Oba Femi Vs. Brock Lesnar At WrestleMania 42 | Key Points

• Oba Femi beat Brock Lesnar in a quick, but entertaining, match to open WrestleMania 42 Night 2.
• Brock Lesnar appeared to retire after the loss, removing his gloves and boots before embracing longtime manager Paul Heyman. Fans chanted “thank you Lesnar,” however Gunther (the king of retirement matches) is still owed a favor by Paul Heyman after saving him from Seth Rollins.

Oba Femi destroyed Brock Lesnar in the opening match of WrestleMania 42, Night 2. Oba no-sold Brock’s early offense, shades of his squash-match loss to Goldberg at Survivor Series 2016. Oba sold for Brock moments later on the outside of the ring, before quickly recovering from the F5. Oba chokeslammed Lesnar and hit the fall from grace for the win.

After the match, Brock Lesnar removed his gloves and boots, signaling his retirement. Brock shared a warm embrace with an equally emotional Paul Heyman. Fans chanted “thank you, Brock” as the Beast’s career appears to be over. The monumental win for Oba means that much more if Brock is truly retiring. This would be a fitting retirement match for Brock as WWE is undergoing a dawning of a new era.

It’s fair to question whether Lesnar’s retirement is legit as Gunther—who has made a career out of retiring legends—is still owed a favor by Paul Heyman.

Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi felt like the spiritual main event in Las Vegas, but not only did it open WrestleMania Sunday, it did so on free television with an elusive broadcast on ESPN.

Considering the reach, this was essentially an upgrade.

Several households prayed witness to a blockbuster matchup with proven PPV draw Brock Lesnar and rising star Oba Femi. Killing two birds with one stone, not only did this match serve as a strong sales pitch for WrestleMania, it was also a harbinger of what was to come for WWE’s bright, Black future.

Oba Femi is part of the iconic “AfricaNXT" class of Black performers including Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, Ricky Saints and Je’Von Evans who redefined NXT with a predominately Black roster that helped the brand easily surpass AEW Dynamite in weekly viewership. Since moving to the CW, NXT aired 67 weeks of the AfricaNXT era. In the weekly ratings battle, NXT went 61-6 against Dynamite in total viewership. Since the promotion of Femi, Williams, Evans and Hayes to the main roster—all of whom where called up by January 6, 2026—NXT has fallen behind Dynamite with a roster that suddenly lacks seasoning.

But NXT’s sacrifice is WWE’s come-up. Oba Femi’s WrestleMania spotlight signals a sea change in WWE that has already led to the type of motion fans saw in NXT ubiquitously. With Williams, Evans, Femi, Jade Cargill, Lash Legend and even IShowSpeed on the card, this is easily the Blackest WrestleMania since WrestleMania 37, if not the Blackest ever.