Tito Ortiz is August1Warning Do You Like it?

[fenderjapan]

Just adding to the list of guys who will be taking up TV time but rarely wrestling and not working house shows. TNA wants to go big time, be on the road, and become a major player...but when fans tune in and see Hulk Hogan, Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson, Sting, they will be inevitably disappointed to show up at a live event for a main event consisting of Chris Sabin and one of the Dudley Boyz.

 

[sufyaan05]

He's obviously being shoved onto iMPACT by SPike TV who are no doubt paying his wages.
Anyone thinking otherwise is deluded and a bit stupid, give Dixie some credit.

To respond to whoever compared it to WWE, well no, TNA still have full timers as their champions and TNA aren't paying them, their are reports going around that state that Rampage is being paid through Bellator and Spike, NOT TNA.

Also, if it helps boost their short term ratings, then it is a good move.
If not, I don't see any bad sides to it.

 

[ABMorales787]

"That's it?" Was that your reaction? It was a 5 day build via Youtube clips. Just what the fuck were you people expecting? Nobody does hype like TNA and of course nobody reacts stupidly like the wrestling fanbase. It's a co-promotion deal Spike is pushing that got a 5 day deal. But people react like it's "10-10-10" all over. Hell, people are already saying Tito will be TNA's "death kneel". How honestly stupid can you people get? It was a reveal not even TNA cared much about. They put like half an effort to push it and as usual "it was underwhelming". A 5 day build exclusively on social media and it was "underwhelming". Do you people analyze things before speaking? Or just bark because it's TNA?

 

[BrianFNPillman]

People are acting like TNA missed an opportunity with this. Fact is, regardless of who they signed it would get an almost identical response from the fans, unless it was John Morrison..

Zeven, you're like the first girlfriend I ever had. When you talk shite I cannot stand you, but when you talk sense I can't wait to here more.

This is the latter.

It's true, all the people you presented were nothing more than mid card fodder. But they were at least mid card. tito isn't even that. He's a promotional machine for a bigger picture. A picture that doesn't include TNa unfortunately.

JoMo on the other hand, while he probably couldn't use the name JoMo would be an assert to TNA. He can put on one hell of a match, hit spots Jeff Hardy can only meth about, is funny when he's allowed to be on his own and he looks fantastic. In TNA terms he's a goddamned Heavyweight really. He would have made far more sense and could logically feud with other people (namely Hardy) (again) afterward as filler until they found him something new to do post-BFG.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Since no one wants to do this might as well be me.....

Last Night to end Tna Impact, Tito Ortiz came out and revealed himself as the man TNA has being hyping as as August1Warning during the fight between the Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eights.....

Suffice to say,.... NOBODY saw this coming..... Is that a good thing? Did you like the fact that tito is back on TNA? What potential does this have? Will he wrestle?

As for me? HUGE dissapointment, because this does nothing for TNA in the long run.... Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson will fight in November on PPV and now it seems TNA will be used by Spike to promote the fight too... These 2 will NOT fight at Bound for Glory cause none of them are trained wrestlers, and more importantly why would they fake wrestle when they will fight for real a month later...

Also, whos paying this man's salary is what I'm wondering..... I REALLY hope that Spike and/or BELLATOR are paying his full salary.... Because if this was the reason so much of TNA's talent was released recently, i see it as a massive waste and a spit on the face to wrestling in general.... You fire people that bleed wrestling and fight for your company for a guy that wont wrestle, and wont move the needle ratings or money or match wise?

I will give the angle a chance i guess but they hyped his return waaaay too much....

What do you think TNA fans..... Did TNA got it right by bringing Tito Ortiz back?

Ummmm, to be honest, right after he showed up on Bellator, I called it here first that the Aug 1 guy would be Tito. It was so obvious at that point. The reason it wasn't on TV, and was simply a week long Internet thing is because they wanted the legit surprise to actually be on the Bellator show because that will be the PPV.

Timeline wise, Tito came out and said he'd like to fight again. Dana made a comment about Tito looking for a pay day. Guaranteed that Tito had the Bellator deal in place before he made the first comment. They played Dana into basically saying no one would sign Tito. A day or two later, Tito's on live TV on Bellator after Rampage and RJJ played the world into the thinking they would headline a boxing card. At that point it became painfully obvious that the Bellator tail was wagging the TNA dog, and they will use TNA to help proof the PPV, which will be lucky to get 25 000 buys and that's IF they charge $15 or less.

Now, what will Tito do: my guess is "ringside enforcer" for the five on five match in two weeks.

 

[turnkey582000]

REALLY..TITO ORTIZ...REALLY COME ON MAN COME ON....DIDN'T HE GO OUT AS A LOSER IN MMA...SO WHAT NOW HE'S GONNA SAVE TNA...YOU GUY'S HAVE A WORSE BUILD UP AND LET DOWN THAN WWE... OF ALL THE WRESTLERS AND YES I SAID WRESTLERS IN THE WORLD WHO COULD HAVE HELP MAKE THIS COMPANY BETTER YOU PICK THIS BUM!!!! RAMPAGE WAS BAD ENOUGH SO HOW MANY MORE MMA GUYS ARE YA GONNA BRING IN TO PATCH THE HOLES IN THIS STINKING SHIP....AT LEAST LET A.J. STYLES,BOBBY ROODE,JAMES STORM AUSTIN ARIES SOMOA JOE AND AND SELECT FEW GET OFF FIRST!!!!!!

 

[eazup]

seems like alot of this going on and not a dman thing come of it yet. remember King Mo? no? that might be because he never did damn thing after a ass ton of hype.
theyre currently on this same nonsense with Rampage Jackson. and hey why not just pile on this confused heap?

does anybody know who actually scripts TNA? im dying to find out how this soup keeps getting spoiled

 

[The Eighties]

The fact the promotion started less than a week from the unveiling should have let everyone know that this wasn't going to be a big deal, that's why I felt it being someone like Adam Pearce would have been fine.

I don't watch MMA and only knew who Rampage was due to the A Team movie, I've never seen a Tito Ortiz fight but I'd heard of him due to the fights with Shamrock. Him and Rampage are their to promote a fight that wont take place in TNA which is the stupid thing about it, especially when for the most part MMA fans hate Pro Wrestling so they are unlikely to be enamored with a fight being built on a Pro Wrestling show.

If Spike are footing the bill and it only takes up 10 minutes a week then I don't really care one way or the other, hyping two has-been MMA fighters on your show even though they'll never fight for your promotion seems pointless to me, but it's Spike's money.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

REALLY..TITO ORTIZ...REALLY COME ON MAN COME ON....DIDN'T HE GO OUT AS A LOSER IN MMA...SO WHAT NOW HE'S GONNA SAVE TNA...YOU GUY'S HAVE A WORSE BUILD UP AND LET DOWN THAN WWE... OF ALL THE WRESTLERS AND YES I SAID WRESTLERS IN THE WORLD WHO COULD HAVE HELP MAKE THIS COMPANY BETTER YOU PICK THIS BUM!!!! RAMPAGE WAS BAD ENOUGH SO HOW MANY MORE MMA GUYS ARE YA GONNA BRING IN TO PATCH THE HOLES IN THIS STINKING SHIP....AT LEAST LET A.J. STYLES,BOBBY ROODE,JAMES STORM AUSTIN ARIES SOMOA JOE AND AND SELECT FEW GET OFF FIRST!!!!!!

Alright, who would you have gone with?

Let's look at the options people suggested:

Kaval: it might have been nice for a match with Sabin to lead up to the cage match where odds are he loses the title. The only way I see it going the other way is if they are turning Andersen face, by having Bully lose and then insist on taking Ken's BFG spot. To bring Low Ki in for a one off match might have got a pop in Nashville and possibly Florida, but in Wichita, Texas, not too much.

Tomko: problem solver references aside, last time he showed up anywhere, the only shape he was in was round. Would have flopped.

Adam Pearce: I like Adam. Have met him a few times and he's a good guy with a lot of talent. He would have come out to crickets. In fact, in order to mask the silence, they probably would have used crickets as theme music.

Goldberg: the guy won't even get on board to do a DVD that the E is going to release anyway. Fact is, he'd have been paid more to contribute some face time to the DVD than he'd get from TNA, and given the 'cost cutting', the Jesse Sorensen fan boys would have shit kittens at everyTNA show.

Batista: well, he's filming a movie, so that's one strike. The only way this would have even been a remote possibility is if big Dave were to be going to Bellator, which would be a circus given he has one fight under his belt.

Lashley: he was the most likely of the 'big names' that were talked about. He could have legit gone to Bellator and done the cross promotion.

The bottom line is, really, the bottom line. Bellator and Spike are probably picking up a decent amount of the money being paid to Tito. Tito is a big recognized name that allows the use of Rampage to have a point. Before Wednesday when they announced Tito vs Rampage, I thought the crickets and Adam Pearce was the most likely. when Tito came out for Bellator, it became very obvious.

 

[MWRedskins]

i will wait and see on this, but the reveal of Tito Ortiz is a move that either is a great move or a dumb move. it depends on if Ortiz is actually used and if he can go in a match, but if it's like King Mo, then the reveal wasnt good and the buildup was bad.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

As I said in the LD last night, I'll wait to see this flesh out before I go off calling it a bust the way so many of you are doing, and the way so many already did before the reveal even happened. Fact is, TNA's use of MMA fighters has never been poor before, so I doubt it will be poor now. Frank Trigg, Ortiz (the first time), Ken Shamrock, Bobby Lashley, etc. have all had a cup of coffee with the promotion, and none were failures. Maybe they didn't live up to your unrealistic expectations of what non-wrestling/non-wrestler performers should bring, but they were not failures. Thus far, Jackson and Ortiz are not failures either. The only MMA fighter who they shot too early on was Mo, but they also underestimated the time it'd take him to return from surgery. Technically the ball is still in the air on him as well.

 

[Eyebrows]

How many of you guys are MMA fans? I'm curious about the cross-over appeal. Is it common for guys to watch both MMA and pro-wrestling?

Here in the UK I know plenty of wrestling fans but not so many MMA fans. Personally, I thought the reveal was lame. If I picked up MMA and suddenly had an interest in it, I'd watch MMA. On my pro-wrestling shows I want to see pro-wrestlers.

I think it's different to a guy like Shamrock who for all intents and purposes seemed like a pro-wrestler who happened to have been an MMA legend. Ortiz and Jackson on the other hand seem shoehorned awkwardly into the product to appease the Network.

It doesn't bother me who pays them. I still have to watch them.

 

[shalliin]

Well at least now they have some potential for Brooke and some of the lesser talent. Tito and his wife(Jenna Jameson) probably going to produce a Brooke Hogan and midcard wrestler ******** video.

All kidding aside, this is as many would think about as useless as bringing in barry horowitz. it's more helpful for spike and bellator then it will ever be to tna, but the same can be said for any mma fighter tna has signed. I can't remember his name, but there was a big deal about signing some mma guy last year, and he hasn't even had more then a fe appearances, but no matches.

 

[Starkist]

It was different, totally rushed. Bad timing on TNA's part for sure. I cannot say I hate it, or if I liked it. Let's just see where it goes.

Everyone is pissed that TNA is doing stuff like this. Well, I am sure Spike, is pushing for it too. Who knows, if played out well, this could be really great for TNA. Let's see how next week turns out. I am sure, that the majority who hate it, just might tune in next week to see how it goes. That is what TNA wants, and needs.

Now, let the jokes of Bellator being the mobile home park of old UFC fighters begin. That is, if it has not began already.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

I wouldn't say I was disappointed by who it turned out to be, but I wasn't thrilled either. At the end of the day it was such a short build up that I never thought it was going to be a massive name therefore there was nothing to be disappointed about.

But I didn't like how the reveal happened. It felt a bit awkward and was a bit of an anticlimax, not because who it was but because all he did was stand there. For someone who's a big name in wrestling maybe just standing there would be enough but for him it wasn't. He needed to do something, get in the face of someone or something, because the crowd just acted the same way I acted, uninterested.

Obviously we'll wait to see how things develop, but right now the only way seems to be up.

 

[Rayne]

You folks are all looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective. That's understandable, because this is a professional wrestling message board and that tends to give the majority of posters a particular viewpoint to start out with.

If you are thinking "what can this do for TNA", you're off the mark. There's no interest- NONE- in the MMA community for professional wrestling. However, there is a portion of the professional wrestling audience who can be siphoned off to MMA. (If you've been paying attention the past ten years, it's been happening for quite a while now. Whatever your personal case is, whether you like MMA or not, it doesn't speak for the overall trend away from professional wrestling towards MMA.)

This is a sales call from Bellator, trying to get any TNA fans they can to spend $40 on their first pay-per-view. It's free promotion for them (I strongly doubt TNA has to pay for Tito or Rampage, given the circumstances), and hell, if TNA can benefit, that's a bonus.



On the note of promoting this, however, TNA shot themselves in the foot a bit by telling people it wasn't Batista, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, or Andre the Giant. Why in the Christ would you even bring up those names if you didn't have a name lined up- one that resonates with the audience your advertising is targetting?????? When TNA has a little bit of a good thing going, they just can't shut the fuck up and surprise people- they have to hint that there's some giant change on the horizon, and every fucking time, they disappoint people. It's not "TNA can't help but disappoint people", it's "TNA needs to stop making implied promises and just deliver".

If Tito Ortiz jumped the rail and beat the shit out of Rampage Jackson, we'd be talking about how surprising that was. Instead, we're talking about how disappointing Tito was. It'd be understandable if TNA hadn't done this several times before already.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

The Bellator/Spike tail is wagging the TNA dog. TNA in no way gains from this. The intro was EXACTLY what I expected after I saw Tito come out to the cage with Rampage Wednesday. It was destined to be a brawl. I knew the lights would go out, and that Tito would enter. I'm a little surprised they didn't get him to the ring to o face to face with Jackson, but other than that, it was a paint by numbers TNA debut.

 

[Bear]

It just wasn't worth the hype. Do I get why they brought Ortiz in? Yeah. I just wish it hadn't happened the way it did and that's why you have however many pages full of people complaining about it. This was a Bellator decision through and through and as a promotion closing in on their first PPV? I don't blame them. But did it need all the damn videos and the namedropping (everyone from Chris Jericho to Andre the Giant) that took place in it? No. Because right then and there you are setting your fans up for a big reveal and more than anything? Something they are gonna care about the next day. And by the looks of the crowd last night? They didn't get anything close to that. So do I blame everyone getting as worked up as they are? Nah. I just hope all this gets over and done with soon so we can stop talking about it and move on.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

No, I don't like it. I have zero interest in MMA. I just knew that it was going to be a disappointment. I think this would've been a great debut for Rampage if they had held him off from debuting on Impact. The Mafia could've stalled on who their final member would be, and it would've been huge.

But yeah you had Tito come out. Now I do think with the videos they gave us too many clues. If they had only shown the first one and left it at that I think it would've been much better. Because on that first video I thought it was DOC. By the second I was convinced it was Tito.

 

[scottyshowman82]

You folks are all looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective. That's understandable, because this is a professional wrestling message board and that tends to give the majority of posters a particular viewpoint to start out with.

If you are thinking "what can this do for TNA", you're off the mark. There's no interest- NONE- in the MMA community for professional wrestling. However, there is a portion of the professional wrestling audience who can be siphoned off to MMA. (If you've been paying attention the past ten years, it's been happening for quite a while now. Whatever your personal case is, whether you like MMA or not, it doesn't speak for the overall trend away from professional wrestling towards MMA.)

This is a sales call from Bellator, trying to get any TNA fans they can to spend $40 on their first pay-per-view. It's free promotion for them (I strongly doubt TNA has to pay for Tito or Rampage, given the circumstances), and hell, if TNA can benefit, that's a bonus.



On the note of promoting this, however, TNA shot themselves in the foot a bit by telling people it wasn't Batista, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, or Andre the Giant. Why in the Christ would you even bring up those names if you didn't have a name lined up- one that resonates with the audience your advertising is targetting?????? When TNA has a little bit of a good thing going, they just can't shut the fuck up and surprise people- they have to hint that there's some giant change on the horizon, and every fucking time, they disappoint people. It's not "TNA can't help but disappoint people", it's "TNA needs to stop making implied promises and just deliver".

If Tito Ortiz jumped the rail and beat the shit out of Rampage Jackson, we'd be talking about how surprising that was. Instead, we're talking about how disappointing Tito was. It'd be understandable if TNA hadn't done this several times before already.

I do think this quite sound. Whenever you have one of these big reveals you have to take good look at wrestling landscape. You gotta see who's available. Batista and Bob Holly said no, it wasn't me. I personally thought it was going to be Adam Pierce but as the show went on it wouldn't have made sense to bring someone who wasn't as well known is such a segment at the end of the show. When Tito came out, it was surprising but a little out of left field. After watching the show last night and reading an article on Bleacher Report about it this is more of a move to help Bellator than TNA. Bellator has their first pay per view coming up which will see Rampage Jackson take on Tito Ortiz.

My point of view of on this may be different than most because I'm a pro wrestling and MMA fan that loves pro wrestling more. That "fake" or "predeterminded" label on wrestling really bothers some in the MMA crowd and you can tell it even still bothers some wrestling fans who are constantly trying to pull back the wool over everyone's eyes and just can't enjoy pro wrestling for what it is. I don't care if wrestling "fake" or "predeteremined. I enjoy watching it. I love it actually.

I know Tito and Rampage well, I've seen their MMA fights, I know their showmanship and I know their mike skills. If they were really committed to training and learning the wrestling business they both have the potential to be truly awesome. Will they do that? My gut tells me they will have limited roles in TNA and are really trying to put Bellator MMA on the map that is a good thing for the MMA world. Listen MMA is hot right now, it's not 1993 anymore they're not underground and it's not no holds barred in 2013 Mixed Martial Arts is the world's fastest growing sport and is finally being taking seriously by sports networks like ESPN.

TNA has people talking. As people harp on TNA I think wrestling fans do want it to succeed. WWE fans do run it down a lot you can tell people they're watching Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk with one eye but keeping an eye on how Impact Wrestling is doing as well. TNA is that professional wrestling organization we all wish we owned, the outlet we wish we had, the chance to show WWE how pro wrestling could be run differently. We get out hopes up and are happy for them when they do something cool but we're angry and frustrated and dissapointed when they screw up (some more vocally than others lol). And as someone said recently it's good have people bitching and moaning about something than not have them saying anything at all, when they stop talking that's when you should be worried about them, that's when they stop watching completely.

Personally the surprise was out of left field and a bit underwhelming, but I get it and as an MMA/wrestling fan it's cool to see something different and I'll keep watching for sure, I'm sure a lot us will.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I'm actually surprised the reaction from most has been so bad, and don't know what people were expecting.
I do think Tito Ortiz is bigger than some jobber for the mid card, much bigger. he is still a well known name, and that gets attention. do you think ESPN and other sporting news people are going to give a damn about any mid carder, not a chance. Tito Ortiz still makes headlines.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tito-ortiz-makes-surprise-appearance-062226327--mma.html

 

[Shalashaska]

First off, love my MMA, much respect for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, but WOW. That was so awkward and underwhelming it was hilarious. I swear to god I saw Ortiz look around to make sure there was actually a crowd there behind the lights. Less than no reaction.

I knew it would be bad. I've known everything would be bad since 2009, but that was a typical wrestling disaster X1000. All this needed was Tony Schiavone and it would have been the greatest segment of the year.

I loved it, for all the wrong reasons.

 

[aaronmb]

Only way I can see this being something is if he joins Aces and Eights and he faces Hogan and BFG for control of the company/loser leaves. It would at least give them a ton of publicity and if he becomes a wrestler, there's a ton of huge matches.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Only way I can see this being something is if he joins Aces and Eights and he faces Hogan and BFG for control of the company/loser leaves. It would at least give them a ton of publicity and if he becomes a wrestler, there's a ton of huge matches.

Will never happen!!! BFG is in October. Ortiz is headlining Bellator's first PPV on November 2. There is no way Tito or Rampage goes anywhere near a wrestling match after HJ.

 

[Lowdown]

I don't really know what to make of it. Chances are it will garner some interest among casual MMA fans. But I take into account how little King Mo was used. Now its interesting to see Rampage in the mix with the mafia; at the same time I agree that TNA is trying to help promote the fight between Tito and Rampage. Begs to question what place Tito is gonna have on the main roster. I'm curious to see how this progresses over time, so I won't knock it unless it falls flat.