Why Is The Mafia's Ex Hitman Reacting To Videos On TikTok? The 'That's What I Woulda Did' Clip Explained

"Ex hitman reacts to X," also known by "That's what I woulda did" and other phrases, recently started gaining traction again once the clip started being used as a meme, splicing the reaction with various other unrelated gameplay or on-screen situations. The format went viral on TikTok in April 2024 and has since been used numerous times.

But what is the origin of the ex-hitman's reaction clip, and how is it used in memes? Here's everything you need to know.

What Is The Origin Of The Ex-Hitman Reaction Video?

The original video was uploaded on October 10th, 2022. YouTube channel Gamology posted a new video in its "Experts React" series where they featured an ex-Mafia hitman named John Alite. Alite then reacted to various kills in the recently released Hitman 3 game, offering his insight based on real-world experience. The video (shown below) received over 2.6 million views over a year and a half.

How Did It Spread?

Clips from the Gamology video started to circulate online, with many splicing them together and making jokes or simply reposting them. The earliest example of a meme made using Alite's reactions was posted on TikTok by @feetandtoesguy on April 17th, 2024, receiving over 2 million views. The video (shown below) featured Alite commenting on a Chinese mobile billiards game.

The clip went viral very quickly, with many people rushing to make their versions of the meme, having him react to a plethora of completely unrelated games and scenarios. Another example posted on TikTok by @chxxlr depicted Alite commenting on the famous "No Russian" scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This video received over 300,000 views over the course of five days (shown below).

How Has It Been Used In Memes?

More memes started to spread like wildfire, becoming more nonsensical as time went on. On April 22nd, 2024, TikToker @deff_alt8 posted a version incorporating Rizz content and the TikTok Rizz Party, earning over 70,000 likes and 368,000 views in one day (seen below, left). Another example posted on April 21st by @eh.team8 was more meta, captioned "Ex expert reacts to ex expert" and received over 130,000 views (shown below, right).

For the full history of ex hitman reacts to X, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.