5 Reasons why Otis should win the WWE Universal Championship from Braun Strowman at Extreme Rules 2020

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda)

Extreme Rules is just a little under a week away from now and the SmackDown side of the card looks rather dull. Among the main matches from the Blue Brand, Bayley is set to defend her SmackDown Women's Championship against Nikki Cross while Braun Strowman takes on Bray Wyatt in a non-title match.

Bray Wyatt facing Braun Strowman has the potential to give us a classic match, but it is also an indication of the underlying problem with this feud (more on that later). No exciting outcome is expected to happen from this match, except if Vince McMahon decides to put the Universal Championship on Money in the Bank holder Otis.

The Heavy Machinery member hasn’t featured in recent episodes of SmackDown, which might suggest that the Creative has nothing for him at the moment. However, it might also be a covert way to make the fans forget about him so that he can shock them by cashing in the contract and winning the Universal Championship at Extreme Rules.

And here are 5 reasons why that should happen…

#5 Otis is charismatic

There is no denying this- Otis is a naturally charismatic Superstar. Whenever he is on the screen, he always does something (usually hilarious) to keep the fans’ eyes on him.

Even when he is surrounded by other Superstars, he somehow manages to steal the limelight with his persona. Braun Strowman might be a huge guy but when it comes to stage presence, he doesn’t even hold a candle to Otis, who has been dubbed by some as the Dusty Rhodes of this generation.

While the comparison with Dusty Rhodes might be far-fetched, his ability to attract the attention of the crowd is a huge asset. It is something that WWE ideally wants their champions to have, which is why Otis should be considered for the title.

#4 Necessary change

The recent episodes of SmackDown have been rather underwhelming, to put it mildly, with some going as far as opining that the last episode of the Blue Brand might just be its worst ever since the brand split. Even Otis has been away from the Blue brand for sometime.

While the jury is out on the latter claim, what can't be denied that SmackDown needs a huge upturn. The recent episodes have been really poor and there is not a single interesting thing going on with the brand.

They seem to have no proper storylines in place for the Blue Brand, especially with Braun Strowman, whose entire run has been built on his feud with Bray Wyatt - and when you can't churn out stories involving the most prestigious champion of your brand, it is an indication of a problem.

WWE's best storyline in the recent past was on SmackDown and it was heavily centered around Otis and Mandy Rose. This brings me to the conclusion that there is a lot of good things the company can build on Otis (more on that later).

More importantly, it will help initiate the change that the Blue Brand needs so desperately right now, which Otis can bring.

#3 Braun Strowman's one-dimensionality

As big as he is, he is no Otis when it comes to presence

Over on RAW, Drew McIntyre has been doing a decent job with the title as he has already had a good feud with Seth Rollins and is set to have a engaging clash with Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules.

However, with Braun Strowman, nothing apart from Bray Wyatt seems to have worked. After winning the title, he had a good feud with Wyatt and ended up successfully defending his title.

The problem, however, is what can WWE do with Braun Strowman without having Wyatt in the mix? The Miz and John Morrison feud was clearly not the answer (or teaming up with Otis in a on-off match for that matter) so WWE had to bring Wyatt back in the mix again.

The problem here is that the company can't have someone like Wyatt picking up losses on a regular basis but also cannot have him win because that would make the champion look weak.

Also, if Wyatt eventually wins the title, the options are limited for him as well since there is realistically no one to challenge The Fiend (ahem, Goldberg).

This makes Braun Strowman's run really one-dimensional, especially when compared to Otis, as there doesn't seem to be anything interesting for him apart from feuding with Bray Wyatt, which will also end up being counter-productive in the long-run.

For Otis, this will not be the case (more on that later).

#2 No alternatives for the time being

SmackDown has really been hurt by the lack of alternatives they have in their roster. Their biggest Superstar, Roman Reigns is currently out of the picture as he has taken an indefinite hiatus from the company due to the current COVID-19 crisis. This makes Otis a strong favourite.

This leaves AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan as the other two main event caliber Superstars.

The Phenomenal One, however, already holds the Intercontinental Championship, which leaves us with only Daniel Bryan. However, since he is a face and also doesn't hold the MITB, it becomes quite difficult to bring him into the fray against Braun Strowman.

In this regard, Otis seems like the best possible option since he holds the MITB and can cash it in at any time he wants. Since SmackDown needs a change of direction and there aren't many alternatives at the moment, Otis looks like the best possible option.

At this point, the company could do worse than put the title on Otis as there is a matter of intrigue with the Heavy Machinery member, which allows for...

#1 Lots of potential storylines

There can be a great storyline with all four involved again

With Otis, the advantage is that WWE can pit him against a number of Superstars and get a great feud out of it. He endeared himself to the fans with the feud against Dolph Ziggler and he could do the same again if paired up against any decent heel.

For instance, a feud involving Baron Corbin (something that the company has already teased) could be eye-grabbing. If not that, WWE could put up a classic betrayal storyline with Tucker and/or Mandy Rose stabbing him in the back.

Indeed, after the role Tucker played in Otis' feud against Ziggler, having Tucker betray Otis would be really emotionally investing for both the fans and the Superstars involved.

In the past, we have seen such storylines in WWE, but what would make this one special is the natural progress of the relationships that all the people involved (Otis, Tucker and Mandy Rose - and even Sonia Deville for that matter) have had.

Other than that, Otis' charismatic nature makes him a much better face than Strowman, which is what makes him much more versatile when it comes to building feuds.

Edited by Atharva Papnoi