Oba Femi Beats Je'Von Evans to Retain NXT Title at Heatwave 2025

Oba Femi beat Je'Von Evans at Heatwave on Sunday to retain the NXT Championship.

It initially looked like Evans scored a monumental upset when a new referee counted to three, but the original referee ruled that Femi's foot was under the rope. Once the action restarted, Femi quickly finished off Evans to continue his incredible reign.

After the match, Ricky Saints interrupted Femi's celebration to confront him and let him know that he'll be coming after his NXT title.

Femi defeated Evans and Trick Williams to retain the title in a Triple Threat match at Stand & Deliver back in April, and while The Ruler moved on to other rivalries coming out of that event, Evans and Williams continued to pursue the top prize in NXT.

Amid Femi's successful title defenses against the likes of Myles Borne, Jasper Troy, Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs, Evans and Williams jockeyed for position and attempted to earn another title opportunity.

Williams gained some momentum in the form of winning the TNA World Championship, whereas Evans took some words of wisdom from WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker to heart.

The Undertaker told Evans he should "go after the biggest dog in the yard," which resulted in Evans placing Femi and the NXT Championship back on his radar.

Trick made it clear that becoming a double champ and only the second three-time NXT champion in WWE history was in his sights as well, setting the stage for a No. 1 contender's match.

Evans challenged Williams to a bout to determine Femi's challenger at Heatwave, and NXT general manager Ava made it official for the go-home episode of NXT before Heatwave.

In a battle between two of NXT's top stars, Evans emerged victorious, scoring one of the biggest wins of his career to earn another shot at Femi and the NXT title.

While that triumph brought him to within one win of his first-ever NXT Championship, it also potentially put Evans in harm's way against the far bigger and more powerful Femi.

Evans gave Femi everything he could handle at Heatwave, but arguably the most dominant champion in NXT history preserved his 200-plus-day reign with another impressive victory.