{"id":150183,"date":"2026-01-08T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=150183"},"modified":"2026-01-08T02:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T07:33:22","slug":"what-was-wwes-thought-process-behind-oba-femi-vacating-the-nxt-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/what-was-wwes-thought-process-behind-oba-femi-vacating-the-nxt-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"What Was WWE’s Thought Process Behind Oba Femi Vacating the NXT Championship?"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Year\u2019s Evil was the latest NXT event with show-stopping action and surprise story development. One of the most shocking things that happened took place at the end of the show. The main event was reigning NXT Champion Oba Femi versus TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater. Femi winning would mean more time as champion, while Slater winning would change the NXT-TNA partnership forever. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, Femi\u2019s Fall from Grace was too much for Slater. However, Robert Stone interrupted a pep talk<\/a> from General Manager Ava to the Evolve roster, wondering if she\u00a0saw what Femi did. The camera flashed to the NXT Championship alone in the ring with the spotlight on it. <\/span><\/p>\n

The zoom out revealed Tony D\u2019Angelo looking at the title from the stands.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0obvious Femi\u00a0is headed to the main roster. But why did WWE decide\u00a0to make\u00a0him\u00a0drop\u00a0the title?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They Wanted Him to End His NXT Run on a High Note<\/h2>\n

The ending of the match, while controversial, makes sense. Femi was one of the most dominant men in NXT history. He won the Men\u2019s Breakout Tournament in 2023 and the Men\u2019s Iron Survivor Challenge in 2024. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among those accomplishments, he was the NXT North American Champion. He had two reigns as NXT Champion after winning the Men\u2019s Iron Survivor Challenge. Having him drop the title to Slater would be a poor send-off to the main roster. Leaving as the dominant champion is a great way to end his NXT run. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the TNA side, they have to be furious at what happened. Yet again, a TNA talent failed to win an NXT belt. Whoever they send next will be even more motivated to bring a title back to TNA. This decision established Femi as a big part of NXT history, while adding more fire to TNA challengers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vacancy Opens the Door for New Challengers\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At the conclusion of the show, it was clear that two men were obviously coming for the NXT Championship. One was D\u2019Angelo, who has never been NXT Champion. The other was Ricky Saints, who\u00a0cut\u00a0a passionate promo<\/a> about how NXT needs him. <\/span><\/p>\n

But there are others that could rise to the challenge after Femi, Je\u2019Von Evans, and Trick Williams all got called up. The winner of Joe Hendry vs. Dion Lennox could challenge for the title. Elio Lefleur, the former Aigle Blanc on the European circuit, could be the latest debuting wrestler to get the rocket push. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ethan Page could push for another reign as NXT Champion. There could also be a tournament to determine who the next challengers will be for Vengeance Day. Whatever happens,\u00a0 new wrestlers will have to step up and take their place in the title picture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Femi\u2019s Decision Will Help NXT in the Long Run\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Femi\u00a0obviously\u00a0dropped the NXT Championship\u00a0because\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0headed to the main roster.\u00a0Doing so, while controversial to some,\u00a0helps out\u00a0NXT in\u00a0various ways. Having him\u00a0lose\u00a0before calling him up\u00a0would\u2019ve\u00a0been a horrible idea\u00a0that\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0sit right with a lot of people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision\u00a0also complicates the NXT-TNA relationship. They still\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0won a singles title, which is why\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0be extra motivated from now on. If they\u00a0have to\u00a0pull out every trick in the book\u00a0in order\u00a0to\u00a0get a title,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0going to have\u00a0to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Photo Credit: By Sarah Bellia, CC BY-SA 4.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, the choice puts a spotlight on the talent still in NXT. With most of the main event scene called up, the lower card wrestlers have a chance to succeed in the title picture. This vacancy will allow those wrestlers to finally shine in NXT and get themselves over in a big way.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the <\/i><\/em>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a> for more on Oba Femi and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the significant news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>A&E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Year\u2019s Evil was the latest NXT event with show-stopping action and surprise story development. One of the most shocking things that happened took place at the end of the show. The main event was reigning NXT Champion Oba Femi versus TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater. Femi winning would mean more time as champion, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":129670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[8734],"class_list":["post-150183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wwe","category-nxt","tag-oba-femi"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150183"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150235,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150183\/revisions\/150235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}