Otis (wrestler)

In 2015, Bogojevic trained to become a professional wrestler at the Mercury Pro Wrestling Academy in Arvada, Colorado.[4] He wrestled under the ring name Dozer for several regional promotions in Colorado and Utah, including Ultra Championship Wrestling-Zero (UCW-Zero) and New Revolution Wrestling, where he won the NRW Charged Championship.[11]

Heavy Machinery – Dozovic (right) and Tucker Knight (left) in April 2018

Bogojevic was scouted by WWE scouter Gerald Brisco, who usually is looking for awarded 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 a 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]