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Mandy Rose and Otis have taken two completely different paths since WWE split the on-screen couple at the end of 2020. The unlikely romance between Otis and Mandy Rose was one of the most well-told stories from the WWE in recent memory. The storyline's abrupt ending didn't go down well with fans.
While Mandy Rose and Otis briefly suffered on TV in the aftermath of the split, former Heavy Machinery member Tucker Knight (Levi Cooper) took the worst hit during the entire angle.
Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted with Dr. Chris Featherstone recently had the former WWE star on as a special guest. He was asked why WWE pulled the plug on Mandy Rose and Otis.
Cooper speculated that WWE probably might not have wanted both Mandy Rose and Otis to be heels at the time. The company then booked an unforeseen trade that saw The Golden Goddess move to RAW.
Otis stayed on SmackDown and proceeded to not only lose his MITB briefcase but also his tag team partner Tucker, who turned heel and ended Heavy Machinery's run.
Tucker felt that WWE made a mistake by not having a positive and conclusive finish to Mandy Rose and Otis' storyline. The former NXT star saw long-term potential in the storyline and explained how wrapping it up early also diminished fans' interest in the product,
"You know, how could you not love that story that's going on, and you know, I would speculate that they didn't want either of them to be heels at the time, and that's why they sort of just had them go their separate ways without the sort of there being a breakup and one person having to look like a bad guy. But they did that at the cost of, you know, long-term storytelling as a whole right, because when you have people what I would argue as barely invested in a story, you know, pretty well invested, and then, you essentially pretend like that story never happened, in my opinion, people are much less likely to invest in a story the next time because you know they are going yo remember how they got their part broken, for lack of a better term, you know, the time before, and so yeah," Tucker revealed.
Tucker was genuinely unaware of the real reason behind the breakup. He called it a disappointing development as fans were legitimately invested in the angle.
Tucker felt that Mandy Rose's alliance with Otis even attracted wrestling fans who might not have been regular week-to-week viewers:
"God, dude, who knows!" Tucker continued, "That's a great question, and I mean, it's very disappointing because I think there was a lot of investment in that angle. I think there was a lot of buy-in for people, even for people who maybe were not always invested in wrestling, you know, on a week in, week out basis."
A well-rounded package in wrestling history: Tucker had high hopes for Mandy Rose and Otis' storyline
Tucker admitted that everyone involved in the angle was unhappy with the final chapter as they didn't envision a hurried completion from WWE's end.
The recently released star stated that WWE had struck gold with the Mandy Rose-Otis dynamic, and it could have been one of the most wholesome stories in wrestling history.
However, fans have grown accustomed to sudden changes in the WWE, and the promising romantic storyline was also just another victim of the system.
As things stand, Mandy Rose seems to have returned to NXT while Otis has ditched his comedy character and slowly transitioned into a full-blown heel.
Levi Cooper also spoke about a possible reunion with Otis, new tag team partners, origins of the Heavy Machinery tandem and more during the latest UnSKripted, which you can check out in the YouTube video above.
If any quotes are used from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the UnSKripted video.
