Otis says he will give Roman Reigns a big bear hug when he returns to WWE SmackDown (Exclusive)
Not only did Otis win the most unique Money in the Bank ladder match in history (held at WWE Corporate Headquarters), but he is also the most unique Money in the Bank winner in history. As he admitted during the course of the interview, 2020 may not have been a good year for most of us, but it was a great year for Otis.
A special note of thanks to Sony Sports India for setting up this interview for me and a few other Indian journalists. Indian viewers may watch Otis in action every Saturday on WWE SmackDown (on Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 from 5.30 am IST) and also tune in to WWE Blockbusters daily at 8.00 pm.
Interview with Otis
You have been on fire recently. What does this mean for the future of Heavy Machinery?
Otis: It's full support from my big brother Tucky. There's been a lot of worries out there in the media that Heavy Machinery is not together as a team. But we are brothers. He is my big brother and I'm the little guy. Weight-wise that's not the case (laughs).
Tucky has been hurt by Dolph Ziggler, fought him again, got injured again, so, right now he's back in Oregon expressing his full support. And right now, it's like a trio with full support from Mandy, the love of my life, and full support from Tucky. And he's going to be back anytime soon. And Heavy Machinery is going to be stronger than ever.
Roman Reigns had to take some time off because of the current circumstances. What has the locker room been like without him? I believe he was the locker room leader as well...
Otis: Roman's just beloved by everybody. The company keeps on going, the train keeps going on. I can't tell you how many times it's been a joy just seeing him around. For a guy who's at the top of his game, he is genuinely loved by everybody. We genuinely miss him. There's a lot of backstage laughs that we probably miss without him.
When he comes back, it's going to be even sweeter. I'll give him a nice big bear hug when I see him. Squeeze him. Not too hard but give him a little squeeze. He doesn't like my bear hugs too much. But yeah. It's going to be great seeing him back and I hope he stays safe, baby.
There are comparisons made between you and Dusty Rhodes. What do you think about those?
Otis: There's only one Dusty Rhodes. I haven't heard too much of that comparison but I guess you could say that because we're both big, beefy guys. Good looking, thick men. It's an honor. He's one of the best of all time, Dusty Rhodes. And watching his stuff back too, just to see how he was working his swagger on the camera, how he translated to the fans was awesome, man.
I never studied Dusty too much but you've got to appreciate every time you watch his old matches, even the Polka Dot matches, he's shaking, baby. He's a legend, man, and I would hope to be close to 'The American Dream' Dusty Rhodes in comparison.
(Elsewhere in the interview Otis mentioned his love for Macho Man Randy Savage)
I can see where the 'Oh yeah' was inspired from...
Otis: Oh yeah