Nick Walker Gets Trolled – Badly!!

First and foremost, let me say that the world of social media has become quite a circus. Everybody is trying to get clicks no matter what the cost. And when you’re Mr. Olympia you can expect the trolls to go all out. They’re going to come at you harder than anyone because you are the greatest physique-based athlete in the world. Nick Walker understands that he is the best. He understands what it is to work hard and cut his teeth on placings that he may not like. What Nick may not understand is that now all of these social media influencers are going to look to him for hits. He’s the biggest bodybuilder on the planet, he has won all the titles, and his fanbase grows by the day. He makes easy prey when it comes to clickbait influencers looking to get that next viral video. And that’s exactly what happened with YouTuber Alibucketss in a recent interaction with The Mutant. I don’t even know this guy’s real name, I just know his handle. I know what he’s all about. Walking up to Nick Walker and offering him $10,000 if he can beat him at any exercise speaks to the kind of personality that we’re talking about. Nick told this guy on more than one occasion that he did not want to participate in his little game. He could clearly see that he was being videotaped and he could clearly see that the influencer was looking to get a rise out of him. And this is the part where I’m going to do a little bit of preaching even though it goes against my better judgment because it’s very easy for me to say how another man should act while I’m writing an article in the comfort of my living room, sitting in my recliner, having a beverage. Nobody’s bothering me right now, nobody’s in my face, nobody is filming me. I’m sitting probably in the most comfortable setting possible talking about how someone should act in probably the most uncomfortable setting. And that’s why any kind of preaching from a writer is absolute bullshit. I will be the first to admit it. That being said, when you’re Mr. Olympia, you’re the ambassador of the sport to the world.

I don’t think this influencer was looking to beat Nick doing push-ups or sit-ups or anything of that nature. I think what he was looking for was to get a rise out of the champ. And that’s exactly what he did. You could see that Nick was frustrated and that Nick didn’t know what to do. What would have been better would have been to have employed the tactics of a Jay Cutler or a Phil Heath. Perhaps that comes with more time on top. I don’t know, but neither one of those guys would have lost control. Now Nick didn’t start yelling or flailing his arms in the air, but he was clearly not in control of the situation. In fact, he turned around a couple of times looking to his camp to see what they could do. Ultimately, he threatened the influencer with being physically removed by his people. When in reality I don’t think anybody from his crew was going to do that simply because they didn’t want to get involved in any potential litigation. Many of these influencers know exactly what they’re doing. They’re going to go into a situation like that with the hope of having hands put on them. From there they can file suit. Even if there is no injury, you’d be surprised. In America, you can sue a ham sandwich. The bottom line is that Nick lost control when he turned away from this jerk. I hate to insult people but the guys a jerkoff. He went up to the booth of the reigning Mr. Olympia and tried to start some shit. And Nick unfortunately fell for it.

The problem with social media is that there are no norms of decency. Influencers don’t care about looking bad so long as they get the views. Views translate to money. They can help you get sponsors, they can help you get advertisers, and potentially you can be on the good side of the algorithm. That means that anytime somebody logs on, once they put a single keystroke into the search bar, the videos on the good side of the algorithm start populating. They get hits even without trying and that’s what people like Alibucketss strive for. They understand that to continue to get viral videos they have to feed the trolls. It isn’t everyday bodybuilding fans that are clicking, it’s trolls. They may or may not love bodybuilding. They’re just looking for rage bait. And that’s exactly what was done to the Walker. It was rage baiting at its finest. It didn’t matter that he said no to the guy four, five, or six times. The guy wasn’t listening. He was after something. He had an agenda and Nick unfortunately just didn’t see it. He was very much like deer caught in headlights. It makes me sad because I don’t want to see bodybuilding’s ambassador to the world look in a bad light. Many people think that I have an ax to grind with the champ or that I am against him somehow. You cannot be against Mr. Olympia and call yourself a bodybuilding fan. You just can’t do it. Now you may not like Nick’s physique, or you may not like how he poses on stage, but out of sheer respect for the title, you have to support him. You have to want to see him do well. Because when Mr. Olympia does well, we all do well. When Mr. Olympia is gaining fans, the whole sport of bodybuilding is gaining fans. Do you see what I’m trying to say here? Of course you do! because we have some of the most hardcore bodybuilding readers in the industry. Unfortunately, Nick needs more experience dealing with this type of individual.

But wait a minute! It’s not like Nick Walker just got into bodybuilding last week, right? He’s been involved in the bodybuilding world for well over a decade. He has won the New York Pro three times and he has won the Arnold Classic.  What more experience does he need? Well, here’s the deal, while those are very impressive titles, they are not Olympia titles. You can win the Arnold Classic but you’re not the best in the world. You can win the New York pro, but you’re not the best in the world. This is the very first time in his career that he has actually been the number one bodybuilder on the planet. He even said it to this jerk off. When the guy asked him to rate him, Nick gave him a 5.5. and the guy then said well what about you? To which Nick said he was a 10 – the best. And there’s no shame in that. He is the best. It’s one of the perks of being Mr. Olympia (or being Miss Olympia). If you win the Olympia title in whichever division you win it, you have the bragging rights to say that you are the best pro competitor in that division in the world. That is what being an Olympia Champion is all about. It isn’t even that you have the right to say that – you have the duty to say it. You have the obligation to say it. You are the best of the best. So, when he said that to Alibucketss, that didn’t come from a place of arrogance it came from a place of reality. The bottom line is that that should have been the end of it. But it wasn’t.

Hopefully this will be a learning experience for The Mutant. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give him about a four, maybe a five. He didn’t lose control entirely. He didn’t put hands on the guy, he didn’t start shouting, he didn’t run away.  This wasn’t a colossal failure, but it certainly wasn’t the ideal response, either. In the future The Mutant needs to understand that he is the best of the best. He can shut these people down simply by disengaging. I understand that it was uncomfortable because the guy wouldn’t leave his booth, but that is where Nick has to totally cut contact with the person. Don’t give them what they want. That awkwardness, that’s what they want. Threats of being removed, that’s what they want. The best thing is zero communication. Nick should talk to different fans, talk to his crew, maybe do some social media on his phone, but not engage. Nick should think of people like Alibucketss as being pillars of salt – non-factors, ghosts. Give them absolutely no attention and they will go away. These pariahs are only looking for hits. They don’t care about anything else. If you don’t give them any attention, they will go away. It’s as simple as that.

How do you think Nick handled the situation? Do you think he will learn from this? As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article – here at IronMag. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s bound to generate lively conversation.

Author Bio:

Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.