The Miz not convinced that Otis will become a World Champion despite holding Money in the Bank briefcase
Otis has been one of the surprising breakout stars of WWE in 2020, but his trajectory has been a bit odd, to say the least. His storyline with Mandy Rose saw his popularity shoot up and he had a good match against Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36 - one that would have gotten over well with a crowd.
His momentum took him far, as he became the most unexpected Money in the Bank winner in years. However, he's been least active since becoming Mr. Money in the Bank, and one superstar who isn't fully convinced about his ability to cash in successfully is The Miz.
The Miz, who won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2010, knows all about the pressure and expectation of being Mr. Money in the Bank. For The Miz, it led to him becoming WWE Champion and headlining WrestleMania - the pinnacle of achievements in professional wrestling.
The Miz spoke to Bleacher Report about Otis as Mr. Money in the Bank and spoke about how it impacted his personal career trajectory:
"As far as Otis is concerned, whenever you have the Money in the Bank briefcase, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is something that changes your career and I speak from experience. I had the Money in the Bank contract and I was the one everyone said was going to lose," stated Miz. "I was gonna be the first person to lose the Money in the Bank contract, and I wasn't, I didn't. I cashed in, I won the WWE Championship, and it changed my career. It changed the trajectory. I've been able to have bragging rights ever since I've done that. It's been 10 years since I've won the Money in the Bank contract and I'm still talking about it to this day. That's the kind of impact that this can have."
The Miz admitted that Otis is going to have a lot of work to do to become the WWE or Universal Champion:
"Now Otis, nothing against him, but he's very new. He's very new to SmackDown, he's been here for what, one to two years? You need to go through the battles and the wars to become a WWE or Universal Champion," said Miz. "He's got a big, big workload to fill. There's a lot of work that's involved, a lot of things that... the fans don't understand, that only a Superstar that is in that moment understands. So, there's a lot of pressure that's involved.
Ultimately, the former World Champion said that he hopes Otis succeeds but isn't sure that he will:
"Can he do it? Absolutely. Do I hope he does it? Yes. But will he do it? I don't know."
Is The Miz right in being skeptical about Otis?
It might seem unfair for The Miz to be this skeptical about Otis, but the reality is that he knows exactly what it's like to be in his shoes and the level that one needs to be on when presented with a World title opportunity.
Otis might be poised to become the World Champion, but we've seen cases in WWE before where a superstar loses their push abruptly. Unless Otis starts to get regularly featured on SmackDown again, he could risk losing his momentum.