Report: Reigns vs. Oba Femi Planned For WrestleMania 43

Current plans for WWE WrestleMania 43 reportedly include Roman Reigns defending against Oba Femi, with the match tipped to headline night two of the show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The pairing was described as the promotion’s current direction by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, though plans this far out from WrestleMania are always subject to change.

Oba Femi has spent the better part of a year being positioned as WWE’s next franchise cornerstone. He retired Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42 and was anointed as the ‘Next Big Thing’ during SummerSlam season, cementing a push that has felt destined to collide with Reigns eventually. Femi has called out Reigns twice in recent months — once after WrestleMania 42 and again following Money in the Bank — though Reigns has yet to respond on-screen. A program between the two has long felt inevitable given how deliberately WWE has elevated Femi, and putting it on the second night of a show in Saudi Arabia would make sense as a signature attraction for that market.

The report also throws cold water on another widely assumed WrestleMania 43 pairing: Cody Rhodes against CM Punk. WWE teased a renewed confrontation between the two on SmackDown recently, fueling speculation that their rivalry — which dates back to Punk’s 2023 return and boiled over into a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam that Punk retained with Randy Orton’s help — was being set up for a WrestleMania rematch. According to the update, that is not currently the direction WWE is planning for the show, despite the on-air teaseuto.

That leaves the WWE Championship picture on SmackDown fairly wide open heading into next year’s show. With several contenders currently circling the title, there’s no shortage of options for a marquee singles match, whether that eventually involves Punk, Rhodes, or another name entirely from that crowded field. Given the event’s location, a scenario where a competitor like Sami Zayn carries the title into WrestleMania and defends it against a rival such as Kevin Owens has obvious appeal, though nothing concrete points in that direction yet.

It’s worth stressing that WrestleMania plans this early are fluid by nature — WWE has shifted main event pictures dramatically in the months leading up to its biggest show plenty of times before. Still, the idea of Reigns finally answering Femi’s challenge on the sport’s biggest stage lines up with months of storytelling, and it would give WrestleMania 43 a true passing-of-the-torch main event if it comes together as described.

Expect the picture to sharpen considerably as WWE’s go-home shows for the Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania take shape in the coming months.