WWE officially announced that Oba Femi has vacated the NXT Championship following his show of leaving the belt in the ring following his victory over TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater on Tuesday’s edition of “WWE NXT,” a move that shocked General Manager Ava during a backstage segment. Femi confirmed earlier in the day on social media that his time with the title, and likely “NXT” as a whole, had come to an end. 

The official “NXT” X (formerly Twitter) account posted Tuesday afternoon that Femi had officially vacated the title. The post said to “stay tuned” for more details. As of this writing, the account has not posted any information regarding the future of the championship, or if a possible tournament may be held to name a new champion. When “NXT” cameras cut back to the title in the ring as Tuesday’s episode came to a close, Tony D’Angelo, who returned to the brand at Deadline, was seen looking on from the crowd.

Femi was in his second reign with the title after winning the gold back from Ricky Saints at Deadline. With the victory, Femi moved on to face Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event, the show that saw John Cena wrestle his final match. Femi didn’t get a fair shot at Rhodes, however, as Drew McIntyre interfered in their match. Following his performance at the event, Femi has been rumored for a main roster call-up. Video vignettes about him have been airing for weeks on both “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown.”

“The Ruler” first won the NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil in 2025. He signed with WWE in December 2021 as part of the Next in Line (NIL) program, but didn’t officially debut on “NXT” until April 2023.