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Former WWE Superstar and trainer Scott Garland (AKA Scotty 2 Hotty) has reflected on the moment that genuinely made Otis emotional.
Prior to his heel turn, the current RAW Tag Team Champion performed a move called 'The Caterpillar' as his finisher. It was inspired by Garland's popular finishing move known as 'The Worm.'
During a recent appearance on D-Von Dudley's Table Talk podcast, Scott Garland revealed that Otis asked for his blessing to use the move. He told the RAW superstar to get some momentum first before he could begin performing it on NXT TV.
"He did [Otis asked for permission to do ‘The Worm’]," said Garland. "When I first met him, he asked and I said yeah. I mean he hadn’t started on TV yet, so I said, ‘Yeah, it’s cool, do it.’ (...) Heavy Machinery was getting ready to start on NXT TV and I thought about it more and I was like, ‘Why don’t you guys get a little steam behind you first before you start doing The Worm? And then once you start to get that established and get over, then add it back in,’ you know?"
When Scott finally gave Otis the go ahead, the Alpha Academy member was almost in tears.
"So one night, after they’d be on TV a few months, I pulled him aside and I said, ‘Dude, why don’t you add the worm back in there now?’ You know, and dude, I thought he was gonna cry," added Garland. "It was so awesome, you know? His eyes got all watery and he was so appreciative of it and dude, that’s all you can ask for, right?" (H/T POST Wrestling)
Otis recently won his first championship in WWE
Otis and former WWE Superstar Tucker were part of a tag team known as Heavy Machinery. While they were popular among the fans, and worked well together in the ring, they never won the Tag Team Titles. Prior to his release from WWE, Tucker captured the 24/7 Championship.
Otis finally tasted gold for the first time in his WWE career this month when he pinned Randy Orton to win the RAW Tag Team Championships. Not many stars can say they won their first championship by pinning The Viper. This was a major victory for Alpha Academy, and a much deserved one.
