Nikola Bogojevic (born December 21, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Otis.
After signing with WWE in 2016, he was assigned to their developmental brand NXT, teaming with Tucker Knight as part of Heavy Machinery. They were promoted to WWE's main roster in 2018. During his time on the main roster, Otis won the 2020 men's Money in the Bank ladder match and won the Raw Tag Team Championship as part of Alpha Academy with Chad Gable in 2022.
Prior to his professional wrestling career, Bogojevic was an amateur wrestler, winning the 2008 Greco-Roman junior Nationals in his weight class, the national title in the 2011 Junior Pan-American Games, and a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival, and was a prospect for the 2012 Olympic Games team, but was not chosen. In 2018, he was named the Rookie of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI).
Early life
Nikola Bogojevic was born on December 21, 1991, in Duluth, Minnesota. He is a Christian and is also of Serbian descent. Otis grew up in Superior, Wisconsin and was a top amateur wrestler in high school.
Amateur wrestling career
Bogojevic attended Superior High School, where he was a successful amateur wrestler; he was the 2010 285lb undefeated WIAA State Champion. He was a champion at the 2009 Greco-Roman junior Nationals. He placed third at the 2009 Junior Freestyle championships. Originally committed to the University of Wisconsin, he wrestled at collegiate level for Augsburg College and Colorado State University-Pueblo. He won the national title in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Junior Pan-American Games in 2011 and a Greco-Roman bronze at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival. He was at one point considered a prospect for the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 2012 Summer Olympics and spent some time training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2015–2016) In 2015, Bogojevic trained to become a professional wrestler at the Mercury Pro Wrestling Academy in Arvada, Colorado. He wrestled under the ring name Dozer for several regional promotions in Colorado and Utah, including Ultra Championship Wrestling-Zero (UCW-Zero) and New Revolution Wrestling, where he won the NRW Charged Championship.
WWE (2016-present)
Heavy Machinery (2016–2020)
Bogojevic was scouted by WWE scout Gerald Brisco, who specialized in scouting award-winning amateur wrestlers. On April 12, 2016, Bogojevic signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. He made his debut at a NXT house show on July 8, 2016, teaming with Adrian Jaoude in a loss to The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar).
During this time, he formed a tag team with Tucker Knight, calling themselves Heavy Machinery. In October, with he now renamed Otis Dozovic, the duo participated in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, and they made their television debut on the October 19 episode of NXT, losing to the team of Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. The duo returned and had their first televised victory on the March 29, 2017 episode of NXT, defeating the team of Jonathan Ortagun and Q. T. Marshall. On the July 12 episode of NXT, Heavy Machinery unsuccessfully challenged The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championship. In March 2018, Heavy Machinery once again participated in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, but were eliminated by The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) in the first round. On the December 19 episode of NXT, Heavy Machinery wrestled their final match on NXT, defeating Blake Howell and Danny D'Accardo.