New Report Reveals Brock Lesnar's Likely WrestleMania Opponent

Who will Brock Lesnar be facing this year at WWE WrestleMania 42? It appears we finally have our answer.

Brock Lesnar returned on the February 23 episode of WWE Raw last month alongside Paul Heyman to issue an open challenge for his opponent at the Showcase of the Immortals. On that night, no one stepped forward to answer the call.

Lesnar has multiple Raw appearances scheduled between now and WrestleMania, but it appears his opponent next month has already been decided.

Brock Lesnar will reportedly face Oba Femi at WWE WrestleMania 42

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the consensus among WWE sources that he has spoken to recently believe that former NXT Champion Oba Femi will be the one who steps forward to challenge Brock Lesnar at the Showcase of the Immortals next month.

This has been a match that fans have been clamoring for since their face-off at the Royal Rumble premium live event earlier this year, which saw The Beast Incarnate eliminate The Ruler from the Men's Rumble match.

While there was some speculation recently that Gunther could be the one to answer Lesnar's challenge, Johnson reports no one he's spoken to believes that is the current direction for WrestleMania this year.

A match between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi could cause more harm than good

Oba Femi has been booked like an unstoppable force since his debut on the WWE main roster. Logical booking would dictate that Femi secures a dominant win over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, solidifying The Ruler as the "next big thing" in WWE. But there's just one problem.

A recent report from Ibou on Self Made Sessions revealed that both Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are politicking to ensure The Beast Incarnate doesn't lose a match until he retires.

“Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman essentially have communicated to WWE and WWE creative that Brock should not job until his retirement," Ibou said. "That presents WWE with a unique issue, because [Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque] would like to book, at some point, Gunther versus Brock and Oba versus Brock. But if he books those matches, Brock will lose in both matches. So this presents everybody with a conundrum.”

If Lesnar refuses to lose at the Showcase of the Immortals, a match with Oba Femi would be detrimental to the push of the former NXT Champion. This is a match that Femi absolutely needs to win to solidify his future as a top name in the company.

At this point in his career, Lesnar is Teflon. No loss is going to hurt him. But victories over him can make some young talent before he calls it a career. If Lesnar is intending to retire later this year at SummerSlam, a loss at WrestleMania won't harm that and will only amplify the end of his run as another one of WWE's top names decides to call it a career.