Before The Hurt Business became a dominant force in WWE, David Otunga apparently pitched a very similar concept for himself.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Otunga revealed that during his time in WWE, he pitched an idea for a stable where he would act as a “heel lawyer” leader. He noted that the concept bore a strong resemblance to what eventually became The Hurt Business (now known as The Hurt Syndicate in AEW). “I pitched something, I don’t know if I called it The Firm or what it was, but it was kind of what The Hurt Syndicate ended up becoming,” Otunga said. “But it was before that, so it was three years before that… I was going to be the leader of that as a heel lawyer. And, yeah, they liked it, but it obviously didn’t [happen], they liked me better as an announcer.”
Otunga also opened up about his transition away from in-ring competition, revealing that it was a personal choice driven by family needs. “I stepped away from the ring in probably 2013 or so. My son’s mom was my fiancée at the time. She was going through some stuff, and they needed me at home,” he explained. “So it was a choice I made on behalf of my family, where I put my career aside for a while to be the man I needed to be in our relationship, for her, for my son.”
This decision eventually led him to the commentary booth. Otunga began doing the Raw pre-show with Corey Graves and Scott Stanford, a role he took because it was fun and allowed him to be home more often. However, WWE management took notice. “The office would tell us, ‘Yeah, but there’s one person who watches this every week. It’s Vince, and he loves it.’” This eventually led to an offer to join the commentary team permanently, a role Otunga never initially envisioned for himself but accepted.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight With Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
