10 Embarrassing Times Wrestlers Tried To Be Badass
5. Tito Ortiz Folds His Arms
Trust TN-f*cking-A to actually sign a real-life badass and turn them into Triple H.
Tito Ortiz was a top-drawing MMA star and decorated, long-reigning Light Heavyweight Champion. He was a foundational UFC legend. Consistent with their "F*ck it, let's try everything" approach, he was recruited by TNA in 2013. He was the delivery of the #August1Warning viral campaign, and that warning was "Dread it, run from it, destiny still folds its arms and just sort of stands there for a bit as if it has short-circuited".
This was such an odd scene.
Presumably, TNA wished to put over Tito's hard man aura as something that resonated by default; after all, both the Main Event Mafia and Aces & Eights factions were frightened into place by his mere presence. Hilariously, Mr. Anderson at one point motioned to one of his stablemates as if he were a mother protecting her young child's ears from a loud bang. Ortiz is also a stupid individual. It's very possible that he had something else to do, but simply forgot.
Oddly, NXT later used this widely-derided angle to form the basis of their storytelling model, in which several matches were made not by storytelling but via silent challenges on the entrance ramp.