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Otis recently shared a heart-warming story about the time Tim White helped him quickly overcome a disappointing WWE booking decision.
In January 2020, Otis caught Mandy Rose at ringside to prevent her from being eliminated from the women’s Royal Rumble match. Later that night, he was booked to participate in his first men’s Royal Rumble match. However, he found out immediately after the memorable moment with Rose that his spot had gone to someone else.
Speaking to “The Bridge News,” the 30-year-old explained how WWE’s last-minute Royal Rumble change affected his mood.
“At the Royal Rumble we just got done doing the Mandy thing where she lands on me, she’s not eliminated from the Royal Rumble,” Otis said. “We got to the back and they made changes... They said, ‘You guys [Otis and Tucker] are not in the Rumble anymore.’ So I said, ‘Okay…’ My mood was here [high]… it went down to here [low] because I was excited to be in my first Royal Rumble.” [13:28-13:49]
Fortunately, Otis has since competed in the 2021 and 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble matches. He lasted only 53 seconds last year before being eliminated by Baron Corbin. This year, he spent eight minutes and 52 seconds in the match before Randy Orton and Riddle eliminated him.
Tim White’s words of wisdom helped Otis at the 2020 WWE Royal Rumble
Legendary referee Tim White passed away on June 19 at the age of 68. The former official was backstage when Otis found out he was not going to participate in the Men’s Royal Rumble match in 2020.
The American Alpha member recalled how White offered some reassuring words about his promising WWE future.
“Timmy saw me down a little bit,” Otis added. “I see him out the corner of my eye and he goes, ‘What’s up there, stud?’ and I go, ‘I just got kicked off the damn Rumble, man.’ You know, the emotions were high and, as he shakes his head, he goes, ‘Well, you don’t have to worry about it because there’s always opportunities around the corner.’” [13:50-14:13]
Otis currently appears on RAW alongside his tag team partner Chad Gable. The former RAW Tag Team Champions lost a handicap match against Bobby Lashley on this week’s episode.
Please credit “The Bridge News” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
