MINNEAPOLIS — Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell match at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday night, delivering a decisive victory that closed out one of the promotion’s most closely watched rivalries of the year and further established the 27-year-old as WWE’s next marquee attraction.
The main event of SummerSlam’s opening night took place inside the steel structure at U.S. Bank Stadium, where Femi pinned Lesnar following a devastating Fall from Grace powerbomb, according to Fox News. The victory marked Femi’s second win over Lesnar in three meetings this year, following an earlier triumph at WrestleMania 42 in April and a subsequent loss to Lesnar at Clash in Italy.
A trilogy years in the making
The rivalry began at WrestleMania 42, when Femi shocked the wrestling world by defeating Lesnar in their first encounter. WWE’s own match preview for SummerSlam noted that after that loss, Lesnar left his gloves in the ring, a gesture widely interpreted as a signal that the veteran was walking away from in-ring competition.
Lesnar did not stay retired for long. He returned on WWE’s flagship program Raw to launch a vicious attack on Femi before defeating him in a rematch at Clash in Italy, setting the stage for a rubber match that both performers and WWE built toward for months. Entering SummerSlam, Lesnar held experience on his side with a 2-2 record in previous Hell in a Cell matches, including two victories over The Undertaker, while Femi had never competed inside the structure.
Inside the cell
The match itself lived up to its billing as a brutal, high-stakes affair. Yahoo Sports’ live coverage called it “the best of the three” matches the two had shared over the course of the year, describing Femi’s win as a “brutal torch-passing” moment for the promotion.
According to Forbes’ live results coverage, Femi delivered his signature Fall from Grace powerbomb to finish Lesnar, marking what the outlet described as a potentially career-defining moment that could signal the end of Lesnar’s in-ring career. Fox News reported that Lesnar attempted his own signature Tombstone Piledriver on the exposed wood beneath the ring canvas during the match, a callback to The Undertaker’s most famous Hell in a Cell finish but was unable to put Femi away.
Femi ultimately kicked out of Lesnar’s attack before delivering the finishing blow and securing the pinfall, according to Fox News’ account of the match. He celebrated the win in the ring as Lesnar and his longtime advisor Paul Heyman looked on.
‘The Beast’s’ first Cell loss
The result carried particular historical weight given Lesnar’s decorated Hell in a Cell record. ESPN’s post-match analysis noted that the win handed Lesnar, a former University of Minnesota wrestler competing in his home state, his first-ever loss inside the Cell structure, a notable milestone for a performer widely regarded as one of the most dominant Hell in a Cell competitors in WWE history.
ESPN’s Night 1 takeaways described the match’s outcome as almost inevitable given the broader narrative arc WWE had constructed over the year: “There was one way for the Night 1 main event to end: Femi had to conquer Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell, establishing Femi as WWE’s biggest force for years to come.” The outlet drew a direct parallel to Lesnar’s own historic role opposite The Undertaker, noting that in this match, Lesnar occupied the position of the aging legend being overtaken by a rising star, much as The Undertaker once did against Lesnar.
Lesnar passes the torch
Unlike his silent exit after the WrestleMania 42 loss, Lesnar did not remove his gloves or signal retirement in the ring on Saturday. Instead, ESPN reported that he took the microphone after the match to formally anoint Femi as the future of WWE, positioning himself as part of the promotion’s past.
That verbal endorsement, delivered directly to the SummerSlam crowd, effectively confirmed what months of storytelling had been building toward: a symbolic passing of the torch from one of WWE’s most dominant figures of the past two decades to a performer many analysts view as the company’s breakout star of 2026.
A breakout year for Femi
Saturday’s win capped what Forbes described as a “career-defining” 2026 for Femi, who has emerged as WWE’s standout new star. Beyond his two victories over Lesnar, Femi also won this year’s King of the Ring tournament in June, a title he reportedly passed up defending immediately in order to pursue the rubber match with Lesnar instead, according to ESPN.
That combination of results, defeating a generational figure like Lesnar twice in one calendar year while also claiming one of WWE’s most prestigious tournament titles, has positioned Femi as the promotion’s presumptive next top star heading into the remainder of 2026. Reaction on wrestling forums echoed that sentiment, with fans on Reddit noting that Femi will go down as the only performer to have defeated Lesnar specifically inside a Hell in a Cell match.
What comes next
SummerSlam’s opening night also featured other high-profile results, including CM Punk retaining his title in a headline bout against Cody Rhodes, according to ESPN’s live coverage, though the Femi-Lesnar match dominated post-event discussion across wrestling media.
With Lesnar’s on-camera endorsement effectively closing the book on the rivalry and no clear next challenger yet named for either performer, attention now shifts to how WWE will build on Femi’s newly elevated status heading into the fall stretch of programming, and whether Saturday’s loss represents a genuine step toward retirement for Lesnar after a WWE tenure spanning more than two decades.
