Tito Ortiz Thanks Shane McMahon And Triple H For WWE PC Opportunity

UFC legend Tito Ortiz is no stranger to wrestling, having spent some time in TNA in the mid 2000s. However, Ortiz himself has revealed he was close to making WWE his new home in 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Speaking to SportsmattersTV, Ortiz said the following:

“It’s kind of funny you say that because last year of February before this pandemic came about, I was actually at the WWE training facility and I was there for fourteen days. I put in a lot of work and I learned a lot of stuff in a quick amount of time you know, I think we worked 13 days every day and I was learning stuff that guys were learning who been there eight or nine months that were just learning and coach is like “you catch on really, really quick.” That’s always been a commodity for me that I am able to learn quickly, I am a fast learner with everything I do.”

Ortiz had a few spells in the past with TNA, most notably as part of The Aces & Eights storyline, and it was this experience which proved beneficial:

“It goes back to working hard, working for TNA was a blessing in disguise as I had an opportunity to sit down with Hulk Hogan, meet Hulk Hogan for who he truly is, a human being,” Ortiz said. “We got a lot of things in common in life, it was meant to be that we were meant to meet and a guy I look up to hugely Hogan and I got an opportunity through TNA.”

Ortiz last appeared for TNA in 2013, but he still could have a future in pro wrestling:

“Once again, I got an opportunity to train at the WWE training facility and I loved it, I liked it I thought was great and I would fit in perfect,” Ortiz said. “The pandemic came about and everything got to a halt, a stop where there was no audience. I understand I don’t want to take someone’s job who’s trying to take care of their family. I dunno, we will see what happens in the future. Shane McMahon gave me the opportunity and I am very thankful of it and Triple H gave me the opportunity and I am very thankful of it. It was a great experience.

“It was something that the kid growing up was all I watched was WWF, which is WWE now, but as a kid that’s all I ever watched. I got an opportunity to do it and I was an MMA fighter because of professional wrestling, I was an amateur fighter because of professional wrestling and that was something I just made the best since to transition to something like that you know this pandemic came about just didn’t work well for me. It didn’t work well for them and it didn’t come into fruition, too bad we will see what happens in the future.”