David Daniel Otunga, Sr. is an American professional wrestler, lawyer, and actor.
He is signed with WWE, He is a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion, having one reign each with
Michael McGillicutty and John Cena.
He was the runner-up on the first season of NXT.
Otunga was also the last original member of The Nexus and The New Nexus.
Early Life Otunga was born in Elgin, Illinois, to a Kenyan
father, Moses, and a white American mother, Billie, both of whom are educators.
He is the youngest of three children.
Otunga graduated from Larkin High School in 1999, with a nearly perfect 4.0 GPA.
Otunga earned a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois.
Following his graduation, he moved to New York City, where he became a laboratory manager
in Columbia University's Cognitive Neuroscience Center.
He later attended Harvard Law School, passing Illinois' bar exam.
Following his graduation, he joined the Sidley Austin law firm.
Acting Career In 2007, after his niece submitted his audition
tape, Otunga was chosen to be a contestant on I Love New York 2 and given the nickname
"Punk".
He became one of the final three contestants in the competition, before being eliminated
on the series' penultimate episode.
Otunga has since starred in the 2013 thriller film The Call.
Otunga made a guest appearance as himself in the 13,109th episode of General Hospital.
Professional Wrestling Career World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
Florida Championship Wrestling In November 2008, Otunga signed a developmental
contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to its development territory,
Florida Championship Wrestling.
He made his debut on May 29, 2009, under the ring name Dawson Alexander, in a six-man tag
team match.
Otunga teamed with Barry Allen and Jon Cutler to defeat Abraham Saddam Washington, Derrick
Bateman, and Camacho.
NXT On February 16, 2010, after numerous dark
matches on both Raw and Smackdown, it was announced that Otunga would wrestle on the
first season of WWE NXT under his real name, with R-Truth as his storyline mentor.
He made his debut on the inaugural episode of NXT on February 23, quickly defeating Darren
Young.
Young defeated Otunga in a rematch on the following week's broadcast, thanks to interference
from Young's mentor, CM Punk.
After the match, R-Truth tried to offer his support, only to be shoved away by a frustrated
Otunga, resulting in Otunga turning heel.
R-Truth took exception, confronting and brawling with Otunga backstage.
On the March 30 episode of NXT, Otunga won an 8-man over the top rope battle royal against
the other NXT Rookies to earn the right to guest host Raw the following week.
On the April 5 episode of Raw, Otunga put himself in a tag team match with John Cena
for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against ShoMiz.
Later in the match, however, he refused to tag in and walked out, allowing ShoMiz to
retain.
On May 11, in the second Pros Poll, he was moved to second place.
During the season finale on June 1, Otunga came in second place overall in the competition,
losing out to Wade Barrett.
The Nexus and WWE Tag Team Champion
The following week on Raw, Otunga and the other NXT rookies from season one interfered
in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking the competitors, the
announce team, and ring announcer Justin Roberts, before dismantling the ring area and surrounding
equipment.
On the June 14 episode of Raw, the rookies attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he
refused to give them contracts.
The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General
Manager, who had signed all seven season one NXT rookies to contracts.
The following week, the group was named The Nexus.
On the July 12 edition of Raw, The Nexus, excluding Daniel Bryan, competed in their
first match together, defeating John Cena in a six-on-one handicap match.
The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven
elimination tag team match at SummerSlam.
Otunga was the fourth member of The Nexus eliminated, when he submitted to Chris Jericho,
and The Nexus went on to lose the match.
Cena was later forced to join The Nexus, as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a
Cell.
At the following pay-per-view, Bragging Rights on October 24, Otunga and Cena teamed together
to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.
The next night on Raw Otunga and Cena lost the Tag Team Championship to fellow Nexus
members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to
pin him.
On November 5, Otunga, who had been questioning Barrett's leadership in the past weeks, led
Nexus, minus Barrett and Cena, to an invasion of SmackDown.
Barrett did not approve of Otunga's decision to lead The Nexus to SmackDown and as a result
forced him to defend his spot in the group a week later.
On the November 12 edition of SmackDown Otunga defeated Edge in a lumberjack match, after
Kane interfered, to keep his spot in Nexus.
About a month later, Otunga started to rebel against Barrett with the rest of Nexus behind
him.
After the group disobeyed direct orders and walked away from Barrett, Otunga told Barrett
to rehire Cena the following week or be banished from Nexus.
In January 2011, Barrett was exiled from Nexus and CM Punk took over his spot as the leader
of the group.
While Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater chose not to follow Punk's orders and left Nexus,
Otunga agreed to take his initiation test, a beating from the Big Show, and remain with
the group.
In late February, it was announced that Punk would face Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXVII,
with each member of The Nexus facing Orton to win the right to accompany Punk to the
ring in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania.
Otunga faced Orton on the March 7 episode of Raw, but lost.
Following the match, he was punted in the skull by Orton.
Otunga was absent from television for over a month, returning on the April 11 episode
of Raw with the other New Nexus members, and preventing Orton from earning a WWE Championship
match.
On the May 23 episode of Raw, Otunga teamed with fellow Nexus member Michael McGillicutty
to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kane and The Big Show with the help interference
from fellow New Nexus members Mason Ryan and Punk.
They made their only successful title defense against The Usos on the July 29 edition of
SmackDown.
After CM Punk left the New Nexus when his WWE contract expired on July 17, Otunga and
McGillicutty competed against Santino Marella and Zack Ryder on the August 1 edition of
Raw without any Nexus gear or armbands, and with all Nexus logos removed from their TitanTron,
effectively signaling the end of the New Nexus.
On the August 22 episode of Raw, Otunga and McGillicutty lost the Tag Team Championship
to Air Boom.
Legal Advisor After a minor feud with Jerry Lawler, Otunga
and McGillicutty's team quietly disbanded.
Otunga then started a new storyline, focusing on his law background, as John Laurinaitis
advised him to help disgruntled wrestlers plan a lawsuit against Triple H, WWE's chief
operating officer.
He also started carrying a Starbucks thermos.
On the September 30 episode of SmackDown, Otunga and Laurinaitis sat down with Dolph
Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and Vickie Guerrero to
discuss the matter.
The following week on Raw, Otunga walked out on Triple H with other wrestlers, Divas, and
referees after a "vote of no confidence" for Triple H as General Manager of Raw.
He returned to in-ring action on the November 29 SmackDown Holiday Special where he was
defeated by Randy Orton in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight match.
On the December 23 episode of SmackDown he cancelled a #1 Contender's match between The
Big Show and Mark Henry due to the latter's leg injury; he was knocked out by Show as
a result.
Otunga faced The Big Show on the December 26 episode of Raw and the December 30 episode
of SmackDown, but lost both matches.
He obtained his first win since returning to singles competition on the January 13,
2012, episode of SmackDown, defeating Santino Marella.
He captured back-to-back wins against Ezekiel Jackson on the February 20 episode of Raw
and the February 21 episode of Super SmackDown.
On the March 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Otunga would be the captain of Laurinaitis'
team for the battle for control 12-man Tag Team match at WrestleMania.
Team Johnny was victorious at WrestleMania XXVIII.
On the April 16 edition of Raw SuperShow, Otunga unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella
for the United States Championship.
Otunga took leave from WWE television from April 23 to May 14 to be with his fiance,
Jennifer Hudson, during the murder trial of William Balfour in Chicago.
At No Way Out, Otunga lost to Brodus Clay via count out.
The next night on Raw, Otunga teamed with Big Show and John Laurinaitis in a 3 on 1
handicap match.
Before the match started, Big Show walked out on Otunga and Laurinaitis.
Otunga walked out as well during the match, because Laurinaitis had refused to tag himself
in, allowing John Cena to make Laurinaitis submit.
The next week on SmackDown, Otunga delivered a low blow to Brodus Clay as Clay was fighting
The Big Show.
He returned to Raw on August 20 to confront General Manager AJ Lee.
He was put into a match against The Big Show, which he lost.
On September 3, Otunga was seen with Alberto Del Rio, who told Matt Striker that his client
won't talk to him.
On the September 7 episode of SmackDown, he represented Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez
to win the case to ban Sheamus' finishing move, the Brogue Kick, just as Otunga was
facing Sheamus at the night's main event, although the Brogue Kick was later reinstated.
He managed Alberto Del Rio at Night of Champions in his match with Sheamus for the World Heavyweight
Championship which Del Rio lost, At Survivor Series, Otunga was made a part of Team Ziggler,
filling in for the injured Cody Rhodes.
He was eliminated by Daniel Bryan.
Otunga competed in the 2013 Royal Rumble match entering at #9 but was eliminated by Sheamus.
Since then, he has been doing promotional work for WWE backstage.
Otunga returned on October 28 when he conducted an interview for WWE.com after Big Show sued
WWE and Triple H for defamation, discrimination and wrongful termination of contract.
Otunga returned on April 6, 2014, in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania
XXX.
He was eliminated by Big E, and, in the process, he tore his rotator cuff and was sidelined
for 4-6 months.
Personal life Seven months after meeting singer and actress
Jennifer Hudson, he proposed marriage on Hudson's 27th birthday.
On August 10, 2009, Hudson gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy named David Daniel
Otunga, Jr.
In April 2012, Otunga fulfilled the dreams of a young Haitian refugee affected by the
2010 Haiti earthquake by bringing him backstage to WrestleMania XXVIII and arranging a meet-and-greet
session with all the wrestlers.
In wrestling
Finishing moves Verdict
Signature moves Running shoulder block
With Michael McGillicutty Double team finishing moves
Backbreaker hold / Diving elbow drop combination
Double team signature moves Inverted atomic drop / Dropkick combination
Running back elbow / Body avalanche combination to a cornered opponent
Nicknames "The Kanye West of WWE"
"A-List" "The Harvard Law School Graduate"
Entrance themes "We Are One" by 12 Stones
"This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage "Death Blow" from VideoHelper Production Library
"All About the Power" performed by S-Preme and composed by Jim Johnston
Championships and accomplishments
Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI Feud of the Year The Nexus vs. WWE
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year as part of The Nexus
PWI Rookie of the Year PWI ranked him #84 of the top 500 singles
wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE WWE Tag Team Championship – with John Cena
and Michael McGillicutty Slammy Award for Shocker of the Year the debut
of The Nexus Slammy Award for The Pee-wee Herman Bowtie
Award
See also
References
External links David Otunga's official website
David Otunga's profile on WWE.com Cage-match profile
David Otunga at the Internet Movie Database