Oba Femi has named the backstage mentor in WWE that he considers to be ‘inspirational’, despite often disagreeing with the veteran name.
Signed to a WWE contract in December 2021, Oba Femi was brought into the company through the Next In Line (NIL) program, having previously been an shot put athlete.
A product of the WWE Performance Center, Femi would head to NXT the following year and would receive his main roster call-up earlier in 2026.
During a recent appearance on What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon, Femi would reveal the source of the lessons he has learned, saying:
“I typically tend to pull from everywhere, and then I try my best to filter what’s for me and what’s not for me. I can’t tell you that there’s one person who said this and I live by what they said. There’s always a lesson everywhere, everywhere. Even your kids can teach you lessons.
“You just have to pull and filter, that’s how I live my life. If there’s a lesson there, I learn it and I keep going. If there’s another lesson and it’s not for me, then it’s not for me and I drop it. Sometimes it’s not for you now, it might be for you later.”
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When it comes to mentors in WWE, however, the former NXT Champion would cite Terry Taylor as one such name, reflecting on the disagreements that they have that might have left the veteran feeling otherwise, stating:
“If I was to say anyone, Terry Taylor is one. He and I, when I was NXT, we always disagreed on a lot of things, but Terry doesn’t actually know that he’s very inspirational to me.
“Terry’s a very smart, intelligent man. Great storyteller, you get lost in his words a lot of times. Terry taught me, this is one small one, very minute. Terry taught me the word minutiae. He was like, ‘Aw, we’re gonna do this, you can’t get lost in the minutiae.’ (Oba said) ‘The what?’ (Terry) ‘It’s the detail, the nuance.’ I was like ‘Wow.’”
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The NXT trainer wasn’t the only veteran name that Femi found himself at odds with, despite a level of respect, with the main roster star sharing the frustrations he felt over Shawn Michaels’ creative decision.
The Names That Forge The Future In WWE
Some WWE Performance Center names are arguably more well-known than others through an occasional presence on NXT television.
Alongside VP of Talent Development and Head Coach, Matt Bloom, who Femi has also previously described as a mentor, Sara Amato (Sara Del Rey) serves as Assistant Head Coach.
Working with Taylor, Performance Center trainees will also find themselves coached by the likes of Robbie Brookside, Steve Corino, Lince Dorado, Fit Finlay, Johnny Moss, Norman Smiley and the recently signed Jazz.
A WWE championship reign isn’t a benchmark for the coaching team at the Performance Center, with the likes of Moss having not competed in the company and others having few matches as signed talent, indicating that the direction of the teaching is less to do with being a WWE product and more with the qualities of the trainer.
Add to this the wealth of guest trainers that the Performance Center has brought in, and the role that retired names such as AJ Styles play in spotting new talent, and it’s clear that the training facility is strongly positioned to be at the top of its game when it comes to developing the future stars of WWE.
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