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Depending on your level of fandom for WWE Superstar Otis, you either loved his win at Money in the Bank or it disappointed you. I'm of the latter school of thought. While he is funny and a different kind of WWE Superstar, his win felt way too rushed in my opinion.
He didn't even climb the ladder to retrieve the briefcase as he was in the right place at the right time to catch it after King Corbin and AJ Styles fumbled it. With that, Otis became WWE's Mr. Money in the Bank 2020. He has teased cashing in on Braun Strowman a few times, but failed to do so in each attempt.
While I disliked the outcome both immediately and a few days after it happened, I'm even more confident now that giving him this year's briefcase was a mistake.
About two months have passed since he was victorious and he's barely been on WWE programming since winning the guaranteed title shot. One reason is because some of the stars he's been involved with like Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville were on a boat trip at the end of June.
We will see what he and Rose have been up to lately, but the way that the SmackDown main-event picture is currently structured, Otis looks completely out of place.
He will look even more out of place if he successfullly cashes in the briefcase. Here are five reasons why having Otis win the briefcase is turning out to be a mistake for WWE.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely that of the author and do not necessarily reflect that of Sportskeeda.)
#5 He has a very limited move set
Otis is a great comedic performer, but that has become a little more one-note these days. You will often get three, four or even five "Oh Yeahs!" in one appearance from the big man, and if he's with Mandy Rose, the word "peach" is also tossed around a lot.
That limited variety also extends itself to the ring. While he is a powerful man who can body slam almost everyone, he has one of the most limited move sets in all of WWE. He knocks people over while running into them, has elbow and hand strikes, and a few other moves. Many other stars in WWE have a plethora of moves to pull out and use.
If we are to take him seriously as a viable threat to either brand's major Champion, he desperately needs a new finisher. The Caterpillar, albeit funny in small doses, is more like the People's Elbow.
It is a good move to pop the crowd, but the Rock ended matches with the Rock Bottom. In some of his recent matches, including his match against Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36, he won with the Caterpillar.
If we as fans and analysts are supposed to take him seriously as a future WWE Champ, then he needs a more varied move set and a better finisher. It's something that can certainly happen.
#4 He's still a part of a tag-team
To start the year, both tag team divisions in WWE were in decent shape. We still had the teams of Gallows and Anderson, The Revival, The New Day and The Usos. Today, however, those teams are either gone from WWE or down a member due to injury and thus unable to compete as a team.
As things currently sit on SmackDown, there are the Champs, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, the Lucha House Party (which is only still a team because they have three members and Kalisto is hurt), and the Miz and John Morrison. WWE called up the Forgotten Sons to fill the void while the Usos were inactive, but they have been removed from TV.
Now - more than ever - is the time for WWE to lean heavily into Heavy Machinery as a tag team. Ever since the start of the year, it's been all about Otis and Mandy Rose with Tucker as a third wheel and supporting actor. Most of the time, he wasn't even used.
With such a drastic state in the tag division on Friday nights, he needs to be featured as a part of Heavy Machinery and not simply in a love story. The brand needs tag teams, and they may start pairing stars together to help fix the problem a bit.
But, being Mr. Money in the Bank solely, instead of a member of a duo, is something that needs to change. He did mention that if he won the briefcase, he'd be cashing in for the SmackDown Tag Team titles. Maybe he still will.
#3 He's still relatively new to the WWE main roster
In terms of main-roster tenure, Otis and Heavy Machinery are babies - or toddlers at the very oldest. They've been a part of WWE on either RAW or SmackDown since the beginning of 2019.
In that time, we've also seen the likes of Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, The Viking Raiders, Angel Garza, Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, The Street Profits, and The Forgotten Sons all join a brand.
Of that group, Cross, The Viking Raiders, and The Street Profits are the only ones that have won gold, and it was all tag team gold. Black and Riddle have dabbled with the bigger stars in WWE (AJ Styles and Seth Rollins), while Lacey Evans has probably had more title shots than any woman in 2019-2020. Some stars obviously get pushed harder and quicker to the top, but it doesn't happen for every performer.
Otis clearly has some charisma which is why he has been pushed more as a singles star than as a part of his tag team.
We recently saw him backstage with buddy Tucker, as The Miz and Morrison were laughing at Sonya Deville cutting Mandy Rose's hair. The Miz has been with the WWE for almost 15 years and won a MITB briefcase in his fourth year (2010) on the main roster. Kofi Kingston has been in WWE almost as long and only received a major title shot last year.
The point to be made is that while yes, he is entertaining, so many other stars have not experienced the quick success that Otis has had. He's a unique WWE Superstar, but is still relatively new to the whole pro wrestling game.
Previously a power lifter, he was signed after a tryout in 2016. Otis may be a future tag team Champion and accrue other accolades, but he's still one of the newer members of the main roster.
#2 His niche is better as a comedy act
All types of performers and Superstars make both the WWE and all of the pro wrestling entertaining. It's why Orange Cassidy is such a huge success in AEW, and why R-Truth is still one of the funniest stars after being in the business for close to 20 years. Otis and Tucker were clearly booked as big boys who loved food and lifting weights, but boys that could use their strength in the ring.
Most of his backstage acts involved food in some fashion, including the cake incident and the fruitcake gift from Mama Dozer. He was also featured in backstage acts where there were parties with food. Simply put, food was a big part of his act.
Comedy acts are necessary to break up the ultra-serious parts of shows. Otis is great at his character and it's what he does best. He's not going to continuously counter moves like WWE stars Drew Gulak, Johnny Gargano or Daniel Bryan. What he will do is break things, tear small clothes and eat weird combinations.
As I mentioned above, he definitely has a place in the hierarchy of WWE. I'm just not sure it should be as a potential future World Champion. Braun Strowman challenged for and lost at least five title matches in WWE before winning the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.
The MITB briefcase is an opportunity for an up-and-coming star in WWE to possibly become a Champion and star of the future. While it was refreshing for someone new to win, just as it is for a new Royal Rumble winner, I can't help but think that the briefcase would have been better served if won by Black or Styles.
Due to his limited move set and comedic attributes, he's better suited to be a funny tag team wrestler and future tag team title holder.
#1 Someone like Big E, Cesaro, or Aleister Black could have used it
WWE stars often experience varying degrees of success between NXT and the main roster in WWE. Someone like Aleister Black or Matt Riddle was a top star when featured in NXT. Both have moved up and have been involved in feuds with top stars (Rollins, Styles, Corbin). Heavy Machinery had some title shots in NXT and on the main roster but were unsuccessful in each challenge.
A big selling point of the title shots for both Kofi Kingston and Drew McItyre at the last two WrestleManias was that neither had a major title shot in WWE after a decade of service. Both capitalized on their lone title shot. There also happen to be several other talented performers that have carried mid-cards and tag team divisions for the last seven or eight years.
While they weren't a part of the match, both Big E and Cesaro have been singles Champions and tag team title holders in WWE. Big E never really had a major title shot either, while Cesaro has barely sniffed either the Universal or WWE Championships.
In this year's MITB match, it would have made a lot of sense if Black had won the briefcase. He was a big star in NXT and has loads of potential for the future. He's also a unique singles star. WWE has had some trouble creating new stars, especially after Brock Lesnar won the 2019 MITB match.
Big E, Cesaro and Black have all shown that they are talented performers in every aspect of the game. They would have made sense as title challengers. Storylines for each man winning would have been easy to write if they used the "hasn't had a major shot" or "former NXT Champion gets a shot" angle. A Black win would have been a continuation of his success from NXT.
Otis is definitely an entertaining and unique star. It just felt a little too early for a tag team specialist that has only been on the main roster for a year to win the MITB briefcase instead of someone like Big E or Cesaro.
