When it comes to WWE television over the last couple of months, the storyline between Mandy Rose and Otis has been one of the most memorable and best developed of all the company’s stories. What might surprise some viewers is that it was Mandy’s idea to do the storyline and she took it upon herself to pitch the idea to Vince McMahon personally. Taking part in an interview this week with Sports Illustrated, Mandy spoke about how she got McMahon to buy-in on the idea and where the motivation for the program came from.
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“It’s hard to get in Vince’s office, but I finally got in and I pitched this story,” said Mandy (Amanda Saccomanno). “He loved it, he had some ideas, and then Sonya and I had a lot of say in the creative, which was really cool. We were able to write a lot of it. We all worked together, and that’s one of the reasons it’s worked so well. Everyone’s been really passionate about it.”
Otis and Mandy have had a friendship for many years, going back to their years in NXT together. That history and their genuine chemistry has allowed the storyline to succeed as well as it has. Mandy spoke about their long standing friendship with SI.
“Ever since we met in NXT, we’d always joke around together,” she said. “He’d call me ‘Mandy Candy’ and cut different promos, and it was really cute. He’s just so charismatic, even when he’s not on camera. He makes us laugh the same amount when he’s off camera. He’s funny and super sweet, and he’s so kind, which is one of the best qualities.
“This was something we thought was really funny, and we both thought it could be a great story, though I never thought it would resonate with people this much. But it’s relatable, and it’s really cool that we’ve been able to involve so many people.”
Mandy also took part in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that was published this week o YouTube and his podcast feed where she also spoke of the process of selling McMahon on the Otis storyline. You can check that out in the video below.
Van Vliet also asked Mandy what her favorite match has been so far in WWE, to which she replied a SmackDown match with Asuka (which aired May 29th, 2018). She spoke at length about Asuka being one of her favorite performers to be in the ring with and the energy that she brings to her matches.
