Odugbesan had won several medals during his high school years. This would earn him a student-athlete scholarship at
Middle Tennessee State University, winning the
Conference USA title. Odugbesan then transferred to the
University of Alabama in Summer 2019, where he won the shot put title at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2021 and 2022, as well as winning the outdoor title in the latter year prior to graduation.[3][4]
Professional wrestling career
On December 8, 2021, Odugbesan signed with
professional wrestling promotion
WWE as part of its new Next In Line program to develop college athletes into potential WWE wrestlers.[5] Under the ring name Oba Femi, he made his in-ring debut on the November 18, 2022, episode of NXT Level Up, losing to
Dante Chen.[6]
After going winless on the program through February, Femi would make his formal
NXT debut on April 25, 2023, at
Spring Breakin', defeating
Oro Mensah.[7] After a hiatus on television, on December 2023, Femi entered the
2023 Men's NXT Breakout Tournament. He defeated Myles Borne in the first round and
Tavion Heights in the semifinals.[8] On January 2, 2024, at
NXT: New Year's Evil, Femi defeated
Riley Osborne in the finals to become the winner of the tournament.[9] The following week, Femi cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract and defeated
Dragon Lee to win the
NXT North American Championship, the first title of his career, while also becoming the first Next In Line program graduate to win a WWE title.[10][11] On February 4 at
Vengeance Day, Femi successfully defended his title in his first title defense against Dragon Lee.[12] In Femi's first
NXT Stand & Deliverevent on April 6, he successfully defended his title against
Dijak and
Josh Briggs in a
triple threat match.[13]