Oba Femi won the crown but Jey Uso exposed his greatest weakness

The Phantom Tap in Riyadh

Pro wrestling is built on the illusion of absolute resolution. When a champion stands in the center of the ring, crown aloft, the ledger is supposed to be clean.

Yet the final frame of the King of the Ring tournament at Night of Champions on June 27, 2026, offered no such clarity. Instead, we got a messy finish that left a dark cloud over the biggest win of Oba Femi's career.

As Jey Uso locked in a tight sleeper hold on the mat, the camera caught a detail that changed the match. Femi's hand hit the canvas three times in quick succession.

It was a tap. It was not a struggle for positioning; it was a surrender.

The referee did not see it. Femi escaped using brute force, and seconds later he hit the Fall From Grace powerbomb to win the match. But the tape does not lie.

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T was quick to call out the mistake on his Hall of Fame show. The legend did not hold back his criticism of the finish. Booker T argued that the match should have ended right there on the mat.

Jey Uso should have been crowned King, and Femi's victory needs to be questioned. Here is exactly what Booker T said on his broadcast:

Oba tapped. Oba tapped. Oba tapped. Jey Uso should be the King of the Ring. They might need to put an asterisk by this win. I'm just saying. But I'm proud. I'm proud of Oba Femi going out there and becoming the King of the Ring now.

This is not just Booker T complaining about a missed call. It is a major critique of how WWE is building its next monster heel. Femi is being pushed as an unstoppable force, yet he had to rely on a referee's mistake to survive a mid-card babyface.

That is a massive booking error. It hurts his credibility just as he enters a feud with Brock Lesnar. A king should not win on a technicality.

Jey Uso's Tactical Blueprint

To understand how Femi got put in this position, we have to look at the match structure. Jey Uso knew he could not match Femi's raw power. Femi's first move of the match was to throw Uso into the corner like a rag doll.

When Uso tried to fire back with right hands, Femi shut him down instantly with a heavy shoulder tackle. The physical gap between the two men was obvious from the opening bell. It looked like a short night for the challenger.

So Uso changed his strategy. He took the fight to the outside of the ring, using the environment to slow the big man down. Uso sent Femi ribs-first into the steel ring post.

He followed that up with two consecutive suicide dives, driving Femi's midsection directly into the barricade. This was a smart tactical adjustment designed to take away Femi's core strength. It worked perfectly.

By targeting the ribs, Uso neutralized Femi's ability to lift. We saw the results immediately when Femi tried to get back in the ring. Uso dodged a chokeslam attempt and hit a superkick, then fought out of a Fall From Grace attempt.

Femi's core was too damaged to hold Uso's weight. This allowed the smaller man to take control of the pace. The crowd in Riyadh could feel the shift in momentum.

Uso went for a third suicide dive, but Femi caught him mid-air with a heavy right hand. It was a brutal counter that showed Femi's excellent timing. But the damage to Femi's ribs had already been done, setting up the most controversial sequence of the match.

The Kickout at One and the Death of Drama

Wrestling matches rely on a back-and-forth flow to build tension. When a wrestler hits their finishing move, the crowd expects a near-fall or a victory. But in Riyadh, WWE opted for a booking choice that destroyed the match's internal logic.

After rocking Femi with superkicks, Uso climbed the turnbuckle and connected with a clean Uso Splash. Femi did not just kick out. He kicked out at a count of one.

This was a terrible decision that hurt both performers. For Jey Uso, it meant his primary finishing move was completely useless against a champion. For Femi, it did not make him look like a monster; it made the match feel fake and over-booked.

A kickout at one should be saved for rare, emotional moments in a long feud. Using it here, in the middle of a tournament final, felt cheap. It took the crowd out of the match because they realized Jey's standard offense had zero chance of winning.

The match's drama died right there on the canvas. Uso had to hit two spears and two more Uso Splashes just to get a two-count. That is a ridiculous amount of offense for a wrestler to absorb and still walk away.

It exposes Femi's booking as too protective. The writing relies on cartoonish durability rather than smart ring psychology. This style of booking has a short shelf life.

The Submission Trap

This brings us back to the sleeper hold. After surviving the second wave of splashes, Femi was exhausted.

Uso saw his opportunity and locked in the sleeper on the mat. This was the most realistic part of the match, showing Femi's technical limits when forced down.

Femi is a powerhouse, but his mat defense is almost non-existent. He does not know how to fight out of submissions using mechanical advantage or body positioning. When Uso tightened the hold, Femi panicked and tapped the mat.

It was a clear sign of physical defeat that the referee simply missed. Femi eventually broke the hold by hitting multiple uppercuts and throwing Uso across the ring like a shot put. He hit the Fall From Grace powerbomb to secure the win, but the damage was done.

The finish showed that if you can get Femi to the mat and lock in a submission, he will break. Jey Uso laid out the blueprint for the entire roster. Now everyone knows the giant can be made to quit.

This vulnerability is a massive problem as Femi moves on to his next opponent. WWE has already announced that Femi will face Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam in August. Lesnar is not Jey Uso; he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion who specializes in breaking people on the mat.

Brock Lesnar and the SummerSlam Trap

If Femi struggled with Uso's sleeper hold, he is in serious trouble against Lesnar. Lesnar's entire offense is built on physical dominance and amateur wrestling credentials. He will not run into the ring post or waste time with suicide dives.

He will take Femi down and lock in the Kimura lock. Booker T offered some advice to Femi on his podcast, warning him that his reign will be judged on his performance as King. Femi needs to listen to the legend's words.

Here is what Booker T advised the new King:

It's going to be a question mark for Oba Femi. That's why he's got to really, really think about this thing. He's got to really, really concentrate and focus. You know, I'm talking about laser focus right now as far as being the King of the Ring because people are going to judge him from this run, [asking] how good of a king was Oba Femi at the end of the day? So I say to Oba Femi, from king to king, go out and rule, but rule with an iron fist and you won't have to worry about a thing.

Ruling with an iron fist is fine when you are facing mid-card talent on Raw. But Brock Lesnar does not care about crowns or tournament victories. In a Hell in a Cell match, there are no disqualifications and no escape routes.

Femi's technical weaknesses will be fully exposed in that cage. WWE has a habit of pushing monster heels too fast before they are ready for top-tier opponents. Femi's win at Night of Champions after defeating Jey Uso was supposed to be his crowning moment.

Instead, it was an asterisk-laden escape that showed he is not ready for the elite level. If he does not fix his mat defense by August, Brock Lesnar will dismantle his reign before it even begins.