David Otunga: Ace Attorney

September 27th, 2011 ~ Permalink ~ 13 notes

Something amazing happened on Raw last night, and it may have passed right by many of the show’s viewers: with one shift in focus to his character, David Otunga finally found his perfect role.

Since his introduction via NXT and The Nexus, David Otunga has been…well, to be blunt, underwhelming as a performer. His mic skills are nowhere near the same level as fellow NXT Season One performers Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett, and his in-ring skills are just passable enough to keep him from being a complete waste in the ring. Otunga has the physique that WWE’s top brass adores, and he’s married to a famous actress (Jennifer Hudson), but beyond that, his continued employment with the company beyond the end of The Nexus has been a headscratcher.

Last night on Raw, all of that doubt went away as Otunga found the role he was meant for. Playing off his Harvard education, Otunga gathered together a group of performers who felt that Triple H had made WWE a dangerous work environment and started putting together plans for a lawsuit against the current WWE COO. It’s the start of what appears to be a big storyline heading into Vengeance and Survivor Series, and Otunga’s role as legal advisor to the group of villains plotting against Triple H is a great fit.

It’s the perfect example of utilizing someone’s strengths while hiding their weaknesses: keeping Otunga in the legal advisor role allows WWE to use his education and his speaking skills (which can improve over time, if he’s given the chance to develop them) to push the lawsuit storyline forward while keeping him out of the ring. Otunga might not have a future as a wrestler, but he can still be a valid and worthwhile performer; WWE is lacking in managers, after all, and having a manager with lots of legal knowledge (and the willingness to exploit legal loopholes to benefit clients) would be a boon to the product.

Otunga just needs to get some better clothes; he looked like a ventriloquist’s dummy last night.

  1. tomwatcheswrestling reblogged this from turnbucklezine and added:
    I like this idea, it’d work and I think it’s something I could get behind and stop myself disliking the guy. I also...
  2. turnbucklezine reblogged this from crimsonmasked and added:
    I’ll read the article in a second but this is my opinion: smart wrestlers are interesting and muscly, meat head...
  3. professionalwrestling reblogged this from crimsonmasked and added:
    I agree with this. The Otunga “legal grievance” angle is one that has the potential to be a good one over the long term....
  4. crimsonmasked reblogged this from grapplekingdom and added:
    This sums up entirely my pleasant shock at...shift from pure dislike
  5. grapplekingdom posted this

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