With Nick Walker away from the stage for months, speculation about his status as an elite Men’s Open competitor is gaining traction. On the January 30, 2025 edition of the Cutler Cast Podcast, Cutler discussed the disrespect Walker has received lately, sharing that it’s because Martin Fitzwater finished fourth at the last Mr. Olympia.
Nick Walker‘s trajectory in the Men’s Open has been at a near standstill over the past two years. In 2023, he was forced to withdraw from the Mr. Olympia after suffering from a disastrous hamstring and calf injury. He made his highly anticipated return at the 2024 New York Pro, where he narrowly surpassed Martin Fitzwater on the scorecards.
However, when it was time to shine on the Mr. Olympia stage in 2024, ‘The Mutant’ was unable to attend because his body wasn’t responding to the challenges of prep. This has spurred widespread doubt about his abilities as a top-tier Men’s Open competitor.
Jay Cutler Explains Why Nick Walker Is Getting Disrespected, Says It’s Because Martin Fitzwater Got 4th at 2024 Mr. Olympia
In a recent YouTube video, Cutler discussed the trash talk that surfaced recently between Walker and Regan Grimes. He compared it to when Ronnie Coleman suggested he was ‘on crack’ during an Olympia appearance for thinking he could win.
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“People get so bent. Regan went on there and went, I guess they were laughing on the Fouad podcast and he said, well he’s going to have to go to California to qualify because he’s not winning New York, right?
I’m sure there were some people, ‘Man that’s cocky or whatever else.’ How about when Ronnie backstage on live pay-per-view TV of me standing there with Triple H millions of people watching, said ‘Jay Cutler is smoking crack,'” shared Cutler.
Cutler said he didn’t take Coleman’s jab personally and doesn’t believe Walker paid much mind to Grimes’ comments given his confidence.
“They think that’s the funniest blurp ever. I didn’t take it personal. My family they laughed but could it be any worse than that?
So I’m sure people are like man that was — I don’t know how Nick feels about it. Nick is so confident anyway. That to me is way to left field comparably to someone saying oh he’s going to have to go to another show and qualify,” he said.
Cutler thinks it’s crazy how much disrespect Walker has faced in light of missing his last two Mr. Olympia appearances.
“It’s just crazy that Nick hasn’t competed for a while and I feel like people give him a lot of disrespect lately because it’s kind of like that thing, what have you done for me lately?
And people are like questioning oh is Nick going to compete? It must be really I don’t know, that would kind of both me a little bit I think.”
He believes if Fitzwater hadn’t placed fourth at the last Mr. Olympia, this ‘chaos’ and disrespect wouldn’t be as prevalent.
“I think if Martin didn’t go and get fourth, I think that’s what’s causing most of this chaos of his questionable career,” explains Cutler.
The 2025 Pittsburgh Pro lineup is still materializing, but fans believe Walker will have his hands full with some of the contenders. Thus far, aside from Fitzwater, many expect James Hollingshead, Vitaliy ‘Good Vito’ Ugolnikov, Michael Krizanek, and William Bonac to be in attendance.
If Walker prevails in Pittsburgh, he’ll earn his Olympia qualification for the 2025 event. Don’t miss his next performance, set for May 10-11; Fitness Volt will have live coverage!
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