Jim Cornette has refuted a shocking claim that a prospect was killed in OVW by a future WWE World Heavyweight Champion. During a recent interview with TMZ’s Inside the Ring, David Otunga made the claim that The Great Khali killed someone using a two-handed chokeslam during his days training in OVW.
“Khali had another finisher, which was like this two-handed chokeslam. Now I don’t know if you guys know this, but he killed somebody with that in OVW by accident. I was well aware of that.”
While one of the hosts seemed aware of this incident, sharing “I forgot about this,” Cornette is refuting the claim. On X, Cornette made clear that nobody died at the hands of Khali, or anybody, in Ohio Valley Wrestling. Cornette even stated that Khali never even attended OVW.
Otunga’s claim is certainly shocking, though it is one that struggles to hold up to scrutiny. A wrestler dying at the hands of Khali in OVW when the promotion was WWE’s developmental territory would almost certainly be known about, yet an internet search cannot find any proof that such an incident occurred.
Otunga’s in-ring career came to an end in 2015 and he would spend several years in various non-competitive roles in WWE before his eventual exit. While his claim about Khali may be shocking, it remains to be seen if any evidence backs up what has been said.