As the first quarter of 2026 winds down, Paul Heyman has already claimed Salesman of the Year. On Monday’s Raw, wrestling’s top carnival barker didn’t just sell fans on weeks of WWE programming on Netflix — he sold them on WrestleMania’s other main event.
Standing beside Brock Lesnar, Heyman gave viewers a history lesson. “Traditionally, WrestleMania had two main events,” he said, “the title match and the Undertaker’s Streak.”
Heyman then reminded fans that it was Lesnar who ended the Undertaker’s
undefeated streak, making him WrestleMania’s new main event.
Heyman considered who might face Lesnar this year. After surveying the locker room, he concluded that “there wasn’t one person that was man enough that I could identify that would step up and take the ass-kicking of biblical proportions that await them at WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar.”
The WWE Hall of Famer then unveiled Lesnar’s Raw schedule on the road to WrestleMania and issued an open challenge to anyone willing to step up to face “The Beast” on WWE’s biggest stage.
“You can have all the title matches you want,” Heyman crowed,” the real main event at WrestleMania is whomever’s gonna get their ass kicked and conquered versus Brock Lesnar.”
WWE Hints at Oba Femi
Moments before Heyman and Lesnar arrived, fans saw a vignette showcasing the dominance of former NXT Champion and main roster free agent Oba Femi. Following his highlight reel of destruction, Femi had words with Rusev, teasing a future matchup.
At Raw GM Adam Pearce’s request — not to steal attention from a night dedicated to AJ Styles — both men backed off.
As the focus returned to the arena, Lesnar and Heyman entered the ring as Michael Cole reminded fans that Lesnar had eliminated Femi from this year’s men’s Royal Rumble.
With Pearce enforcing a truce between Femi and Rusev, it seems the only thing keeping Femi from answering Lesnar’s challenge was consideration for the retired Styles.
Heyman’s Mania Master Plan
WWE’s back-to-back segments strongly hint at a Femi vs. Lesnar showdown at WrestleMania. At 48, Lesnar is approaching the end of his career, and the company needs a new “Beast.”
Enter Oba Femi.
Standing 6’6” and weighing over 300 pounds, the 27-year-old phenom has the size to fill Lesnar’s shoes. A recent interview also showed his professionalism and maturity, prioritizing WWE’s goals over his own ambitions.
But whether it’s Femi or someone else, positioning Lesnar’s match as a WrestleMania main event sets the stage for WWE to elevate a new star with a signature win over the former WWE and UFC Heavyweight Champion. Such a victory could put that person on the path to next year’s WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia, which Heyman is already thinking about.
Speaking on the Busted Open podcast recently, Heyman said he’s been asking about the plan for WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia for the past eight months. Planning that event now, he believes, makes this year’s Vegas Mania — and beyond — more meaningful.
“Let’s book Saudi Mania. It’s going to make booking Vegas Mania much easier,” Heyman said. “Not that Vegas Mania is the launching pad to Saudi Mania, but Vegas Mania is the launching pad to Saudi Mania, which is the launching pad to Mania 2028, which is the launching pad to Mania 2029.”
With this year’s WrestleMania serving as the springboard to the future, who Lesnar faces could signal who WWE sees as “The Next Big Thing.”
