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fromtheringapron · 4 years ago

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WWE WrestleMania XXVI

Date: March 28, 2010.

Location: University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Attendance: 72,219.

Commentary: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker.

Results:

1. WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Match: ShoMiz (The Miz and Big Show) (champions) defeated R-Truth and John Morrison

2. Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.

3. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Montel Vontavious Porter, Matt Hardy, and Shelton Benjamin.

4. Triple H defeated Sheamus.

5. Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (with Serena and Luke Gallows).

6. No Holds Barred Lumberjack Match: Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon. Bruce Hart was the special guest referee.

7. WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Chris Jericho (champion) defeated Edge.

8. Layla, Alicia Fox, Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Vickie Guerrero defeated Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres.

9. WWE Championship Match: John Cena defeated Batista (champion) to win the title.

10. No Disqualification Career vs. Streak Match: The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels. Per stipulation, Michaels retired.

My Review

WreslteMania XXVI is a difficult show to sum up. It’s a pretty good WrestleMania, but also one that happens to be all over the place in tone and focus. Perhaps its reflective of how indeterminate the future of the WWE felt at the start of the 2010s. The roster was such a mishmash of eras that you’d be forgiven of not having a clue where the hell the company was going. John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton were at the top of the card after their rise to superstardom in the 2000s, but the spotlight was still shared guys who rose to stardom in the ‘90s like Triple H and The Undertaker. Then there was a new generation of talent—The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, etc. — bubbling in the undercard who seemed poised to rocket into the top at any moment. But wait! Time was also given to . . . the 13-year-old feud between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon?!? Suffice to say, with the show splintering off in so many different directions, it’s not surprising it has some misfires.

Let’s start with the good stuff, though. The main event between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels is fantastic and I’m gonna throw it out there that I like it more than their match from the previous year. The stakes feel higher, the suspense level feels higher, and there’s more of a story here than just Shawn needing to beat Taker. He puts his entire career is on the line here, for heaven’s sake! And speaking of his career, like many at the time, I didn’t have a clue this would be Shawn’s last match. Most on-screen wrestling retirements are never legit, so there was plenty of basis to believe this one would be no different. But alas, this one was different, and we get about as good a sendoff as we could’ve gotten for someone who’s been dubbed Mr. WrestleMania.

On another show, the WWE title match between John Cena and Batista would’ve been the main event. Their match here is great fun. It’s actually an end of an era for the two men who were crowned as the leaders of the next generation at WrestleMania five years earlier. Batista would move on to Hollywood shortly after this and, while certainly not his last WWE run, it would mark the end of his career as a full-timer. Interestingly enough, Batista was really coming into his own as a heel at the time of his departure, even winning over fans who previously couldn’t stand him. He would resurrect his heel run in 2014 and 2019, again only for a short spell. A shame we haven’t been able to spend much time with arrogant heel ‘Tista and his impeccable designer fashion, but then I guess that’s what makes it so special.

As for what doesn’t work, I probably don’t need to go into much detail about the Bret/McMahon clash. The basics of the story are solid — Bret gets his long-awaited revenge on McMahon, with his family right by his side. It’s just not super fun to watch in execution, however well-meaning it may be. They match is dragged out much longer than it should and it takes the crowd completely out of it. Another misfire is the Money in the Bank match. This would be the final iteration of the match at WrestleMania before it becomes its own pay-per-view. It’s clear the concept needs some rejuvenation by this point as it’s now a lazy, bloated affair where everyone gets in their allotted number of spots and there are way too many participants. To cap it all off, the ill-advised decision is made to push Jack Swagger into the main event scene, an idea which would run out of gas in a matter of months.

The show seems to have some weird pacing issues as well. In the era of the Network, I’ve grown so accustom to Manias being stretched to the point of exhaustion, so it’s always little odd to go back and watch one that feels like it doesn’t have enough time. It’s almost like it’s struggling to figure out how spread out time across a card so stacked. The tag opener and Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk feel like abridged versions of the matches we would’ve otherwise gotten, while Bret vs. McMahon gets more time than either combined. Even Money in the Bank feels somewhat rushed. I’m definitely not a huge fan of WrestleMania becoming a seven-hour event, and WWE has proven they struggle with time management on longer Manias, but this is one show where it seems an extra hour absolutely would’ve been to its benefit.

At its best, WrestleMania XXVI is a nice sampler plate of eras, even if struggles to give you equal portions for all of them. The multi-generational makeup of the card ensures there’s a little something for everyone and even closes the books on a couple of legendary careers. You’re bound to dislike some it but for better or worse, and this is a cheeseball thing to say, it definitely puts the “showcase” in the Showcase of the Immortals.

My Random Notes

No joke, I really did not think this would be it for HBK and even seriously thought Taker’s streak was in jeopardy. Am I a fool for thinking that? Maybe, but I like that wrestling conned into believing it in a way it hardly ever does anymore.

I feel like the temple entrance set is something that should’ve been more impressive than it is in actuality. They just stacked LED screens on top of each other and just rolled with it. It looks like something from Minecraft.

Ah, this show reinvigorates my fond feelings for Matt Striker. Such a handsome chap! Not surprising at all he would appear on a Bachelor ripoff a whole decade later.

I chuckled at Bruce Hart being the special guest referee for Bret vs. McMahon. You just know he huffed and puffed his way into that one, much to Bret’s annoyance.

I also chuckled at Diana Hart-Smith walking down to the ring with her best “evil, vindictive femme fatale on the cover of a pulp novel” look. God bless her. She needs to write another book.

I know Rey singing Happy Birthday to his daughter is meant to be a heart-warming thing but if I were a kid in the same situation, I would be traumatized. Just think of how uncomfortable it is when a room full of people is signing at you and then think of enduring that in an arena filled with thousands of people. CM Punk did her a huge favor by crashing the moment, as far as I’m concerned.

Not saying anything new here, but the whole Spear thing with Edge is cringe as hell and it’s for the best that it’s been forgotten in the annals of his career.

I know some people like to mock Vickie Guerrero doing Eddie’s frog splash, but I personally thought it was a sweet moment while staying true to comedically heel Vickie.

The official theme song to this Mania is “I Made It” by Kevin Rudolf. A time-period appropriate choice, I must say. I feel like the dawn of the 2010s is the only time a Kevin Rudolf could be a success.

I identify myself as someone who will always be more embarrassed by John Cena haters than Cena himself and I gotta say him posing next to the guys in the front row hating his guts is fucking hilarious. Cena is funny sometimes when he just straight-up trolls.

On the Legacy fallout: The storytelling for this was weird as hell. Am I the only who remembers that one time on Raw where they teased Ted turning face and the crowd was actually kinda into it? Then they completely abandoned it for whatever reason and just had Randy be the breakout face (as if he needed it) and dunk on both Cody and Ted at WrestleMania. I feel like Cody’s AEW origin story more or less began here.

Awwwwe, this show has little baby Drew McIntyre. It’s so interesting watching this with the benefit of hindsight. I remember a lot of people Not Feeling It when he was anointed as the Chose One, and truthfully I wasn’t feeling it at the time either, but watching it back really makes you appreciate how much hard work he put in to get to where he’d be a decade later. A lot of folks were dreading the inevitable Drew world title run in 2010. The title run did happen, but it was much later and much more welcome than anyone back than anyone could’ve imagined.

#wrestlemania #wwe network #the undertaker #john cena

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blackkudos · 5 years ago

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David Otunga

David Daniel Otunga Sr. (born April 7, 1980) is an American actor, lawyer, and professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a panelist and color commentator. He was the runner-up on the first season of NXT. He is also an original member of The Nexus and The New Nexus, being the only member present through the entire duration of the stable in every incarnation. As part of the faction, he became a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion, having one reign each with fellow Nexus members John Cena and Michael McGillicutty.

Early life

Otunga was born in Elgin, Illinois, to father Moses, a Kenyan, and a European American mother, Billie, both of whom are educators. He is the youngest of three children. Otunga graduated from Larkin High School. Otunga earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois. Following his graduation, he moved to New York City, where he became a laboratory manager in Columbia University's Cognitive Neuroscience Center. He later graduated from Harvard Law School in 2006, passing Illinois' bar exam. Following his graduation, he joined Sidley Austin, one of America's largest law firms. According to Otunga's LinkedIn profile, he worked with Sidley Austin from May 2005 to October 2007.

Acting career

In 2007, after his niece submitted his audition tape, Otunga was chosen to be a contestant on I Love New York 2 and given the nickname "Punk". He became one of the final three contestants in the competition, before being eliminated on the series' penultimate episode. Otunga has since starred in the 2013 thriller film The Call. Otunga made a guest appearance as himself in the 13,110th episode (Season 52, Episode 84) of General Hospital.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWEFCW (2008–2010)

In November 2008, Otunga signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to its development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his debut on May 29, 2009, under the ring name Dawson Alexander, in a six-man tag team match. Otunga teamed with Barry Allen and Jon Cutler to defeat Abraham Saddam Washington, Derrick Bateman and Camacho.

NXT (2010)

On February 16, 2010, after numerous dark matches on both Raw and SmackDown, it was announced that Otunga would wrestle on the first season of NXT under his real name, with R-Truth as his storyline mentor. He made his debut on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, quickly defeating Darren Young. Young defeated Otunga in a rematch on the following week's broadcast, thanks to interference from Young's mentor, CM Punk. After the match, R-Truth tried to offer his support, only to be shoved away by a frustrated Otunga, resulting in Otunga turning heel. R-Truth took exception, confronting and brawling with Otunga backstage. On the March 30 episode of NXT, Otunga won an 8-man over the top rope battle royal against the other NXT Rookies to earn the right to guest host Raw the following week. On the April 5 episode of Raw, Otunga put himself in a tag team match with John Cena for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). Later in the match, however, he refused to tag in and walked out, allowing ShoMiz to retain. On May 11, in the second Pros Poll, he was moved to second place. During the season finale on June 1, Otunga came in second place overall in the competition, losing out to Wade Barrett.

The Nexus (2010-2011)

The following week on Raw, Otunga and the other NXT rookies from season one interfered in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking the competitors, the announce team, and ring announcer Justin Roberts, before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. On the June 14 episode of Raw, the rookies attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General Manager, who had signed all seven season one NXT rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the July 12 episode of Raw, The Nexus, excluding Daniel Bryan (who was fired by Vince McMahon after the Nexus' first night on Raw in part due to choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie), competed in their first match together, defeating John Cena in a six-on-one handicap match. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Otunga was the fourth member of The Nexus eliminated, when he submitted to Chris Jericho, and The Nexus went on to lose the match.

Cena was later forced to join The Nexus, as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell. At the following pay-per-view, Bragging Rights on October 24, Otunga and Cena teamed together to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The next night on Raw Otunga and Cena lost the Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him. On November 5, Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership in the past weeks, led Nexus, minus Barrett and Cena, to an invasion of SmackDown. Barrett did not approve of Otunga's decision to lead The Nexus to SmackDown and as a result forced him to defend his spot in the group a week later. On the November 12 episode of SmackDown, Otunga defeated Edge in a lumberjack match, after Kane interfered, to keep his spot in Nexus. About a month later, Otunga started to rebel against Barrett with the rest of Nexus behind him. After the group disobeyed direct orders and walked away from Barrett, Otunga told Barrett to rehire Cena the following week or be banished from Nexus.

In January 2011, Barrett was exiled from Nexus and CM Punk took over his spot as the leader of the group. While Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater chose not to follow Punk's orders and left Nexus, Otunga agreed to take his initiation test, a beating from the Big Show, and remain with the group. In late February, it was announced that Punk would face Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXVII, with each member of The Nexus facing Orton to win the right to accompany Punk to the ring in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. Otunga faced Orton on the March 7 episode of Raw, but lost. Following the match, he was punted in the skull by Orton. Otunga was absent from television for over a month, returning on the April 11 episode of Raw with the other New Nexus members, and preventing Orton from earning a WWE Championship match.

On the May 23 episode of Raw, Otunga teamed with fellow Nexus member Michael McGillicutty to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kane and The Big Show with the help interference from fellow New Nexus members Mason Ryan and Punk. They made their only successful title defense against The Usos on the July 29 episode of SmackDown. After CM Punk left the New Nexus when his WWE contract expired on July 17, Otunga and McGillicutty competed against Santino Marella and Zack Ryder on the August 1 episode of Raw without any Nexus gear or armbands, and with all Nexus logos removed from their TitanTron, effectively signaling the end of the New Nexus. On the August 22 episode of Raw, Otunga and McGillicutty lost the Tag Team Championship to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne).

Legal advisor (2011–2015)

After a minor feud with Jerry Lawler, Otunga and McGillicutty's team quietly disbanded. Otunga then started a new storyline, focusing on his law background, as John Laurinaitis advised him to help disgruntled wrestlers plan a lawsuit against Triple H, WWE's chief operating officer. He also started carrying a Starbucks thermos. On the September 30 episode of SmackDown, Otunga and Laurinaitis sat down with Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and Vickie Guerrero to discuss the matter. The following week on Raw, Otunga walked out on Triple H with other wrestlers, Divas, and referees after a "vote of no confidence" for Triple H as General Manager of Raw. He returned to in-ring action on the November 29 SmackDown Holiday Special where he was defeated by Randy Orton in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight match. On the December 23 episode of SmackDown he cancelled a #1 Contender's match between The Big Show and Mark Henry due to the latter's leg injury; he was knocked out by Show as a result. Otunga faced The Big Show on the December 26 episode of Raw and the December 30 episode of SmackDown, but lost both matches. He obtained his first win since returning to singles competition on the January 13, 2012, episode of SmackDown, defeating Santino Marella. He captured back-to-back wins against Ezekiel Jackson on the February 20 episode of Raw and the February 21 episode of Super SmackDown. On the March 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Otunga would be the captain of Laurinaitis' team for the battle for control 12-man Tag Team match at WrestleMania. Team Johnny was victorious at WrestleMania XXVIII. On the April 16 episode of Raw, Otunga unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella for the United States Championship. Otunga took leave from WWE television from April 23 to May 14 to be with his fiancé, Jennifer Hudson, during the murder trial of William Balfour in Chicago.

At No Way Out, Otunga lost to Brodus Clay via count out. The next night on Raw, Otunga teamed with Big Show and John Laurinaitis in a 3 on 1 handicap match. Before the match started, Big Show walked out on Otunga and Laurinaitis. Otunga walked out as well during the match, because Laurinaitis had refused to tag himself in, allowing John Cena to make Laurinaitis submit. The next week on SmackDown, Otunga delivered a low blow to Brodus Clay as Clay was fighting Big Show. He returned to Raw on August 20 to confront General Manager AJ Lee. He was put into a match against Big Show, which he lost. On September 3, Otunga was seen with Alberto Del Rio, who told Matt Striker that his client (Del Rio) won't talk to him. On the September 7 episode of SmackDown, he represented Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez to win the case to ban Sheamus' finishing move, the Brogue Kick, just as Otunga was facing Sheamus at the night's main event, although the Brogue Kick was later reinstated. He managed Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions in his match with Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship which Del Rio lost, At Survivor Series, Otunga was made a part of Team Ziggler, filling in for the injured Cody Rhodes. He was eliminated by Daniel Bryan. Otunga competed in the 2013 Royal Rumble match entering at #9 but was eliminated by Sheamus. His last singles match was a loss to Ryback. Since then, he has been doing promotional work for WWE backstage. Otunga returned on October 28 when he conducted an interview for WWE.com after Big Show sued WWE and Triple H for defamation, discrimination and wrongful termination of contract.

Otunga returned on April 6, 2014 in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX and was eliminated by Big E. Otunga did not make any WWE appearances again until he returned to live events on January 9, 2015. His last match was on July 5, 2015 on a WWE Live SummerSlam Heatwave Tour where he lost to R-Truth.

Non-wrestling roles (2015–present)

Otunga returned to television on February 2, 2015, doing the Raw Pre-Show. Following this, he offered his legal services to his former tag team partner Curtis Axel regarding his Royal Rumble 2015 controversy. Now rarely an in-ring performer, Otunga replaced Alex Riley as one of the hosts of the weekly Raw pre-show on the WWE Network.

In June 2016, Otunga left his position on the Raw pre-show panel, where he joined the commentary team alongside Tom Phillips for both Superstars and Main Event. On the June 23 episode of SmackDown, Otunga temporarily replaced Jerry Lawler on the commentary team, after Lawler was suspended by WWE. Following the 2016 WWE draft, Otunga was announced to join the SmackDown commentary team on a full-time basis, alongside Mauro Ranallo and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, where he served as the babyface color commentator in contrast to JBL's heel color commentary.

On April 11, 2017, it was reported that Otunga was traded to the Raw brand for Byron Saxton as part of the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up. However, due to his acting career, he was replaced by Booker T on Raw for six weeks. Upon Otunga's return, Booker remained Raw color commentator while Otunga became a pre-show panelist. He has occasionally appeared on commentary since.

Personal life

Seven months after meeting singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, Otunga proposed marriage on Hudson's 27th birthday in 2008. On August 10, 2009, Hudson gave birth to the couple's first child, their son David Daniel Otunga Jr. By November 2017, Otunga and Hudson had split after being in the process of separation for several months.

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

WWE

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Feud of the Year (2010) The Nexus vs. WWE

Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2010) As part of The Nexus

Rookie of the Year (2010)

Ranked No. 84 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012

WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with John Cena (1) and Michael McGillicutty (1)

Slammy Award (2 times)

Shocker of the Year (2010) The debut of The Nexus

Pee-wee Herman Bowtie Award (2011)

Worst Television Announcer (2016)

#04/07

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shitloadsofwrestling · 7 years ago

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Triple H [September 2010]

I love this awesome shot of Triple H, decorated by the fine folks at WWE Magazine. 2010 was a rough year for “The Game”, with D-Generation X kicking the year off by losing the WWE Unified Tag Team Championships to ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show). In April, H’s partner Shawn Michaels retired after losing a match to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI. The following night, as Michaels was retiring, he was attacked by Sheamus, who Triple H would face at Extreme Rules. Triple H would lose that match and would take most of the rest of the year off, other than the WWE Fan Appreciation Night and the Tribute To The Troops special.

#triple h #wwe #2010s #2010 #pro wrestling

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wwethebigshow · 7 years ago

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bigfanpage · 9 years ago

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SHOMIZ: The Miz vs. John Cena - Raw - 2009

FAN PAGE: facebook.com/bigshowfanspage

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blackkudos · 7 years ago

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David Otunga

David Daniel Otunga Sr. (born April 7, 1980) is an American retired professional wrestler, lawyer and actor currently signed with WWE as a color commentator on the SmackDown brand. He is a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion, having one reign each with Michael McGillicutty and John Cena. He was the runner-up on the first season of NXT. Otunga is also an original member of The Nexus and The New Nexus along with Heath Slater, being the only member to become part of every incarnation.

Early life

Otunga was born in Elgin, Illinois, to a Kenyan Luo father, Moses, and a European American mother, Billie, both of whom are educators. He is the youngest of three children. Otunga graduated from Larkin High School in 1998, with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Otunga earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois. Following his graduation, he moved to New York City, where he became a laboratory manager in Columbia University's Cognitive Neuroscience Center. He later graduated from Harvard Law School, passing Illinois' bar exam. Following his graduation, he joined the Sidley Austin law firm.

Acting career

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWEFlorida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)

In November 2008, Otunga signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to its development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his debut on May 29, 2009, under the ring name Dawson Alexander, in a six-man tag team match. Otunga teamed with Barry Allen and Jon Cutler to defeat Abraham Saddam Washington, Derrick Bateman and Camacho.

The Nexus (2010–2011)

The following week on Raw, Otunga and the other NXT rookies from season one interfered in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking the competitors, the announce team, and ring announcer Justin Roberts, before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. On the June 14 episode of Raw, the rookies attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General Manager, who had signed all seven season one NXT rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the July 12 edition of Raw, The Nexus, excluding Daniel Bryan (who was fired by Vince McMahon after the Nexus' first night on Raw in part due to choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie.), competed in their first match together, defeating John Cena in a six-on-one handicap match. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Otunga was the fourth member of The Nexus eliminated, when he submitted to Chris Jericho, and The Nexus went on to lose the match.

Cena was later forced to join The Nexus, as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell. At the following pay-per-view, Bragging Rights on October 24, Otunga and Cena teamed together to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. The next night on Raw Otunga and Cena lost the Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him. On November 5, Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership in the past weeks, led Nexus, minus Barrett and Cena, to an invasion of SmackDown. Barrett did not approve of Otunga's decision to lead The Nexus to SmackDown and as a result forced him to defend his spot in the group a week later. On the November 12 edition of SmackDown Otunga defeated Edge in a lumberjack match, after Kane interfered, to keep his spot in Nexus. About a month later, Otunga started to rebel against Barrett with the rest of Nexus behind him. After the group disobeyed direct orders and walked away from Barrett, Otunga told Barrett to rehire Cena the following week or be banished from Nexus.

On the May 23 episode of Raw, Otunga teamed with fellow Nexus member Michael McGillicutty to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kane and The Big Show with the help interference from fellow New Nexus members Mason Ryan and Punk. They made their only successful title defense against The Usos on the July 29 edition of SmackDown. After CM Punk left the New Nexus when his WWE contract expired on July 17, Otunga and McGillicutty competed against Santino Marella and Zack Ryder on the August 1 edition of Raw without any Nexus gear or armbands, and with all Nexus logos removed from their TitanTron, effectively signaling the end of the New Nexus. On the August 22 episode of Raw, Otunga and McGillicutty lost the Tag Team Championship to Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne).

Legal advisor (2011–2015)

After a minor feud with Jerry Lawler, Otunga and McGillicutty's team quietly disbanded. Otunga then started a new storyline, focusing on his law background, as John Laurinaitis advised him to help disgruntled wrestlers plan a lawsuit against Triple H, WWE's chief operating officer. He also started carrying a Starbucks thermos. On the September 30 episode of SmackDown, Otunga and Laurinaitis sat down with Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and Vickie Guerrero to discuss the matter. The following week on Raw, Otunga walked out on Triple H with other wrestlers, Divas, and referees after a "vote of no confidence" for Triple H as General Manager of Raw. He returned to in-ring action on the November 29 SmackDown Holiday Special where he was defeated by Randy Orton in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight match. On the December 23 episode of SmackDown he cancelled a #1 Contender's match between The Big Show and Mark Henry due to the latter's leg injury; he was knocked out by Show as a result. Otunga faced The Big Show on the December 26 episode of Raw and the December 30 episode of SmackDown, but lost both matches. He obtained his first win since returning to singles competition on the January 13, 2012, episode of SmackDown, defeating Santino Marella. He captured back-to-back wins against Ezekiel Jackson on the February 20 episode of Raw and the February 21 episode of Super SmackDown. On the March 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Otunga would be the captain of Laurinaitis' team for the battle for control 12-man Tag Team match at WrestleMania. Team Johnny was victorious at WrestleMania XXVIII. On the April 16 edition of Raw SuperShow, Otunga unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella for the United States Championship. Otunga took leave from WWE television from April 23 to May 14 to be with his fiance, Jennifer Hudson, during the murder trial of William Balfour in Chicago.

Otunga returned on April 6, 2014 in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX and was eliminated by Big E. Otunga did not make any WWE appearances again until he returned to live events on January 9, 2015.His last match was on July 5, 2015 on a WWE Live SummerSlam Heatwave Tour where he lost to R-Truth. Otunga is now retired from in ring competition.

Pre-show host and commentator (2015–present)

Otunga returned to television on February 2, 2015 doing the Raw Pre-Show. Following this, he offered his legal services to his former tag team partner Curtis Axel regarding his Royal Rumble 2015 controversy. Now rarely an in-ring performer, Otunga replaced Alex Riley as one of the hosts of the weekly Raw pre-show on the WWE Network.

In June 2016, Otunga left his position on the Raw pre-show panel, where he joined the commentary team alongside Tom Phillips for both Superstars and Main Event. On the June 23 episode of SmackDown, Otunga would temporarily replace Jerry Lawler on the SmackDown commentary team, after Lawler was suspended by WWE. On July 19, following the 2016 WWE draft, Otunga was announced to join the SmackDown commentary team on a full-time basis, alongside Mauro Ranallo and John "Bradshaw" Layfield where he serves as the babyface color commentator in contrast to JBL's heel color commentary.

Personal life

Seven months after meeting singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, Otunga proposed marriage on Hudson's 27th birthday. On August 10, 2009, Hudson gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy named David Daniel Otunga Jr.

In April 2012, Otunga fulfilled the dreams of a young Haitian refugee affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake by bringing him backstage to WrestleMania XXVIII and arranging a meet-and-greet session with all the wrestlers.

Filmography

TelevisionFilm

In wrestling

Finishing moves

Signature moves

With Michael McGillicutty

Nicknames

Entrance themes

Verdict (Thrust spinebuster)

Corner Clothesline

Belly-to-belly suplex

Elbow Drop

Hangman's Neckbreaker

Running shoulder block

Vertical Suplex

Turnbuckle thrust

Double team finishing moves

Double team signature moves

Backbreaker hold, diving elbow drop combination

Inverted atomic drop (Otunga) and dropkick (McGillicutty) combination

Running back elbow (McGillicutty) followed by a body avalanche (Otunga) to a cornered opponent

"The Kanye West of WWE"

"A-List"

"The Harvard Law School Graduate"

"What's Up" by Ron Killings and Jim Johnston (February 23, 2010 - June 1, 2010; used while being R-Truth's rookie on WWE NXT Season 1)

"We Are One" by 12 Stones (June 7, 2010 – August 1, 2011; used while a part of The Nexus)

"This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage (December 27, 2010 – July 11, 2011; used while a part of The New Nexus)

"Death Blow" from VideoHelper Production Library (July 21, 2011; used while teaming with Michael McGillicutty)

"All About the Power" by S-Preme and by Jim Johnston (July 28, 2011–January 9, 2015)

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Feud of the Year (2010) The Nexus vs. WWE

Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2010) As part of The Nexus

Rookie of the Year (2010)

PWI ranked him #84 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012

WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with John Cena (1) and Michael McGillicutty (1)

Slammy Awards (two times)

Shocker of the Year (2010) The debut of The Nexus

Pee-wee Herman Bowtie Award (2011)

Worst Television Announcer (2016)

Wikipedia

#David Otunga #04-07

0 notes