OTM came crashing onto WWE RAW like they had been waiting months for the green light, but the decision to move Bronco Nima and Lucien Price to the main roster may actually be much more recent.
After the group wrecked the closing moments of the August 24, 2026 episode of WWE RAW alongside Royce Keys, the timing of WWE’s creative switch became a major talking point.
While breaking down the angle on Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez connected OTM’s arrival to Bronco being abruptly pulled out of Los Perros del Mal in AAA. Dave Meltzer agreed that the sudden change made it look like WWE had only recently settled on bringing OTM up, reasoning that there wouldn’t have been much point putting Bronco into another faction if WWE already knew he was leaving almost immediately.
“They’ve been called up because, why would you put him in the team to take him out right away? It’s because they made the decision. Obviously, this decision is very recent.”
They then tried to work out the timeline based on when the AAA material had been taped. Alvarez guessed the decision may have come within the previous two or three weeks, while Meltzer pushed it back slightly and estimated that WWE’s new direction for OTM had probably been in place for roughly a month.
Alvarez: “Been in the last two or three weeks.”
Meltzer: “It’s been about a month, I would say.”
There was another clue sitting right on WWE television. OTM had been teasing trouble between Nima and Price before that story suddenly disappeared and the team was put back together. Alvarez noted that the potential breakup was still being teased not long ago, and Meltzer believed that creative reversal may have happened around the same time WWE decided to pair them with Keys.
Alvarez: “They were also teasing a potential breakup of OTM. And like two weeks ago, they’re just back together again.”
Meltzer: “Right, right, right. So I think that’s when the whole thing went down. It was like, ‘Okay, we’re bringing them up with Royce Keys…’”
That timeline is an estimate based on the booking, not confirmation from WWE that somebody made the call on one specific date. What it does suggest is that OTM’s jump to RAW wasn’t necessarily a plan WWE had sitting around for months. Somewhere within the last few weeks, the direction appears to have shifted from a possible OTM breakup and Bronco working with Los Perros del Mal to Nima and Price staying together and getting thrown straight into a major RAW program.
WWE certainly went all-in once the move happened. Keys sent Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa through a table during the main event, OTM stormed the ring and helped destroy LA Knight and Jimmy Uso, and the three men stood together over the wreckage as RAW went off the air. One night was all it took to move OTM from NXT into the middle of a story involving The Usos, Solo Sikoa and LA Knight.
Whatever WWE had planned for OTM a month ago, that plan clearly changed fast. Now Nima and Price are on RAW with Royce Keys, and WWE wasted zero time making their arrival feel like a big deal.
Do you think WWE made the right move changing direction with OTM and putting them straight into a major RAW storyline? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
