WWE personality Sam Roberts has pitched a high-profile main roster debut for former NXT Champion Oba Femi, proposing an angle where he would answer Sami Zayn’s United States Championship open challenge. Roberts drew a direct comparison to the memorable 2015 debut of Kevin Owens against John Cena.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Roberts detailed the booking scenario. “I think a great way to debut Oba Femi would be to have him answer Sami Zayn’s United States Championship open challenge. I think he could be to Sami Zayn what Kevin Owens was to John Cena.”
The speculation around Femi’s main roster future follows his recent loss of the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints. While Roberts advocated for the Femi debut, he also acknowledged that another challenger, Shinsuke Nakamura, has been positioned as a potential opponent for Zayn on SmackDown.
Zayn’s championship reign began on the August 29 episode of SmackDown, where he defeated Solo Sikoa for the United States title. The title win came shortly after Zayn was moved to the brand following the conclusion of his feud with Karrion Kross at SummerSlam. Since winning the belt, he has defended it against competitors including John Cena, Rey Fenix, and Carmelo Hayes.
The champion’s most recent title defense occurred on the September 26 edition of SmackDown, where he defeated NXT’s Je’Von Evans in an open challenge at the Kia Center in Orlando. Zayn noted he had received permission from John Cena to continue the tradition, which was answered by Evans just one night before his scheduled match against Josh Briggs at NXT No Mercy. The competitive bout saw Evans score a significant near fall with his OG Cutter before Zayn secured the victory with a Helluva Kick and a Blue Thunder Bomb.