Exclusive Interview with Oba Femi & breaking news about the show

23:54O'Shea:But, like, let's just have a rough one. You know, like, let's just go out there and, like, put it on. Because it looked like it was beautiful, controlled chaos. But she's to stand out with the first women's intercontinental champion and Rhea Ripley. Yeah. Ivy Nile, we applaud you here at the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. And I believe you are an ally. So happy Black History Month to you, too. It is a beautiful thing, man. I was happy for her. But speaking of two women who don't look like they can get along, so they're probably going to have to get it on, you got Liv and Stephanie. And there were some words that said that Stephanie did not like.

24:38Yeah. Okay, she – I've listened to a lot of Bad Bunny.

24:42O'Shea:I've not heard them words before. You've heard them. Yeah, but not on no Bad Bunny record. Shout out to Bad Bunny. We see you, dog. We did your thing. We love the performance. You killed it. I just wish you would have done Shambaya. Shambaya? I thought we would have got a Booker. I like it like that. I mean, Cardi was there. What if he would have done Booker T? Oh, right. You know what I mean? Great. But just shout out, Bad Bunny. And also, let me get right here. Happy Black History Month. If he didn't mention it. But yeah, you know, Liv and Stephanie, they had some words. And I think I don't speak a lot of Spanish, a lot being less than 10 words.

25:23but it seemed like Stephanie had said something to live maybe about being like a cheap trick or something like that. If I'm not a lady of the night. And then, you know, she called it that P word. And yo, Stephanie was like, what?

25:41O'Shea:And then the most powerful defense in the world is the, I think it's the left cheek of Dominique Mysterio. How many people have slapped? How many women have slapped him? I'm like, everybody. Dom just got to get it. And some of the ear shots. I understand the mustache and it works. But the way Dom be getting slapped, he might want to go with a full beard just to try to push him. You done got hit by your mama, by your sister. Liv hit you. Liv hit him. Rhea smacked him. It's rough out here. It's hard out there for a pimp. Yeah, man. And now that's another belt that's kind of been on pause, the Intercontinental title.

26:19O'Shea:Because I think Dom's been legitimately hurt for a while. Yeah, and it's like, we're not about to take it off Dom. You know, we got to figure out a real way for him to lose that because, like, Dom is the man. He's a double champ. Yeah. Got to respect it. If you don't, that's on you. That's a new problem. Also have a little bit of turmoil with Liv and Raquel. The waters is a little shaky. They tend to mend them, but there's been a couple of questionable situations with Liv and her thirst for the title that Raquel is starting to notice. So, you know, there might be some brewing there. But, you know, looking at Liv's reasoning, I can kind of understand it.

26:59Raquel was already had a title match coming up.

27:03O'Shea:It reminds me of when Dom was with Rhea and he would get caught with Liv. I would be online just coming up with excuses for Dom. I'm just saying, you know, like, so, you know, sister, you already have a title match against Stephanie. Yeah. So I just figured it'd be okay for me to get a title match. and I guess it is kind of hard to argue, but... Now, you know, I will say this while I was watching Raw. Was that thing that I complained about to you personally with Stephanie, did that change back or was it the new one? Like I said, if there wasn't as much uproar about her song, I don't know if I would have noticed it.

27:43O'Shea:Let me get this one, Don. Let me get this. Triple H, Paul Levesque, Buddy. I don't know what decisions were made, why it was chosen to go this route, but on behalf of just me, the NCW fans, fans around the world, put it back. Put it back. The music was fine. It was great. She looked awesome. You're taking aura away from the lady. Stephanie Vicarra's music should never be touched. She is a champion. it was awesome we can't have nice things hashtag put it back put Stephanie Vicarra's music back I'm so sorry for yelling it's black history month I have to have leeway but I need that music I just had to take my ears out a little bit I need that music that was passion right there that's passion it wasn't like you just did that to do it you know what I mean you didn't just blow out my eardrums for no reason right because you felt it yeah I'm just hurt okay I'm hurt.

28:48And because you felt it, I, in turn, had to feel it in my ears. But that's okay. Because now you think a bigger picture. I like that. If it bothers you, then dang it, it's going to bother me too.

28:57O'Shea:Yeah, man. There's no reason to change her music. There really wasn't. No reason. Boy, Raquel did her. They did the talking. Raquel was at the ring. This was two weeks ago. And I heard that music. I turned the TV. Who the hell is that? It was Stephanie Viqueir? this isn't Stephanie Vicarious music did we lose the CD what gear is it what's going on or as Cardi B once said at a reunion what was the reason what was the reason come on man what was the reason in an era where you know we keep talking about the entrance music don't take away one of the cool ones I'm still hurt about losing the one that used to be for the The Judgment Day.

29:45O'Shea:If you believe. Yeah, bro. That was such a banger. I'm still hurt by that. The other side. Boy, when the Judgment Day lost the other side. By Alter Bridge. To this day, I still don't know the Judgment Day's music. If you put a gun in my head and was like, hum the Judgment Day's music. Because now they each individually got, you know, priesthood. Yeah, but when they come out together and it's the black and white and all that. Yeah. Gun in my head, I'm getting my affairs in order. I still have that. I still have the other side on my iTunes. Banger. Hashtag banger. I'm a side. Yeah, man. But I want to get, you know, pop for music or anything.

30:22Yeah, we've been yapping for it, man. We got company. Oh, we do. We got very special guests. Yeah. Well, it's not even a guest anymore at this point. It's just like he's coming home from college. Right. For the weekend. Exactly. He graduated. He knows he got a key. Yeah. Last time he was here, there was no food left. he ate everything off the fridge

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31:49O'Shea:TJ, in this no-contest house, we love to invite our old friends back. Yes, indeed. And this one, he has taken the wrestling world in the palm of his hand. Please believe it. From here and overseas, it is with great pleasure that we welcome the record-breaking most guest appearances on the no contest wrestling podcast the ruler oba fami welcome home man welcome home good to see you yes sir good to see you guys oh man what a pleasure you've been putting in some work yes you've been putting in some work letting people know so uh now that you you've been called up but you he is a free agent we don't know you know when you got a star like oh but everybody wants him you gotta put him yeah every you gotta put him on multiple networks bro we can't just let this just settle over on one just yet you know both shows fighting for him yeah man it's good to see now talk to us a little bit about what the process is or what goes through your mind knowing or will you find out finally you're getting that call up I mean, I've known for a while now Even before I relinquished the NXT championship I knew that's part of the reason why that Move was made But I was already on the guaranteed Main roster, I'd already signed My contract, I just hadn't been assigned A brand yet But My mindset in that moment Is that NXT has done Everything possible to prepare me for the main roster, so there was a lot of confidence.

33:30Plus, I had gone up there to work with the Golden Goose, Mr. Raheem Rhodes.

33:41You know what's funny about that real quick? I called him Cody Raheem Rhodes in a clip, and some dude left a comment like, oh, that Raheem thing's played out. You need to stop doing it. And then last week he says it, so I guess it wasn't that played out. That was his middle name, apparently. Even I didn't know. But yeah, I got to work with Cody Rhodes Saturday night's main event at John Cena's retirement. So I already proved that in a sense that I belong. So there was a lot of confidence getting called up. I was ready for the moment. The only thing that was left for me to do was to ride out my time in NXT, which I did.

34:17And now I'm on the main roster and it's very real for a lot of people now. So we'll see where this takes us.

34:24O'Shea:Absolutely. Now, when you left, you are part of a, I got to do some research to see how many people get to do this, but you never lost the title. You didn't lose that title. You just, you left it in the middle of the ring, a dramatic moment at the end of the show, kind of let us all know that, you know, Oba is going on beyond NXT, but Oba wasn't beat. so how does it feel to be a part of what i gotta think is a short list of superstars i got to do that yeah it feels very unique it lets you it lets me know um where the company kind of you know sees me caliber wise like like where i am in the pecking order which is really reassuring uh very very short list i believe it's me oscar and uh the war readers if i'm not mistaken that is a very very short list and it's a privilege to be on that list not everyone gets to be on it and it's for a very good reason I have to show everybody coming up to the main roster now that like that was done it wasn't just done for anybody like you don't just have any regular old call up on your hands you have a superstar here so I believe it was done for a good reason and well executed too were you Were you a little surprised when you did have to drop the title to Ricky Saints for that little bit of time?

35:53Was that something or was there a reason behind that? Or were you just a little shocked that you lost that belt? No, no. It's a job. You understand? It's a job. And I am very well aware of that. I don't, whatever the book I want. Sean has a vision. Triple H has a vision, and we're all just like, I hate to say it, but we're tools to execute the vision. And that's when people lose sight of that, that's when they get caught up in their feelings and stuff like that. So when I did that, I was like, oh, I'm sure there's a good reason why. And I went with it. I didn't think too much into it. Just having that mindset, he's already ahead of the curve, ahead of the game, because I feel a lot of people, whereas they do get it, A lot of people don't get what he just said.

36:45Exactly.

36:46O'Shea:And that just takes us back to the first episode. You know, we, the first episode that we had you on, you know, we still to this day talk about how impressed we were with your mind for the business and how you get it. And I remember we, we talked about, he should never lose. You know, you spoke even then about building up the heel so that the hero looks great eventually. But as long as you spread eventually out real long ago, We'll be happy over here. So you get the, you get the, you earned it in the match, but you get chosen to be a part of that Saturday night's main event, which was also saying goodbye to John Cena, which is a huge moment.

37:31O'Shea:But you also are going up against Cody. So when you get the call or the text that this is the path that we see for you, what was that feeling like and then being backstage with everyone there knowing that this is you know they're going to say goodbye to John and and all those things what was the feeling like with the other superstars in the back it was a feeling of privilege for sure because that is another short list the number of people who had to who got to perform at John Cena's retirement uh match you You know, it's very symbolic that John's beginning, sorry, John's end is my beginning. And that fact I kind of enjoy.

38:19I'm glad, I really wanted to work with John. I was really hoping and praying that like, don't go, don't go too fast. But he did, he did. I was really hoping to, you know, to work with him, especially when a lot of people were like putting fire under the idea of, you know, me being the one to retire him and stuff like that. TJ, TJ, TJ. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bless you, bless you. Yes, so I was really hoping that would happen, but it didn't. But I'd already, you know, rubbed minds with John in the past. He had given me advice. He had seen me wrestle before. He knew who I was and what I was all about.

38:55He had good things to say about me. Whatever he felt like was a correction or, like, something I could do better, he always told me. So I'm glad that before that day came, I was at least able to have some sort of relationship with John. and a lot of people don't know this, but maybe they do. But after the show, John came back to the locker room. You know, big star, big shot John Cena. But he came back to the locker room with all the boys and he shared one last, you know, toast and, you know, took shots with us. And I'm glad that I got to be a part of that. You know, it really showed how humble he was.

39:26No matter how, you know, big he got in, you know, in WWE or in Hollywood, he was, you know, at his core, still just one of the boys. So respect to John. You said you mentioned that there's things that he notes that he gave you that you could do better. Is there something that stands out in particular that you're willing to share that maybe he said you do this, maybe try doing that? He's very big on look at look at me moments. I don't know if you've heard the story with he and, at the time, Cesaro, where he told Cesaro to go get the ball that was being thrown around in the audience and pop the ball.

40:05But he's very big on crowd interaction and look at me moments. So he was telling me, he told me that he understands that NXT is a very fast-paced style of wrestling because that's what Sean wants. but at the same time he encouraged me to when the opponent is down i should always take my time to interact with the crowd and you know do something that will be memorable to them so they can always remember me so that's one of the things that john said to me that stuck that that was that was a pretty big one amongst many other things but that was the the big takeaway moments always grabbing

40:41O'Shea:moments mcfoley spoke to us about the same thing you know moments are the things that stick with people when they drive home those are the things that will will make sure that you last in their memory because they're going to remember where they were for those moments so another moment it is your prime time debut you know being on uh saturday night's uh main event prime time television introducing uh you know a few uh a a section of the the fans that don't watch nxt or that are unaware and for you to debut the way that you did on prime time and the crowd knowing what to do for that entrance you know for them to be locked in and and completely buy in to the oh and how that felt.

41:35O'Shea:And also going overseas, going to the Rumble, and that entire stadium locked in, and they're doing the same thing. So which one felt better, for your debut for it to be rocking in there or that sea of people at the Rumble? That's a tough one because they're equally as good because you have to think the Saturday night's main event was the very first one. Yeah. This is the first time I'm on that big stage, you know, on that big platform. So, you know, I was really glad that the crowd was rocking with my stuff. Incredible. So I would have to say it's the first one. Yeah. The second one, the Rumble debut was more of a pleasant surprise.

42:22I didn't think the Saudi crowd would be hip to the Rulaz stuff. So shout out to the Saudi crowd. I slept on them I slept on the Saudi crowd but yeah, they were there because when I was in Saudi I was kind of a surprise but not really a surprise because I thought I was going to be a surprise next thing I see the WWE social media was like who about Femi is going to be in the room? I was like, well, there goes the trick but I'm there I'm not doing anything there's no planned meet and greets for me because I was supposed to be a surprise and then the one time I ended up leaving the hotel to just go out there those people who saw me and recognized me and they did the chant and I was like oh okay maybe I'll be okay so very pleasant surprise Saudi I apologize you guys you guys know what's going on

43:19O'Shea:when they hit that oh my oh my god you're going to talk about goosebumps because it's like you know like i said we've been down with them since we first saw him in the face and so we were shown love but to feel like the world give you love man that was almost like you know it's kind of like when people are in the music right they always like to say oh i heard this band first before they blew up right you kind of take a little bit of pride and ownership so not you know being obafemi fans while you were in nxt grinding before the majority of people knew we were in NXT hub. That's what we got in our beginning.

44:00Our whole roster is NXT guys and gals, man. So to hear you get that love, to see that love, man, especially this month.

44:09O'Shea:Yeah. February. Yeah. That was one of those moments where it's like, yeah. Because, you know, it's just like when all the boys, you know, when you and Javon and Trick, when you all... Bro, I scream, my boys! You know, when you've all been guests, we've got to, you know, chop it up with all of you brothers. So to just see the world show you guys that love, man, for real, it just, it's like, yes. Yeah. Yeah, man. It's just proud. That's how you do it. I love it, man, for sure. Yeah, and we appreciate all the support, man. We know the day ones. We know. Come on, man. SCW, man. You know? What's going through your mind before you debut at the Rumble?

44:50O'Shea:I mean, before the Rumble, TJ and I, we were talking about who we thought would win the Rumble. And I said Oba, and he was like, I don't know, they kind of setting it up for Braun Breaker, especially with everybody of the vision being in. And then who's one and two? Oba and Braun Breaker. And I was like, oh, hell yeah. Bro, there's no way. But what's that feeling? First of all, knowing that you're going number one, and how did you like being in the rumble? Is there something that you learned during there that you'll implement for the next time? I mean, no, not really. I think NXT did a good job of preparing us for the main roster.

45:41That's one thing I noticed because it's always been my mentality that it doesn't matter if it's 500 at the PC or 80 ,000 at WrestleMania. the ring size is the same the job is the same, you have to entertain the crowd and you know so I don't get like thrown off by a big crowd or a bigger stage or anything like that so NXT did a good job of you know preparing me for that moment but it was just a really cool ordeal I think what was cool about it was the fact that I'm entering number one so I get my full entrance Saudi is rocking with me I know that you know But down the line in this rumble, I'm going to be head-to-head with Brock.

46:24So it felt really good. If it was a good, pleasant surprise, a great moment for me personally. And you mentioned him. Once the world became aware of Obafemi, one name that constantly popped up is you got to see Oba and Brock Lesnar. And the moment you came out, one, it was hyped. And then at that point, I think we're all just like waiting. Yeah. Right. You're just waiting. For that guitar riff. Yeah. You know? And then here comes Lesnar. And it's just like, here we go. And then the way you guys teased it for a few entrants, like you kind of did the face off. You sized each other up. Nope. We're not going to touch yet.

47:12We're going to make them wait. And then you figure the second time, nope, you're still not going to interact. you're just going to size each other up could you you could feel that right you could feel the crowd in the anticipation i'm sure so what was it like standing across from this man and knowing that like this is the battle pretty much everybody wanted to see so it's a very uh there's so much nuance to that moment because there's there's there's one thing to have buzz online but a lot of times buzz online doesn't necessarily translate to what the casual crowd or the live crowd really wants so uh at the beginning stages of the face-off me and brock know that based on you know our reaction we both have the understanding that wait there might be something here there might be something here oh oh they're getting louder they're getting louder it's rumbling we have something so in that moment you have that like mental agreement like yes we know we have something so let's not give away too much right now you know what i mean so uh i'm glad it got the reaction i'm glad um I'm glad the IWC desires actually translates to the live crowd and what the casual fans want to see.

48:26And that's an amazing realization. So we have something there. It's a big money fight. We're not going to blow our load on just a Rumble interaction. There's so much more that can happen there. So we'll see down the line. I remember, I believe, the second interview where we were at WWE World the day after Wrestlemania we were on stage doing a live show and I believe that you did mention Brock as one of your Wrestlemania dream opponents when you're able to get in that time machine and go so did you guys I'm always worried about wondering if they reveal too much but I keep forgetting that unreal is a thing so I got to get that out of my head but did you and Brock have a chance beforehand to kind of go over what you were going to do have you had a chance to talk to him and maybe pick his brain at all or no?

49:13I mean, yes, I got to interact with him, but not too much on the wrestling because it was always designed to be a teaser just to see how the people react to it. That's what a lot of wrestling is. It's not like everyone just knows because a lot of times it's just like, let's do this, let's plant this seed, let's see what the crowd does. And based off of what the crowd does, that's going to be our next move. So there wasn't too much interaction into it. It was a face-off. It was a teaser. We knew what it was from the jump. Now we know we have something. We really have something. And I think going from here now, we'll probably have more interaction down the line.

49:54People love to say something will feed families. That's going to feed generations. Yeah. Generations will be fed off. For sure, excited to see that.

50:04O'Shea:And I just want to just, you know, I'm that guy. I'm Petty Guerrero, bro. So I just got to point it out. between Big E, Kofi Kingston, Omos. Black people need a victory, bro. We need Brock. We got to beat Brock Lesnar, bro. Yeah, man. Because Brock sees black success. I'm about to knock that out, bro. Put this Viking brain in and extinguish this. Right. So, yeah. There's a get back to these that we got. We have to remember something. There's one black person that Brock was not able to stop his momentum. Let me know. Raheem. they're gonna love that one Raheem Raheem was immune to Brock's to Brock's stuff so one win for us that's right baby the nightmare baby Raheem now that you've graduated is there something you gonna miss from NXT?

51:02the people you see the same Yeah, it seems like there's a great camaraderie down there, man. There is. There is. Wrestling has changed. It used to be very, very, very doggy dog. But thankfully, there has been more and more, you know, good willed, good intention. People come through and, you know, change the culture of the PC. So it's not what it used to be five years ago, even three years ago when I got there. It's very different from, you know, what it is now. It's transformed into a true camaraderie where everyone is trying to make the show better, like actively looking to improve the product and not just looking out for themselves.

51:44So that's I'll miss the people.

51:46O'Shea:Now, when one of your appearances that you've done throughout this new graduation ceremony, you will just to showcase of Oba. there was a tag match that was supposed to happen. And, you know, we see the War Raiders come out, and then we hear your music. Now, everyone who watched saw that you handled yourself well. It wasn't necessarily a match, but he just needed somebody to feel him. Now, I remember in the first episode that we had with you, you spoke about how important Ivar has been for you, you know, with being a big man. So how was that moment, to be able to have that moment with him on Raw?

52:36It was just that more special that it was him, you know? He's poured in so much into me as a person, me as a character, you know, my body of work. There's a lot of—his fingerprints are all over my stuff. So I was just happy that he was part of that moment, even though he was at the bottom end of that moment. I understand. But that's the kind of person he is. He knows the business. He knows what it's about.

53:11He ate some big bombs that day. Kudos to him. He's still up and alive. You take something huge from the ruler, it's not easy to get back up. I do appreciate Ivar as a mentor, as a teacher, as an opponent, as a human being. Yeah, when it happened and your music hit, I was like, oh, who's Oba going to tag with? Tag? You know, and it was like, oh, wait a minute. There ain't going to be a match. No, no. This is just, yeah. So, you know, I read online a lot of people, not a lot, but people were like, well, you know, the War Raiders, great tag team. Did that, you know, hurt them? I'm like, they weren't expecting Oba to come out.

53:52You know, he. They were waiting for a partner. They were waiting for a partner. You went in there and you just murked them real quick. And, you know, what were they going to do? I think the main roster crowd, the audience has not fully understood the concept that it's Obafemi. Like, they don't get... I don't think they understand yet. They will. They'll catch on. They're starting to. Obafemi destroying the War Raiders is not a knock on the War Raiders. That's just how good Obafemi is. Come on now. And the sooner they realize that, the sooner they understand that, the easier things will be for them.

54:26O'Shea:And what I really like is, because we were talking about if you were to be the one to retire Cena. Which I'm still kind of mad that he weren't. Yeah, but Gunther right now is the most hated man on the planet. Although, you're too cool to hate right now. They don't know if you face, if you heal. It's just don't mess with that dude. And it's the same way I used to feel about Taker during the biker things. and a few times during the Phenom stage as well, is that he's just a figure. He's just like, it's Taker. Boo, cheer, it don't matter. Just don't get on his bad side. Good or bad. Yeah, just like whatever path he want to take in that moment is where he's going to go.

55:17O'Shea:Everybody can get the work. Yeah, so, I mean, are you a heel? Are you a face? Or is this, it's just Oba. I'm just over. And that's how you know when you've got into that juicy character moment. Because you, people, you know, you're a bad guy, you're a good guy. No, I'm trying to transcend that now. Like, I think wrestling is finally getting to a place where it's not good guy, bad guy. It's human being. And we want to have relatable human beings that the people can connect with and, you know, attached to uh very like very few people have been able to to get that kind of reaction you know like undertaker like you said steve austin absolutely rock it just gets to a point where you're just such a good character that people are like well you did that bad thing oh we love him he did that good thing oh we love him so that's that's a great place to be and i'm happy that the obafemi character is there right now you just led me into my next question you brought up stone called Steve Austin, you brought up The Rock.

56:23One thing I've noticed recently in your entrance, as you do the march and you're coming to the ring, now it seems like you've started to talk as you're making that entrance. I didn't notice this before until a few weeks ago, but now you're talking to your opponent. You're letting them know what time it is. You told Kit Wilson very audibly, you're going to die, right? And that reminded me of other badasses, Stone Cold, when he hit that ramp and did that power walk and the head's moving and he's talking trash to everybody the rock was another one who would like to talk trash you know to his opponent let him know what was about to happen when did that when did you decide to make that that little tweak because it honestly it's one thing to watch you come march down to the ring right it's another thing when you're telling me that ass is about to get kicked it's like it kind of just amps it up just that little bit more how How did that come about?

57:17I mean, very organically. It wasn't something that was planned. It was definitely like a, you know, say what you mean, mean what you say ordeal. So that's just how I was feeling. And that's how I'm feeling right now. Like all the boys know, like when Obafemi comes down, you know, you're dying tonight. You know, you already know the business. You already have the heads up. It's going to be a hard night in front of you. Tough night. Good, very good night's sleep. Tough night of recovery. so just bite the bullet do your thing but you're dying tonight that's awful

57:55O'Shea:that's an awful feeling now there was some disappointment online that we never got a moment with you and a superstar that returned at the Royal Rumble the Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns. A lot of people, we fantasy book, man. They're sitting at home and they're like, oh, man, I would love to see them clash. And we didn't quite get the ruler and the chief. Was there anything backstage? You guys had a conversation? Have you been able to talk to Roman at all or anything? No. No. Oh, good. No, I haven't talked to him. All right. That's solid. the ruler doesn't seem like it matters if he talks to you or not i know something's gonna happen i just listen i'm an actor i just see box office like one you know box office is box office i can't i can't help it i gotta know man we're still feeding generations with these type of matchups you know because you know one thing is that roman is not done we know this uh and as far as the ruler goes ruler has time you know i just my time just started so he's doing his thing with CM Punk right now.

59:08He can ride that out after WrestleMania and then we'll talk. Okay. Speaking of WrestleMania and things of that nature, are you thinking ahead to who you'd like to see? Are you up for getting a spot in this elimination chamber match? What's the next few weeks looking like for Obafemi? I know a lot of people's question is that is Oba ready for you know the next big thing the next big stage is he ready for the chamber but the real question is is the chamber ready for obafemi because like a lot of times too it's not just that uh we're looking for a spot for oba you know where to plug him in the truth is like not everybody wants to be plugged in you know not everybody because the boys knows they know what that entails like i said earlier, you know, so wherever I can fit, I will dominate, I will execute and it will be great, it will be good so they know what to do, they'll figure it out

1:00:15O'Shea:We're still trying to see you know, they're still battling to see what show he even on, you know you got a whole roster a little worried like he's not coming to SmackDown, right? He's staying on the roster, right? Yeah, he's not coming over here, right? You know You know, here's another thing I was thinking of, because, you know, I asked Trick this, too. You know, Ova, now you got the call up, right? You're on two shows. I got to imagine, you know, to quote KRS-One, that the money's flowing and everything is fine with Ova Femi. So I'd like to know, man, how have you treated yourself? Is there something that you had your eye on?

1:00:48I mean, you know what I mean? And now you finally like, you know what? I've been wanting this watch for a minute. Or I've been wanting this whip. or just is there something now that you've able to kind of like reward yourself with because you you've been putting in this work and you know just enjoying the fruits of your labor a little bit No, there's no, there's no, I'm not as materialistic of a person. I mean, I'll get myself nice things, but there's no like one purchase that's like, oh, I've been dying to have this. I think my success is more enjoyed by the people around me, if I'm being honest, than exactly me, myself.

1:01:31my huge pay bump it doesn't necessarily mean that anything is necessarily going to change but it's good to know that there's nothing that can faze me anymore financially but yeah, there's nothing I just take care of my family back home now we live here now we can live here that's really what it is we used to be able to do this now we can do this that's what my family's thing what I really chase is the moments in the ring and the accolades and the gold and all that stuff. So I'm not really – there's no one purchase that has been on my mind.

1:02:12O'Shea:You know, we don't know where things are going to lay out in the future. You know, things change all the time. Even right now with the injury to Bron Breaker, You know, we can only assume that a lot of things have to take a shift backstage. But being so close to Mania, are you foaming at the mouth a little bit? Just the idea of being able to do all these debuts so close to each other and possibly getting the match at Mania? Is this at least crossing your mind or is it just focusing on a task at hand? I mean, it's both. I am focusing on what's in front of me, but at the same time, being at Mania, being on the card, that would be a huge milestone that I can put off my checklist.

1:03:02But like I said, whatever is put in front of me is the task at hand, and that will be handled on a week-to-week basis. But I'm not foaming at the mouth, but I would like that to be a thing. Same thing with the Sina retirement tour. It's like I'm not foaming at the mouth, but I would love to be the one to retire Cena. You know, but that's where I am mentally.

1:03:25O'Shea:Well, I'm going to just put it out there because, you know, TJ, I like to plant seeds, you know, push propaganda. Yeah, Chia Pet grows in three days. You know that. I would love, I would love, Paul, Paul, buddy, buddy, Levesque, my guy. I would love. Come Triple H, man. I would love to see Obafemi's debut, WrestleMania debut in Vegas because Saudi is so far, TJ. Oh yeah, I don't think we are. I can't speak for you because you know, you got movies and stuff. I do have movies and stuff. I'm just on the daily sports talk show. I don't think I'm going to make it. I would love to see it in Vegas. I'm just saying.

1:04:01I can make it to Vegas. Yeah, I can make it to Vegas. I can make it to Vegas today. That's true. We could. Hopefully that they first of all you can't at this point now the world has seen this man yeah but the Wrestlemania that's what I'm saying there's no way we ain't getting over on the biggest stage in professional wrestling would be crazy it would be crazy and you know I know we talked about the John Cena thing but was there ever any talks about maybe you getting a chance to wrestle him during one of those last few matches or was that never... They always played their cards very close to the verse.

1:04:41Yeah. We're talents. We're not office. Right. We do it with a tour. What I love about Oba, right, it just doesn't seem like in a good way that anything is going to phase Oba Femi. He'll take what they give him until the time comes where he decides that he needs more and then that's going to be a problem for everybody. But you seem to really for someone your age and for as long as you've been doing this, bro, it just seems like you truly it's like you've been schooled and you get it. You get how everything is working.

1:05:17O'Shea:The man was at Alabama and told football no. He different. I still can't believe Nick Saban wasn't pounding down your door. Nah, man. My man is focused. Task at hand. I'm fully focused, man. Yeah, man. But, dude, I mean, you got any more for him, man? I mean, you know, I know our time with you is a little short. Yeah, a little short today. Just want to say thank you, bro. Yeah. Oh, here's – I do have a question. I know that from what I read that you also consider becoming an artist. But your passion for athletics, namely Shotput, kind of guided your path. What type of art were you into? What would Obafemi, the artist, look like?

1:06:06Obafemi the artist doesn't exist. But, I mean, at the time, I was doing a lot of painting and, you know, big painting pieces. That was kind of like my specialization in college. Hopefully down the line, I can do some wrestling-inspired art pieces. But, you know, that's going to be way down the line because right now, you know, I have a focus. but hopefully I hope to rekindle my passion for art because it's just one of those things that ended up falling by the wayside I still have admiration for it every now and then I'll look at you know some some good art and you know you know I'll appreciate it but I need to get enough motivation to get back into the game of you know painting myself what what we'll see what what Was it paints, you said?

1:07:00I was an oil, paint, acrylic guy. Okay. Yeah, those were my two main... Anything else I did was because I was asked to, but whenever I sat down to make my own pieces without any instruction from an instructor, oil and acrylic was my thing.

1:07:18O'Shea:I bet. Well, we are grateful that you have decided to take your art talents to the squared circle. No doubt. Because you're just painting the ring with bodies. Yeah, you know what I mean? And launching people in the air That pizza toss Man Does that move have a name? Well We call it the pizza toss backstage But it doesn't have like an official How did you know it was the pizza toss? Listen bro There's no contest baby I know stuff People tell us stuff We research things Pizza toss man, I know man That's awesome Yeah, but it is called the pizza sauce backstage amongst the boys. So, yeah. All right.

1:08:03Is there a Nigerian dish that involves dough that you would also handle and throw that we could give it? No, no, no, no. The wild food preparations belong to the West. We stay grounded when we cook food. I guess pizza tossing it. He'll be tossing it. I was thinking maybe we could come up with a devil's kiss moment where we made the move.

1:08:26O'Shea:But, you know. No, pizza toss, that's what they know it as. I can just imagine being a guy who got to get it. Like, that's rough. Yeah, I don't know if that's a move I'm looking forward to taking it. I was just going to launch my studio. No one looks forward to it. Oh, but, man, you've been here more than anybody. Yeah, man. Obviously, you are welcome here as much as you'd like. You are right now. Man, you Mr. NCW right now. Bro, you've been here the most. So you're always welcome here, man. Three is the magic number. three times dope you see i can't wait for the fourth man three feet high and rising like de la soul said yeah but it like i said earlier but man it just truly like from getting to talk to you the first time we did and then actually meeting you for the second time and now bro when i tell you that like i think i can definitely speak for the both of us watching you continue to elevate and watching the people catch on and just chant your name and get behind you it's just a weird feeling man i feel like this is my dude you know every time i look at instagram sometimes and i'll see obafemi looked at the story or something i'm like yeah this is you know this is my g right here man so it's just there's a there's a point of pride that i feel like goes without saying that i know we feel to see you and some of the other brothers coming up and doing your thing man and it just i just makes me smile and that that should tell people yeah y 'all need to start checking out them tuesdays might find you something nice right you definitely will there's so much talent man so much time.

1:09:55But this? This is really special right here, man. And I appreciate you guys too, man. Don't get it twisted. It's an honor to be featured here as frequently as I am. I'm the three-time record holder. And I appreciate all the support. And rest assured, like Oberfemme, the Ruler is also supporting you guys too. Oh man, that means a lot, brother.

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1:11:59O'Shea:Man, overdue. Oh, man. You like, you just root for him because you just, the intelligence oozes off the kid. Yeah, man. And he's... It seems we're calling him a kid, but you know, he's still, he's mid-20s. Well, I'm 34. Yeah, and I'm older than that. But that's a grown-ass man. Man, I've been tripping off that I'm older than Anthony Davis. I've been having to remind myself. It trips me out. I don't like watching the draft. I kind of felt that way when I reached a certain age trying to watch college sports. And I realized, man, I remember I got to a point where I was like, one of these could actually be my child.

1:12:37Yeah. And that's when you go, oh, wow. If I had started at like 17. Yeah. Which is scary. By the way, I found out years later, dude, I went to high school with. I didn't find out until like 20 years later. He actually had kids in high school. There was a grandpa by like 40s. I was like, I'm just finding this out on Facebook. Wow. So yeah, just randomly, not for nothing.

1:13:00O'Shea:Yeah, that's what you get at no contest, all right? Just stream of consciousness. But Oba, you know, that's a grown-ass man. Yeah, and like I told him, man, You don't necessarily want to sweat your guests too much, but whatever, man. I don't want to front. Sometimes we front, not us, but you have a tendency to front and try to downplay your excitement about seeing it. But we definitely didn't do that, man. Like I said, it's dope to see where he's come from. It's dope to see where he's at. And it's even more dope to know that unless something tragically goes wrong, you know where he's going. right and man like like like they said sky's the limit right and and you know we were just that moment where you said that you know without something crazy happening we talked about obviously the brawn breaker injury but i also want to take a moment uh it'd be a black history to thank Big E.

1:14:08O'Shea:It's like it's one of those things that you kind of felt like you knew like you saw the writing on the wall but to get the stamp like yeah is it it hurt. It hurts man. It's somebody I would love to speak with. We'll put his tweet up right here but as you can see you know it's just he basically you know he confirmed what I think everyone's worst fear was that like you know the broken neck the neck injury that he suffered a few years back yeah that's it you know and but instead of looking at it in the sad way I think we all especially if you're a fan of Big E you got to look at it in the positive the fact that he's able to have you know he mentioned the amount of surgeries yeah that he's had in his life so you know when you become older and I think a little bit wiser as a fan you You want these guys to have a good quality of life, right?

1:15:02And so it's just good to know, thank God, that that neck injury didn't paralyze him, right? And it's great to see that he's able to move around and function, you know, and still do what he does. You know, he's got a new TV series coming out. He's working. He's working, man. And more importantly, he's coming out. Yeah, he's walking and he's able to function. And so, yeah, you know, you kind of knew that that was it, but to read it, it kind of... Stung a little bit.

1:15:30O'Shea:Stung a little bit. I remember watching it. I remember watching it live. And that, like we said, we're looking to the future, and he's an entertainment man. Like, he knows. The big E is for entertainment right now. And he entertained everybody. Yeah, and that's going to go down as one of those moments. Wrestling broke your heart. And, like, it's not you didn't know in the moment per se, but you knew something was wrong. Yeah. and for it to be here yeah it stings a little bit uh would love to talk to big e was it we're sending you all positive energy from the no contest wrestling podcast of course uh but yeah i just wanted to make sure that we spoke about that because that is big news and truly a really great nice guy i had a chance met him a couple times backstage and i know one time at least two times i physically witnessed him break away and beeline his way over just to shake her hand and say what's up man and that's something that unless you're backstage at a wrestling event you never see that's something that's very big back there these wrestlers are some of the the nicest human beings believe it or not and i've said this before if everyone treated everyone the way you get treated backstage at a wrestling event this world would be such a better place man and that that's no lie and he was one of those people you know and when he came out as biggie langston yeah you Remember, I want five.

1:16:52And he did the Bundy thing. And then becoming what he was the second ever NXT world champion. And I'll give them that world champion title. Or even if you don't, he was the second NXT champion. And then just seeing him make his main roster appearance with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. And it's just like you looked at the guy and you were like, this dude is a monster. And there was a documentary that went out where you saw the guys lifting and John Cena's gym, and he made the, I think the record was like 540-pound bench press with a young Roman Reigns being the one who's spotting him and being his loudest cheerer, and then the camera pans around.

1:17:35You see Xavier Woods and Jon Moxley and Seth Rollins was in that room and just a lot of the stars of the day when they were young cats just coming up. You see them in that piece just going nuts for Biggie. and just being like that first voice you hear when you think of New Day.

1:17:54O'Shea:Yeah. Oh, yeah. Stephanie McMahon uses it for her part. I want you there, be sour. And then just, Biggie just seemed like one of those dudes who like, just people love Biggie, man. So yeah, it sucked to see that happen to him, but I'm happy he got that moment where he had that world title run because that was amazing. even though he had to take it from Bobby Lashley, which sucked. At least it wasn't February. But yeah. Well, then Brock Lesnar took care of him. Yeah, so. But also, I saw on Twitter that somebody suggested this would be the perfect route for the New Day to turn back face, in which Kofi Kingston replied, and this is a quote from Kofi, shut your whole ass up.

1:18:39Yes. Incredible. What a poet. One day we hopefully will see a New Day reunion. right now it doesn't seem like it's going to be that day but Big E also mentioned that if he were to ever go into the Hall of Fame he'd want to go as a member of the New Day I don't know how Woods and Kofi feel about that but time hails all wounds yeah absolutely we got to hopefully get those guys back together at some point but yeah Big E man just wanted

1:19:03O'Shea:to make sure we spoke about Big E's retirement and another retirement that we didn't get to speak on AJ Styles what the hell what the hell I just talked to you I just talked to you I just talked to you man everything he told us everything without telling us anything he told us you go back and watch our AJ Styles video when we brought up a retirement tour and he kind of blew it off making it seem like nah in his way he made it seem like he wasn't important enough or it wasn't important enough to warrant one You won't even notice. Right. And I literally, I interrupted him. I stopped him. I'm like, yo, you're AJ Styles, dog.

1:19:49I know you. What do you, like, we're going to celebrate you. And then this happened. And I told you like two weeks ago, I was like, he's been on his retirement tour. And we didn't even know it. Didn't even know. And, you know, like I said, the match with Nakamura, not many people were happier than me that that match went off the way it did. And then even with Gunpa, you kind of, you're holding on right at the end. Of course. Because they were banging it out. You know, pause. Respectfully. You got to put, I think in your heart you knew.

1:20:21O'Shea:Yeah. But your brain, what is that tweet you have pinned? It's a saying that I stick by, that I have to tell myself. I'm pretty sure I made it up. If the heart ever had a good idea, it would be called the brain. Right? So in your heart, you're like, oh, no, AJ's, he can beat Gunther. but your brain is like, no, dog, you know this. He had that match with Nakamura. That was it. Hug goodbye. And he didn't take the gloves off. So he starts to take the gloves off, and that's when you're like, and he goes to put him down, and he stops. He slides him back on. What's that mean? That means his time in WWE is done.

1:21:06My WWE career. But I do believe, yeah, he is. This is it. 26. But he's got a few stops to make before he drives home to Wendy and the kids.

1:21:18O'Shea:Now, is there obviously the fans of AEW are hammering. Do you think it's a chance he stops over there? They play rough. They play real rough. Also, shout out AEW for saying Happy Black History Month. Happy Black History Month to you as well, AEW. I don't know. You're hearing reports that maybe you might want to go and do a little farewell tour in New Japan. That would be pretty dope. TNA with that TV deal, that'd be a great spike. Ultimately, though, I think you and I want to see Mike Santana get that wish. That's another good dude. Shout out to Mike Santana. Just to get that match that AJ said, I don't think WWE would do.

1:21:59Well, guess what? Now TNA would probably most definitely do it.

1:22:05O'Shea:So Tommy Dreamer. Oh, man, I wish I would have asked over what was the feeling like when AJ comes back there and it's over I be tripping sometimes well you know we only have X amount of time sometimes and there's so much you know every question we have we'll get an answer and that'll take you down another path so it is what it is but shout out to Biggie shout out to AJ Styles I got a feeling though this ain't gonna be the last we see of the phenomenal one so that's kind of good sad to see that WWE career and but man thank you for what 10 years of just yeah from the Royal Rumble to phenomenalness phenomenal man Uncle Allen as Carl Anderson the machine gun calls him yeah now I don't damn it TJ I don't want to end on a sad note well then don't do something say something to make the people happy then I feel like for the first time ever we should let the people know what we plan for them next week ahead of time well we could do that or you could kind of do what you did to me on the phone yesterday and kind of set up how without giving out the name yeah until the end you could just set up how our next week's guest came about yeah see your boy was chilling chilling out max and relaxing and all cooling.

1:23:32O'Shea:And then, yeah, my agency calls my phone. UTA? No, WME. WME. You know what I'm saying? You know I was a client too. Yeah? Yeah. You got a lot of lives, bro. You got to start animating. When I wrote my book, I became a bestseller. I was an Endeavor client. And then when the merger happened, they kept me. So yeah, I was getting Christmas cards for a while. WME. So I get the call from the agency. I don't see it. I'm getting ready to go pick up my child. She's eight. Shout out, Jordan. Yeah, shout out, Jordan. Daddy loves you. Happy Black History Month, too. But so I'm going to go pick up my kid. My agency calls.

1:24:12O'Shea:I'm like, all right, I'm going to hit him when I get in the car. Then my agent calls. And so now I'm like, oh, okay. So I go on Twitter real quick. Let me see if I can do that. Because you be tweeting a lot. Yeah, I'm like, oh, my God. Am I in trouble? Am I in trouble? So I get in the car and call it back. She was like, I think I have something that you're going to like. I was like, this is great news because I thought I was in trouble. She was like, blank, saw what you said. A wrestler. Yes. Yes. A wrestler saw what you said on the show. His manager then hit me and he wants to do your show. And I said, no way.

1:24:55O'Shea:And she was like, oh, yeah, wait. immediately I park and I text emergency NCW conference call right now. So you text me, I'm on air for the Rich Eisen Show. It was our last segment. And I see this, I'm like, well, I can't. I'm in the middle of the show right now, but it's almost over. I'll get to you in a second. I'm like, bro, y 'all need to get on the phone right now. And I told you guys, we expressed excitement. and yeah, it is with great pleasure that I get to let you guys know that next week on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast in studio, sitting right here in this seat, I'll be over there, in studio, we will have John Cena.

1:25:44Ain't no way! The never before scene. Ain't no way! John Cena will be joining us live in studio from this chair next week. No contest wrestling with one of the greatest of all time. And we'll get to talking. We got to clean up. You know, I mean, I can't. I mean, we keep the studio clean, though.

1:26:07O'Shea:It's like my rims. I can't go Levi's. Can I go Levi's? Or we wear suits. We just wear suits, right? John Cena will be joining us next week in studio. Yeah, man. You know how we get down with the conversation. it is something it's it's an honor number one it is an honor um it the fact that he's feeling a validation almost you know it's just like the words that we put out there are hitting the right people for him to see the you know the monologue that was from the heart also hella said I wasn't a fan I wonder how that goes off but anyway yeah it's it's validating and thank Thank you to everybody who tunes in to us.

1:26:50O'Shea:We have something very special for you guys next week. We're pumped. We obviously can't hold water because we told you all week early, but it's going to be great. You got to have that buildup of something of this magnitude. As Stevie Wade would love to say, suckers need to know, and suckers need to know that John Cena is going to be in the building next week here. It's crazy because Oba said earlier that the boys and the girls watch and they know and appreciate what we did. And that's one thing. But to have John Cena see what we did, and I'm sure he saw that clip. And I'm sure he seems like a man who does due diligence, so I'm sure he's went through and maybe watched some other stuff.

1:27:32And so that's just kind of wild to know that. But yeah, one of the probably the biggest star, obviously, in wrestling over the last 25 years. Chose us. One of the best actors right now in the game. John Cena is really funny. Yeah. And he's really good and really talented. And he want to be on no contest, y 'all. And he requested. This wasn't us reaching out. Would we have reached out? We would have, 100%. Of course. But to have John Cena ask to come on here. I want to go on. Like, man. Hey, hey. Who the hell you think you are? Yeah, who do you think you are? Who do you think you are, bro? Just a couple cats who love wrestling, man, and love to talk.

1:28:12It's February. Yeah, and I think that had a lot to do with it, too. Had this been April, maybe we wouldn't have got him. Who knows? He might not have been feeling as generous with his time. But, yeah, man, this is exciting. It's John Cena, bro. I've had the pleasure of talking to John Cena a few times. He's either Zoomed in or called in on to the Rich Eisen show over the last few years. And, of course, before the wrestling podcast, Rich would always give me a chance with the wrestlers to throw some stuff out there that would always get picked up by blogs and stuff. So I had a chance to kind of chop it up with him a little bit a few years ago, but nothing like what we're going to have in store for him.

1:28:51And like, yeah, man.

1:28:53O'Shea:Hey, y 'all. Y 'all boys, we moving on up in the world. John Cena next week has CM Punk in the beginning of the month. Over today? My goodness. TJ. We're just out here trying to do things. You know what I'm saying? Living just enough for the city. Now that John knows where to find us, for those who don't know, TJ, How about you tell them where to find them? So John Cena found this, which means you should be able to find this. But if you're having trouble, just know when you look us up on Twitter X, we're at There's No Contest. On Instagram, it's the whole thing, No Contest Wrestling Podcast. On TikTok, it's No Contest Wrestling Pod.

1:29:29Of course, you can find us on ESPN, where we're the only wrestling podcast. Spotify, Apple Music. You go to YouTube, you go to the Rich Eisen Show page, You'll find every episode of No Contest from CM Punk to episode one to Obafemi at episode 72. Yeah. And next week. 73. 73 is going to be a man who wore 54 as a linebacker. Right. Who is number one when it comes to title reigns. Yeah. And he's going to be here. So, man, congratulations. I'm going to explode in the car. Congratulations, my friend. Congratulations, dog. You know what I mean? Hey, I love you, bro. This is awesome. It's John Cena. You know what I mean?

1:30:15Like, I love John Cena.

1:30:22O'Shea:Make sure y 'all have a good day. We're not too good, because who the hell do you think you are? By the way, she's back, too. So, hi, Miss Parker.

1:30:41shot clocks big shots upsets aces tgl playoffs are here first atlanta drive starts their repeat run against los angeles golf club then rory's boston common golf and tigers jupiter links face off in their playoff debuts who will advance keep up its playoffs tune in tuesday march 17th at 6 30 p.m and 9 p.m only on espn and the espn app