For a while now, NXT Champion Oba Femi has been talking like a final boss, recently stating he wants to be the one to personally end the careers of WWE legends John Cena and Randy Orton. Now, it seems he’s been drawing inspiration from one of pop culture’s most memorable antagonists all along.
During a recent interview with FOX 54 News, Femi revealed that the biggest influence on his character is Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War.
“The biggest inspiration I had was of course Thanos from Infinity War because he was just such a memorable character with so many quotable lines,” Femi explained.
He also discussed how he balances that with his own background, noting that his persona is designed to be a roadblock for anyone he faces, whether he’s being cheered or not.
“Let’s look at what the Oba Femi character is. Oba Femi, a good guy or bad guy, functions as an obstacle. Even when I’m being cheered by the crowd, I’m still functionally am a heel,” Femi said. “When it comes to the Nigerian aspect of the character, I think I don’t have to go too far to pull inspiration — I had my father, I had a couple of friends who were pretty big Nigerian characters and embodied everything about the Nigerian culture and how they spoke and stuff like that.”
While Femi has his sights set on main roster stars like Cena, Orton, Gunther, and CM Punk for the future, his immediate focus remains on NXT. Tonight, he is scheduled to compete in an eight-man tag team match, teaming with Ricky Starks and Hank & Tank to take on DarkState.
Looking further ahead, Femi has his next title defense lined up. He will put the NXT Championship on the line against Starks at NXT No Mercy on September 27. Starks became the #1 contender after defeating Josh Briggs on the August 26 episode of NXT.