A current WWE champion has addressed creating an ‘authentic’ character and how they hope to inspire future generations.
Having signed with WWE in 2021, Oba Femi has gone on to a championship-holding run in NXT and made his main roster debut against Cody Rhodes on the December 13 Saturday Night’s Main Event last year.
During a recent interview with BBC Sports, the interviewer described Femi as possibly “the most authentically African wrestler” and was asked about the decision behind his presentation.
Noting that he wanted to make his WWE character feel human, Oba Femi said:
“That’s just what comes with the territory of building a character. A lot of people go out there and pretend to be wrestlers, or pretend to be something they’re not.
“But, for me, it’s like how much of a human being can I put into this one character. Let me have that natural cadence of a Nigerian man.
“Like what does a Nigerian man who is like egotistical, poised, and all that… how does he fit into the wrestling meta? And, I think I’ve been able to figure that out.”
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Asked about being able to inspire a generation of Nigerian children, the Lagos-born WWE star went on the state:
“I grew up a fan and I was like ‘Man, I would kill to be a wrestler,’ but it just didn’t feel plausible.
“I’m in Africa, it’s run out of the United States. They don’t really come to Africa for live events. You start telling yourself all these things.
“My goal is not necessarily to make young kids come and wrestle, that’s not the goal. My goal is more to like let them know that you can dream big, that it’s okay and that it’s possible.”
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Since signing with WWE, Femi has become a two-time NXT Champion and is the longest-reigning North American Champion with a past reign of 272 days.
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