Oba Femi has said his Nigerian accent is not invented. In his account, it is how he normally talks, and he deliberately plays it up when he is on television. The accurate description is an authentic accent, emphasized for performance, rather than a fake accent put on for a character.
What Femi has said about the accent
The clearest statement comes from a January 2025 appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, as reported by Wrestling Inc. in an article dated January 22, 2025, under the headline “WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi Admits To Mildly Playing Up Accent.” Wrestling Inc. attributes the following comment to Femi:
“This is my accent, like this is — yes, it’s like it’s played up on TV for sure, but this is how I talk.”
He followed it with a point about the two ways he speaks: “People think one is real, one is fake — no, like, both are me.” Wrestling Inc. asks that the show be credited for these remarks, and that Wrestling Inc. be credited for the transcription.
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Femi also said he grew up in Nigeria for 19 years, which is the basis for his claim that the accent is his first and natural voice. Wrestling Inc. reports the figure as Femi’s own. It also reports that he has lived in the United States for seven years and can now code-switch between the two ways of speaking. That seven-year figure comes only from Wrestling Inc.’s account, so treat it as a reported detail rather than verified biography.
How a real accent can sound “more Nigerian” on television
The distinction Femi draws is between degree and identity. Nothing he has said claims that his accent is a different accent from the one he uses off camera. He says the television version is pushed further. The table below sets out the three things he identifies as differing between the two modes.
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| Factor | Everyday conversation | Television promo or interview |
|---|---|---|
| Degree of emphasis | Less pronounced, as he describes it | Played up, in his words |
| Context | Informal speech | Scripted or performance-shaped delivery for a broadcast audience |
| Speaker’s own description | “This is how I talk” | “Played up on TV for sure” |
Code-switching is the key to reading this correctly. Speakers who move between a home or regional register and a more mainstream one usually adjust the features they stress, not the underlying language. Femi’s statement that both ways are him fits that pattern. A less pronounced delivery in a casual setting is not a more genuine voice, and a stronger delivery on television is not a costume.
The later character interview
A later BBC Sport interview, reported by WrestleTalk on January 5, 2026 in an article titled “WWE Star Addresses Creating ‘Authentic’ Character,” gives Femi’s reasoning about the character itself. As WrestleTalk reproduces it, he said:
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“But, for me, it’s like how much of a human being can I put into this one character. Let me have that natural cadence of a Nigerian man.”
This explains design choices: he wanted the character to feel human and to keep the rhythm of how a Nigerian man speaks. It describes how a performer shapes a character, which is a separate question from whether the accent is genuine. WrestleTalk’s transcription should be checked against the original BBC Sport interview before it is quoted as Femi’s exact words.
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How to describe the accent accurately
- Use the accent’s origin as Femi describes it. He says he grew up in Nigeria and that the accent is his, so “his real accent” is the supported description.
- Use “played up” or “emphasized,” not “fake” or “put on.” Femi’s own word for the television version is “played up.”
- Do not treat one register as the only real voice. He says both are him, and a casual clip does not prove a more natural voice than a broadcast one.
- Attribute the duration claims. The 19 years is Femi’s figure as reported by Wrestling Inc. The seven years in the United States is a secondary account.
Sources and what each establishes
| Source | Date | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Wrestling Inc., reporting The Rich Eisen Show interview | January 22, 2025 | Femi’s direct comments that the accent is his, that it is played up on television, and that both ways of speaking are him |
| PWMania, reporting the same No-Contest Wrestling episode | January 23, 2025 | A second report of the explanation. It is not an independent interview, but it supports how the remarks were understood |
| WrestleTalk, reproducing a BBC Sport interview | January 5, 2026 | Femi’s reasoning about building a human character with a natural Nigerian cadence |
None of these sources is a study of accents, and no linguistic measurement of Femi’s speech was found. The conclusion rests on his own account and on how consistently the two reports describe it.
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