Otis has officially announced a new ring name, “The Polak Hunk,” following his recent return to action after a three-month injury layoff. The former Mr. Money in the Bank confirmed the change himself through a post on his Instagram account.
His return to the ring began last month outside of WWE, when he competed in the Copa Bardahl Cibernetico at AAA TripleMania XXXIII. Otis then wrestled a match on WWE Main Event prior to an episode of RAW, marking his first official in-ring appearance for the company since being sidelined.
The nature of his injury was recently clarified in a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, which stated Otis had undergone arthroscopic elbow surgery to diagnose the issue.
Fightful spoke with sources close to Otis who claimed that he was undergoing elbow surgery in the form of arthroscopic to see what was ailing him. As things stand, he wasn’t expected to miss too much time, but as is the case with injuries, that can change very quickly.
Otis’s nearly two-month absence from television began after a match against Rusev on the May 5th episode of Monday Night RA. A post-match attack saw Rusev throw him shoulder-first into the ring posts, leading to Otis being helped to the back.
His injury status was also noted by WrestleVotes, which had previously reported he was removed from the internal WWE roster. Otis is still a member of Alpha Academy, alongside Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa, though the faction has not been prominently featured on WWE television in recent months.