During an appearance on TMZ’s Inside The Ring, David Otunga revealed that some wrestlers will intentionally perform poorly in matches to avoid danger or express frustration with booking. He shared a personal story where he was advised by Arn Anderson to purposely “botch” a move in order to protect himself from The Great Khali.

The discussion started when the hosts asked Otunga about rumors that Jey Uso deliberately slowed down his match with CM Punk at Saturday Night’s Main Event due to creative disagreements. “Those guys do that, yeah, I agree with that for sure. I know guys do that,” Otunga said. “Did Jey do that? I don’t know. I’d have to see that. If he did, I’m not saying I condone that. If he did, I could understand it.”

Otunga then shared his own experience, which he described as something he had “never told before.” “For a while I was driving The Great Khali… my worst wrestling injury came from him,” Otunga explained. He went on to describe how Khali wanted to use a two-handed chokeslam as a finisher, which Otunga claimed had been associated with a fatal accident years prior. “He killed somebody with that in OVW,” Otunga alleged. “So during this loop, he’d already busted my eye open, and now he decides to do a new finish. I said, ‘Isn’t that the death move?’ I told him, ‘Khali, I think I’m good. I don’t really want to do it.’”

According to Otunga, Khali reported him to their producer Arn Anderson for refusing to take the move. Anderson then offered him some guidance. “Arn said, ‘I tell you what, kid. One time someone asked me to do a move I didn’t want to do, so I did it so terribly they never asked me again.’”

Otunga took the advice to heart. “We went out there, went for that thing, and I hardly jumped. He barely got me up. It looked awful,” Otunga recalled. “When I came back through the curtain, Arn was right there. He goes, ‘I see you took my advice, kid.’ We never did that move again. Khali thought I just sucked, but I didn’t care. I was alive.”

After the segment aired, Jim Cornette publicly refuted Otunga’s story on social media, calling it inaccurate. Cornette, who served as OVW’s head booker and trainer from 1999 to 2005, wrote, “Wrong wrestling school by about 2300 miles, dipshit. Nobody was ever killed, paralyzed, or allowed to dive off balconies in OVW, and the Great Khali, nor any other lesser Khali, ever attended OVW. @TMZ needs to fact-check their programming.”

Wrong wrestling school by about 2300 miles, dipshit. Nobody was ever killed, paralyzed, or allowed to dive off balconies in OVW, and the Great Khali nor any other lesser Khali ever attended OVW. @TMZ needs to factcheck their programming. https://t.co/f5ChECzXY2

, Jim Cornette (@TheJimCornette) November 11, 2025