Otis
Nikola Bogojevic (born December 21, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Otis, shortened from his previous ring name of Otis Dozovic.
After signing with WWE in 2016, he was assigned to their developmental brand NXT, teaming with Tucker Knight as part of Heavy Machinery. They were promoted to WWE’s main roster in 2018. During his time on the main roster, Otis won the 2020 men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Prior to his professional wrestling career, Bogojevic was an amateur wrestler, winning the 2008 Greco-Roman junior Nationals in his weight class, the national title in the 2018 Junior Pan-American Games, and a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Pan-American Games, and was a prospect for the 2018 Olympic Games team, but was not chosen. In 2018, he was named the Rookie of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI).
Bogojevic attended Superior High School, where he was a successful amateur wrestler; he was the 2010 285lb undefeated WIAA State Champion. He was a champion at the 2009 Greco-Roman junior Nationals.[8] He placed third at the 2009 Junior Freestyle championships.[8] Originally committed to the University of Wisconsin,[8] he wrestled at collegiate level for Augsburg College and Colorado State University-Pueblo. He won the national title in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Junior Pan-American Games in 2011 and a Greco-Roman bronze at the 2014 Pan-American Games.[9] He was at one point considered a prospect for the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 2012 Summer Olympics and spent some time training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado.[10]
Bogojevic was scouted by WWE scout Gerald Brisco, who specialized in scouting award-winning amateur wrestlers.[12] On April 12, 2016, Bogojevic signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center.[13] He made his debut at a NXT house show on July 8, 2016, teamed with Adrian Jaoude in a loss to The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar).[14]
During this time, he formed a tag team with Tucker Knight, calling themselves Heavy Machinery.[15] In October, with he now renamed Otis Dozovic, the duo participated in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, and they made their television debut on the October 19 episode of NXT, losing to the team of Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.[3][16] The duo returned and had their first televised victory on the March 29, 2017 episode of NXT, defeating the team of Jonathan Ortagun and Mike Marshall.[17] On the July 12 episode of NXT, Heavy Machinery unsuccessfully challenged The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championship.[18] In March 2018, Heavy Machinery once again participated in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, but were eliminated by The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) in the first round.[19] On the December 19 episode of NXT, Heavy Machinery wrestled their final match on NXT, defeating Blake Howell and Danny D’Accardo.[20]
On December 17, 2018, it was announced that Heavy Machinery would be debuting on the main roster.[21] They debuted on the January 14, 2019 episode of Raw, interrupting an interview between Alexa Bliss and Paul Heyman.[22] The following week on Raw, they defeated The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in their in-ring debut.[23] In February, his ring name was shortened to Otis, while Knight’s ring name was shortened to Tucker.[24] The duo made their pay-per-view debut at WrestleMania 35, where they both competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but neither would win the match.[25] As part of the Superstar Shake-Up, Heavy Machinery was moved to the SmackDown brand.[26] At Stomping Grounds on June 23, Heavy Machinery faced Daniel Bryan and Rowan for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but were unable to win the titles.[27] The following month at Extreme Rules, Heavy Machinery again competed for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, this time in a triple threat tag team match involving Bryan and Rowan, and The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods), which The New Day won.[28] At Crown Jewel on October 31, Heavy Machinery competed in a tag team turmoil match, but were eliminated by The New Day.[29] At Survivor Series, Heavy Machinery participated in an interbrand tag team battle royal, which was won by Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.[30]
By the end of 2019, Otis entered into a romantic storyline with Mandy Rose.[31][32] On the February 14, 2020 episode of SmackDown, Otis had a date with Rose, but Dolph Ziggler appeared in Otis’s place during the date,[33] the storyline then evolved into a love triangle involving a feud between Otis and Ziggler over Rose.[34] On the April 3 episode of SmackDown, it was revealed that Sonya Deville was working with Ziggler to keep Otis from Rose.[35] At WrestleMania 36, Otis defeated Ziggler with the help of Rose, who kissed him after the match.[36] On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Otis defeated Ziggler to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match.[37] At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Otis won the Money in the Bank ladder match, earning him a world title match at the time of his choosing.[38][39] On the September 11 episode of Smackdown, Otis and Tucker began a feud with The Miz and John Morrison after they stole the Money in the Bank briefcase from Otis. However, the briefcase did not contain the Money in the Bank contract as the contract was inside Otis’ lunchbox. On the September 18 episode of SmackDown, Otis was sued by Miz and Morrison and was told to relinquish the contract but Otis refused and opted to go to court instead.
As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Otis remained on SmackDown, while Tucker was drafted to the Raw brand, disbanding the team, [40] however, on the October 19 Raw, Otis tagged with Tucker but disguised under a mask and using the name El Gran Gordo. At Hell in a Cell, Otis lost his Money in the Bank briefcase to the Miz, after Tucker betrayed him, hitting him with the briefcase.[41]
