Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez Critique WWE’s Explanation for Why Oba Femi Threw Away His Title Shot

During today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez were highly critical of last night’s WWE Raw segment featuring Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, and Oba Femi, with Paul Heyman talking about Oba Femi throwing away his title shot. Meanwhile, Femi claimed he opted not to wrestle for the title because Lesnar would’ve interfered in the match regardless.

Meltzer and Alvarez complained that this was a weak explanation for Oba Femi letting go of his title shot for a rematch against Brock Lesnar instead at WWE SummerSlam 2026. Additionally, they questioned why WWE had Oba Femi compete in King of the Ring and win it in the first place/

Meltzer explained, “It’s like, why did you enter the tournament when you’ve already said that you couldn’t win the championship because the other guy was going to cost you the title. So why were you in it in the first place? Other than the obvious reason that they wanted him King of the Ring and give him a big push coming off of the loss to Brock, and they felt they that he needed something really big, but they don’t want to do the championship match until ‘Mania. But they wanted to get that in your head that this guy is in the championship picture and he’s the real top contender, and when we get to it it’s not just a title match but a special title match.”

Meltzer continued, “So that’s all well and good, but yeah, now if we look at it in hindsight, trying to look at logic, why did he enter the tournament, yeah.” Alvarez stated that while Oba Femi is “super over” and “the biggest star on the show,” his current storyline “sucks.”

Meltzer also noted that Femi’s explanation was WWE’s reaction to fan confusion over Oba Femi giving up his title shot for another match with Brock Lesnar. He added that WWE, as a company that doesn’t listen to criticism, “They sure react to criticism a ridiculous amount.”

Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi Face Off in Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam

Regardless of his contender status, Oba Femi will face off with Brock Lesnar one more time at WWE SummerSlam 2026. The premium live event takes place on August 1-2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

WWE SummerSlam will air live on the ESPN App domestically and stream on Netflix internationally.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.