This Is Why Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi Won’t Headline WrestleMania

Bryan Alvarez has explained why Brock Lesnar versus Oba Femi is not headlining Night One of WrestleMania 42 despite many expecting it to be the marquee match of the weekend. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Alvarez reported that the decision comes down to WWE‘s partnership with ESPN — with the match instead opening Night Two specifically because it will air on ESPN in what is effectively a free window for viewers.

“The reason that Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi is not headlining Night One is because it’s opening Night Two. It is going to be on ESPN — basically free for everybody. The point is that one is going to be airing on ESPN Night Two, and they just want a big fight on ESPN,” Alvarez said. The Intercontinental Championship ladder match — featuring Penta, Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh, and Rey Mysterio — will also air on ESPN during Night Two.

Sam Roberts Predicts Oba Femi’s WrestleMania Push Could Mirror Brock Lesnar’s 2002 Debut Run

WWE analyst Sam Roberts weighed in on the Femi versus Lesnar matchup, offering a bold long-term comparison for what a clean Femi victory could represent. “I think the last person they did that with was Brock Lesnar in 2002. The idea that you’re going all the way with Oba right away — I love it,” Roberts said. The match represents one of WrestleMania 42’s most genuinely unpredictable outcomes, with Femi positioned as a generational physical specimen ready for a defining moment against the most accomplished monster in WWE history.