While not for any kind of championship, one of the biggest matches scheduled to take place at WWE WrestleMania 42 will be a battle of the behemoths as Oba Femi faces Brock Lesnar on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
WrestleMania XLII will take place Saturday, April 18, 2026 and Sunday, April 19, 2026 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and given the location as well as the importance of the event, a lot of people will be placing bets on who they think will walk out of that match the victor.
So how do you pick between The Beast Incarnate and The Ruler—two dominant WWE Superstars who can decimate nearly everyone on the roster? What happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object?
Let's break down this rivalry and toss out some predictions for Femi vs. Lesnar at The Showcase of the Immortals.
Foundations of the Feud
At the moment, this has not yet become a deep personal rivalry or an intricate storyline in any means. In fact, it's as bare bones and simplistic as it can get. Part of that can be blamed on WWE Creative simply not caring to do anything more than the bare minimum, and/or possibly just not having the skills and mental load to be creative enough to do something more, but it could also be due to the chaos of this year's WrestleMania.
It isn't an excuse, but it is a cause and effect that many injuries have been causing shifts to The Road to WrestleMania and most of this card feels like a Plan B, if not a Plan C or lower on the backup plan totem pole. There's no telling what WWE had planned originally for this event and how that would have influenced things differently, but regardless of the "what if" situation, this feud is what it is right now and we have to judge based off that.
With that in mind, the storyline here is that Lesnar put out an open challenge and Femi answered it. Lesnar's advocate, Paul Heyman, said that someone just needed to step up to Lesnar, and after Femi powerbombed him and placed his foot on Lesnar's chest to signify an easy pin, that's sparked this match being confirmed.
As soon as tonight's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, there could be new twists implemented into this story, but it might very well stay as basic as knowing the fans want to see these two powerhouses collide. Sometimes, you don't need a story to sell a match, and since this is likely to be a one time affair, WWE might not even be interested in trying to get into any character work or progression beyond this.
If there's no climax for the story to head toward, then it's just a matter of smashing two rocks together to see which one breaks.
Oba Femi's Track Record
Femi has been a protected member of the roster since his debut. Coming into World Wrestling Entertainment as part of the WWE NIL program—aka Next in Line, a WWE Recruit subdivision that focuses on training athletes from outside the world of professional wrestling—gave Femi (then just signed under his real name, Isaac Odugbesan) a bit of clout beyond the norm, but that doesn't last for everyone.
While WWE treats some NIL talent like Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson as a pet project from the start, Odugbesan was in a class of 15 with only one other from that group even becoming a member of the roster at all. That other is Joe Spivak, who performs as Tank Ledger in NXT and has won the NXT Tag Team Championship, but is largely a comedic character.
In comparison, Femi was immediately positioned well, going on a 30 match undefeated streak before losing the NXT North American Championship to Tony D'Angelo. In the process, Femi broke the record for the longest run in that belt's history at 273 days.
Femi lost again to D'Angelo a few weeks later, going on to win the NXT Championship before dropping that in his second true pinfall loss to Ricky Saints on September 27, 2025. Femi would regain the title, only to vacate it willingly to allow for a call up to the main roster.
Since then, Femi's only loss has been the Royal Rumble match, wherein he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar himself, adding fuel to this WrestleMania bout.
According to the internet wrestling database of profightdb, Oba Femi's win-loss record currently stands at an overall 80 wins, 4 draws, and 24 losses (Cagematch having roughly the same numbers), with the vast majority of those losses being house shows and live events that aren't broadcasted, meaning they aren't considered truly canon most of the time, and a good number of them are multi-man or tag team matches wherein Femi wasn't pinned or directly taking the loss himself, but just happened to be on the losing team. Essentially, Femi has only 3 real losses in WWE so far that actually count, giving him a great track record to work with.
Brock Lesnar's Rise to the Top and WrestleMania History
Cagematch currently lists Brock Lesnar's win-loss record, in comparison, at 317 wins, 116 losses and 9 draws. For those curious, profightdb has him at 213 wins, 91 losses, and 5 draws, so you have to pay more attention to the specifics and not just the numbers.
Lesnar was also immediately pushed to the top of WWE when he first joined the company in 2000 as part of the Ohio Valley Wrestling organization, which was used as a developmental spot prior to NXT's creation. After around a year in OVW, Lesnar was brought up to the main roster for some house shows before making his on-air match debut at WWF Backlash 2002 on April 21st with a victory over Jeff Hardy.
By June, he had already won the King of the Ring tournament. Two months later, he was WWF Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, beating The Rock of all people at SummerSlam 2002. Suffice it to say, Lesnar was truly "The Next Big Thing" as he had been designated, and WWE made sure to present him as such.
Lesnar tore through the roster, beating then and future legends like Mark Henry, Hulk Hogan, Rikishi, John Cena, The Undertaker, and more. Virtually everything someone could accomplish was checked off his list in record time, including a Royal Rumble victory in 2003 and beating Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX to win the WWE Championship again.
For the most part, in over 20 years, Lesnar has remained virtually unstoppable. While he's suffered some losses here and there, he typically does not get pinned by anyone who isn't also a top of the food chain multi-time world champion such as the nigh-unstoppable Goldberg and the golden child of the past decade plus, Roman Reigns. It's rare to see Lesnar humbled in any capacity, but when it does happen, it's normally to a Hall of Fame caliber Superstar.
This translates to his WrestleMania history as well, where he currently stands at an even 6-6 record.
Lesnar's first appearance was WrestleMania 19's victory over Angle, but that was followed with a loss to Goldberg at WrestleMania XX. He then left the company and would not compete at WrestleMania again until 2013's WrestleMania 29, wherein he lost to Triple H.
One of Lesnar's greatest achievements was at WrestleMania 30 when he defeated The Undertaker to end his undefeated streak, though he lost the WWE Championship the following year when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pinned Roman Reigns.
Lesnar then defeated Dean Ambrose in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, and Reigns at WrestleMania 34 before losing again to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, dropping the WWE Championship once more. He did the same in 2020 when he lost the WWE title to Drew McIntyre and failed in the Winner Takes All title unification match against The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 38.
Lesnar's most recent WrestleMania match is a fitting one to look at, as it was a non-title bout against another giant of the roster, Omos, who he defeated at WrestleMania 39 in 2023 before taking several years off the card due to his involvement in Vince McMahon's ongoing sex trafficking lawsuit.
What Makes Oba Femi Different from Omos?
Since that match took place before Lesnar's name was brought into that discussion, WWE had no problem putting Lesnar over. Now, that may notnecessarily be the case, although the company's willingness to bring Lesnar back at all should likely prove that morality isn't their top priority, based on their political alignments and anti-consumer business tactics.
TKO operates differently than when Vince McMahon was making all the decisions, but they are still of the same ilk and breed, so any moves toward being more progressive should be taken with a grain of salt. Even the concept of pushing a younger talent over an established and protected name like Lesnar, which should be a top priority for the company as it transitions into an era where more legends are retiring, does not always seem to be their goal—or, at times, may line up without actually being the reason why that booking took place.
Omos was at one point looked at as someone to build for the future as a new Andre the Giant. Over the past several years, though, he has been relegated to a "featured act" that only randomly appears a few times per year at most, if that. He's never been truly pushed to the top and has only won tag team gold alongside AJ Styles. These days, he's an enforcer for AAA star El Hijo del Vikingo, which is far from the position Oba Femi currently finds himself in.
As a record-breaking champion in NXT, Femi is currently in a spot where he is on the cusp of becoming what Lesnar was before, in that he could be the dominant force on the roster if WWE wishes to put that spotlight on him.
So Who Should You Bet On?
For the numbers folk, Femi is billed at 6'6", 310 lbs, 27 years old, while Lesnar is billed at 6'3", 286 lbs, and is 48 years old. Size and age would go to Femi if this were a real contest, even though someone of Lesnar's freak athleticism puts him in an unknown category given his previous dominance in legitimate sports beyond what we would know Femi of doing, as Odubgesan was an NCAA Shot Put champion as opposed to Lesnar's amateur wrestling and MMA experience.
Some odds makers have Femi at -350 with Lesnar at +225, but that is mostly just one case right now and could change in any number of ways prior to their match taking place.
Readers interested in how odds like these are typically calculated and presented should check out resources like TheLines mobile betting guide and other sportsbooks evaluation tools. While not every market caters to professional wrestling, they do sometimes dip their toes in that pool, particularly for WrestleMania considering its status as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. In particular, Lesnar's UFC presence opened him up to a lot of odds makers analysis before, so they may be interested in that crossover MMA appeal.
Most of the time Lesnar has lost at WrestleMania, it's been due to a title change, largely in favor of him being the monster who needs to be overthrown so a more regular member of the roster can hold the gold going forward for a new season. That is not happening in this case, so there is no sense of urgency to give Femi the victory. If Femi loses, while disappointing in a number of ways and a creative dampening on him, he doesn't truly "lose" anything—more so, he fails to "gain" the type of status boost he would get for beating someone like Lesnar on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
If you were to poll the viewing audience, most would likely say they hope Femi comes out on top. He's the star to build for the future and the person who could use the win more, while a win for Lesnar keeps things stagnant and brings up feelings that WWE refuses to let go of previous eras to make room for what's coming next.
In an ideal world, Lesnar takes the loss, puts Femi over, and WWE uses that momentum to make The Ruler someone who can be banked on for years to come. However, a fall from grace happens to everyone, and WWE has made countless errors that have ruined careers or been mistakes that offset someone's rise to the top in the past, to the point that there are not only no guarantees the right decision will be made, but almost a surefire bet they are considering repeating the same mistakes as before. It is a continued pattern, particular with Lesnar, that WWE has blinders up with him and will almost always default to having him go over in the interest that it will mean more when someone beats him down the road, even if history has shown that that rarely ever actually happens. But WWE is often less interested in actually accomplishing their goals and more so just presenting them as dangling carrots for the future, hoping to hook the continued viewership to lust for that.
Given all the speculation that Lesnar could be retiring at SummerSlam this year in a match against Gunther, who has beaten Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles in retirement scenarios over the past 12 months, there is a very good chance WWE wishes Lesnar to look stronger heading into that and they will sacrifice giving a win to Femi in favor of that, trying to justify it as already being a good enough push for Femi to have been in this match on this stage to begin with. Coupling that with the possibility Lesnar could cheat to win and do something underhanded like low blow Femi, so the audience walks away thinking that he "had the match won" and WWE can try to have their cake and eat it, too, even at the expense that it doesn't do as much in the long run even remotely close to what a win would mean for Femi.
There are still several weeks before WrestleMania goes down, so anything can change, but at this particular moment, don't be so quick to go with the odds makers. Consider the option that Lesnar has just as much of a chance to win this, if not more.
Be sure to keep checking Smark Out Moment for more news and reports as well as live coverage of WrestleMania 42.
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