Chief Content Officer” and mastermind behind the league’s scenes.
Femi not the first of his kind
Femi himself says he “never thought” he would become a wrestler himself. Ultimately, however, the career “fell into his lap”. He was discovered by a WWE scouting program in 2022, made his ring debut and soon after won his first title.
On Wednesday, Femi achieved the greatest triumph of his young career in front of several legends: Shawn Michaels, head of NXT and Femi’s mentor, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The megastar had an appearance at NXT, just like the day before at RAW, and emphasized the importance of the NXT development squad: “In three years, these people could be at WrestleMania.” Johnson also honored the new NXT Women’s Champion Giulia with his presence: the Japanese woman dethroned Roxanne Perez in L.A.
Incidentally, Oba Femi, the new standard-bearer of the NXT men, is not the first wrestler to have a history of shot-putting. WWE Hall of Famer Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who passed away in 2018, was also a talented young shot putter. Bret “Hitman” Hart’s future brother-in-law and tag team partner held the California high school record for twelve years.
