– Recently released WWE writer Andrea Listenberger wrote the promos for the Otis – Mandy Rose storyline and was said to be a good writer by people in the company. However, Listenberger was reportedly not the driving force of the storyline with Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com writing that “a lot, perhaps most of the Otis stuff is from Vince McMahon who likes the character.”
– While Apollo Crews was pulled from Sunday’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match due to a storyline injury at the hands of WWE United States Champion Andrade, it looks like his push will continue.
There’s been speculation on Crews possibly making a full heel turn and being in a stable with WWE NXT Superstars Brendan Vink and Shane Thorne, which would be led by MVP. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that this stable is one of several options being considered for Crews, but not necessarily the end direction for him.
There was a lot of social media criticism over how WWE apparently stopped Crews’ Money In the Bank push before it really got going. As the MITB Ladder Match was taped at WWE HQ during the week of April 13, the storyline always had Crews qualifying but not competing in the match due to AJ Styles’ return. WWE looks to make up for what happened to Crews by giving him more exposure. He could be the main active Superstar in the stable with Vink, Thorne and mouthpiece MVP, if that happens.
As PWMania previously reported, WWE has big plans for Vink and officials see him as a longterm project that will eventually get a major push, unless things change. WWE had Vink and Thorne defeat Ricochet and Cedric Alexander on this week’s RAW, after MVP encouraged them for the entire week leading up to the match. MVP indicated after this week’s RAW that he’s inviting Thorne and Vink to join him. There’s no word yet on how Crews would join them, or when he might return from the storyline knee injury.
Stay tuned for updates on plans for Crews and the possible new RAW stable.
