#OtungaforUSchamp

On Wednesday something astonishing happened: David Otunga got “#OtungaforUSchamp” trending on Twitter.

I’ve been a fan of David Otunga for a while now. Not because he’s a great wrestler or because he’s someone who will clearly make it to the top of WWE because he’s not a great wrestler and is not ever going to rise above the mid-card in WWE. No, I’m a fan of David Otunga because he’s such a great character.

The ever-present coffee; the crisp, eloquent delivery of his lines; his use of the #Otungalaw hashtag on Twitter; the ridiculous poses he pulls before, during and after his matches; and, most importantly, his wonderful tendency to botch practically everything he does. These are the reasons I am a fan of David Otunga. Not everyone has to be a great wrestler.

Watch any match involving the former Nexus member and you are almost guaranteed to see him do something wrong. The best part is that it’s often something basic, such as on the April 16^th RAW from London where Otunga faced Santino and somehow managed to botch going for a pin. How can any wrestling fan not love the inadvertent hilarity of a wrestler who cannot master a pinning position?

This picture needs no words

Otunga is someone who’s found his niche on the card and performs it very well. He’s clearly an intelligent man (law degrees from Harvard don’t come easy) and has made the intelligent move of weaving his real life background into his wrestling gimmick. That’s always a smart direction to go in as it makes it easier to portray the character with conviction. It’s helped him gain a regular spot on RAW alongside his on- and 0ff-screen boss John Laurinaitis. See? Smart.

So, “#OtungaforUSchamp”? I’d agree with that. The belt has been worthless ever since Zack Ryder was senselessly booked to lose it to Jack Swagger on January 16^th. ‘Long Island Iced Z’ and Dolph Ziggler had done fine work making the belt mean something to fans in the latter months of 2011 and WWE has carelessly frittered that effort away. If it has to be on a comedy worker it should at least be on a comedy worker who will do something entertaining with the opportunity being a champion represents. That man is not Santino Marella.

That man is David Otunga.