53-year-old veteran weighs in on Otis' WWE run in 2024
Former ECW World Champion Tommy Dreamer recently lavished praise on RAW Superstar Otis and questioned WWE's creative team for not pushing the Alpha Academy member. The veteran claimed that Otis has the ''It factor,'' as he questioned the former Mr. Money in the Bank's recent booking.
Otis' romantic angle with former WWE Superstar Mandy Rose in 2019 was lauded by fans, and the 32-year-old quickly became a popular act. He won the MITB briefcase in 2020 but eventually lost it to The Miz. Later, he formed the Alpha Academy with Chad Gable and went on to capture the RAW Tag Team Championship.
However, Gable turned heel earlier this year and started berating the Alpha Academy members, especially Otis. The 32-year-old eventually stood his ground against Master Gable, as he, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa walked out on the Olympian. Gable eventually left the Alpha Academy.
Otis and Tozawa locked horns with The Creed Brothers in a Texas Tornado Match this past Monday. Despite an impressive performance by the babyface duo, they failed to pick up a victory. Otis later answered Oba Femi's open challenge and competed against the latter for the North American Championship on last night's NXT. However, he suffered another defeat.
On the Busted Open podcast, Tommy Dreamer questioned why Otis was not getting a proper push despite delivering great performances and garnering ''amazing reactions.'' The 53-year-old criticized WWE's decision to book the Alpha Academy member to lose on consecutive nights.
"I love Otis! The fans love Otis. He is getting these amazing reactions. When we talk about the 'It' factor, people just relate to him in some weird way. He is so entertaining. And he goes out; he answers the challenge to Oba Femi—a good match—but he takes another L. So I'm like, 'Why don't they see it in this guy?' He was at one point the hottest star. He has everything in my opinion of somebody I could push to the moon," he said.
Bully Ray echoed Dreamer's sentiments on X (Twitter), as the WWE Hall of Famer reacted to the clip on the social media platform.
"Love me some OTIS!" he wrote.
Mandy Rose looks back on her storyline with Otis in WWE
Mandy Rose was released by WWE in December 2022. The former NXT Women's Champion was involved in several interesting storylines during her career, including her romantic angle with Otis in 2019/20. However, the storyline was quietly dropped after Rose was drafted to RAW.
In July 2023, Mandy revealed on her Instagram that she was the one who pitched the idea of the storyline to former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. However, she admitted that the story deserved a better ending.
"Wasn't it like the greatest thing ever? I just really wish it had a better ending. But what you're gonna do?" she said.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if Otis gets a push on RAW in the coming weeks.
If you use the first quote, please credit Busted Open Radio and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.