Bad Ass Construction Worker says his gimmick got a little too real for a wrestling convention. The viral trash talker claims he was denied entry to River City Wrestling Con over the weekend because someone apparently believed his loudmouth act was legit.
The man behind the character, also known online as Big Oja, posted a video on Instagram after the situation went down. He said he bought tickets, drove an hour and a half with his kid, and then got told to leave.
“Pretty disappointing. I show up to a wrestling convention and they let me buy my tickets, they let me drive an hour and a half with my kid and then I’m told to leave because of the content I post.”
He then explained who he is behind the character. According to him, Bad Ass Construction Worker is just an online gimmick built around fake rage-bait trash talk.
“If you guys don’t know who I am, I’m Big Oja on the Internet or like the Ringside article puts is the badass construction worker. I’m just a normal dude. And I did rage bait construction because it works.”
He admitted that motivational content was not his lane, so he leaned into getting close to the camera and cutting fake promos.
“A lot of people do motivational stuff. I’m not good at that. I’m just good at putting the camera this close and doing fake trash talk.”
Bad Ass Construction Worker said the wrestling content started because his 10-year-old son loves wrestling, but big WWE experiences were not something he could afford. So he started trash-talking wrestlers online like it was a gimmick.
“So my 10 year old son’s obsessed with wrestling. He’s not with me right now, but my older son’s with me. The reason I started doing wrestling stuff is because I can’t afford WWE stuff. I can’t afford to do all that cool stuff. So I started rage baiting just wrestlers and fake trash talking like a gimmick, like a promo.”
He also said wrestlers themselves have been some of his biggest supporters, even while some fans took things too seriously and sent threats.
“And my best supporters have been wrestlers, pro wrestlers themselves, like not even so much fans. And I was getting threats and stuff a lot from fans and it’s just now calming down and people are understanding that I’m a satire account and you know, I’m having fun with the wrestlers and stuff.”
That is why the convention situation frustrated him. He said he wanted to bring his son to meet legendary wrestlers he grew up watching, but instead he was told he was not allowed inside.
“And I was looking forward to bring my son to meet a bunch of legendary wrestlers that I grew up watching and stuff. And yeah, I was told I’m not allowed. I’m sure it’s because of the content.”
Bad Ass Construction Worker also addressed the WrestleCon situation, saying that was not some real attempt to fight anyone. He said it was planned and awkward, but not what people apparently thought it was.
“The wrestlecon thing, that wasn’t real. That was a planned thing, obviously awkward. But there wasn’t like concrete plans. But it’s like I don’t go to fight wrestlers.”
He said he attends local shows to support people who support him, not to cause problems. He also said he has taken his daughter to meet wrestlers and show her how cool they can be.
“I show up to wrestling shows. You can ask any local wrestlers. I go to their shows and I support the people that support me and it’s been really cool. I’ve been able to take my daughter recently to meet some wrestlers and just show how cool the wrestlers themselves are.”
Then he made the point that wrestling is literally built on gimmicks. He said he may act mean online, but that is not who he is in real life.
“Yeah, obviously I am mean on the Internet, but it’s a pretend mean. I’m not mean in real life. I don’t target these wrestlers. I go to shows and I stay quiet and I don’t approach wrestlers because I don’t know who likes me.”
He said he was not even trying to film content at River City Wrestling Con. According to him, he just wanted to walk around with his kids and meet people.
“As I told him, I wasn’t even there to film content. I was there to walk around with my kids, you know, meet people, meet wrestlers.”
He also said someone recognized him while he was waiting in line, and that kind of thing has happened before when fans have been excited to meet him.
“Right when I get in line, somebody’s like, you’re the construction worker? And was, like, excited to meet me, which I get a lot of that stuff.”
Bad Ass Construction Worker said he had tried to reach out before the event to explain that he is just a normal guy behind the act. He felt the convention could have at least told him ahead of time if he was not welcome.
“I tried to reach out to them last week and say, hey, you know, I’m a normal guy. I don’t just go fight wrestlers hoping for a response. The least they could have done is message me back and said I wasn’t welcome.”
He also summed up the whole situation by pointing out the obvious problem. Wrestling loves gimmicks until one apparently works too well.
“The wrestling world was built on gimmicks and yeah, I’m just not a good Good guy. I guess I’m good. Good guy in real life, but I’m a good trash talker. And I do it for fun.”
He said he asked for a refund and was told to send an email. He also said he hopes other conventions, including WrestleCon in Minneapolis, let him know ahead of time whether he is allowed to attend.
“Just normal me, not really. Badass construction worker. Just kind of bummed for my kid. So hopefully, hopefully I’m allowed to go to other stuff, like regular wrestlecon. I would love to come to Minneapolis. So if you guys see this, let me know if I’m allowed or not.”
The whole situation is pretty wild. Bad Ass Construction Worker built attention by acting like a loudmouth menace online, but now he says River City Wrestling Con treated the character like the real person and denied him entry while he was just trying to attend with his kid.
What do you think about Bad Ass Construction Worker saying he was denied entry to River City Wrestling Con because they believed his act was real? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
