I love the WSM.  I have for years.  I am the only person I know that follows the sport like most follow football.  It was top viewing on random spurts of ESPN back in the day.  Seeing the old time ones with Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell.  I went to the Arnold Classic twice.  Met Phil Pfister and Bill Kazmaier.  

Very recently we have a really strong field of competitors.  Halfpor, Eddie Hall, Brian Shaw and Savickas.  

The deadlift is considered by many to be the ultimate test of strength.  The record was just recently broken by Halfpor who has also won the WSM over a strong level of competition.  Could he be the strongest man ever?  

Given modern nutrition and science I think he may be.  

I think I remember seeing Superstar Billy Graham compete in one year.

Magnus ver Magnusson FTW

It was weird seeing a wilting Billy Graham compete during his transition to the karate master gimmick. A few boring summer afternoons during my school vacations were spent watching WSM.

Lowland Gorilla.

The real World's Strongest Man. He would wreck any of these posers.

See him in action here.

Fucking love WSM but haven't followed in forever. Some of the events seem so off the wall, but at least it keeps things interesting.

Was Mark Henry legit the World's Strongest Man at one point? Or is that just WWE hyperbolized propaganda?

I get a vague amount of updates about this because the host of the soccer podcast I listen to also hosts the WSM on TV. I've always got a good laugh out of the completely random places he has to go to like Botswana and the Philippines.

Mark Henry never competed in the WSM competition, but lots of his powerlifting world records still stand which is pretty crazy 25 years later.

Jun 24, 2020 18:23:33 GMT Shootist said:

Magnus ver Magnusson FTW

It was weird seeing a wilting Billy Graham compete during his transition to the karate master gimmick. A few boring summer afternoons during my school vacations were spent watching WSM.

I'll take your Magnus and raise you a Mariuz Pudzianowski


For a stretch in the 90's and early 2000's I followed WSM pretty closely.  I started watching again when Thor Bjornson  was cast in Game of Thrones as The Mountain and was absolutely stoked when he broke through for his first win.

That being said I don't like it when they feature too many static strength events....I can watch a powerlifting meet for that.  I prefer the dynamic events like the Atlas Stones, Caber Tosses, pulling massive vehicles or strapping a fridge to their back.     That kind of stuff is what I really enjoy watching.

Jun 25, 2020 0:35:37 GMT thereallt said:

Jun 24, 2020 18:23:33 GMT Shootist said:

Magnus ver Magnusson FTW

It was weird seeing a wilting Billy Graham compete during his transition to the karate master gimmick. A few boring summer afternoons during my school vacations were spent watching WSM.

I'll take your Magnus and raise you a Mariuz Pudzianowski


For a stretch in the 90's and early 2000's I followed WSM pretty closely.  I started watching again when Thor Bjornson  was cast in Game of Thrones as The Mountain and was absolutely stoked when he broke through for his first win.

That being said I don't like it when they feature too many static strength events....I can watch a powerlifting meet for that.  I prefer the dynamic events like the Atlas Stones, Caber Tosses, pulling massive vehicles or strapping a fridge to their back.     That kind of stuff is what I really enjoy watching.

Mariuz Pudzianowski was after my time but still very impressive, not so much his MMA career. Other big names were Flemming Rasmussen, Riku Kiri, Gerritt Badenhorst, Gary Taylor, Jón Páll Sigmarsson etc. Going by results and memory the last one I watched was 1998. Magnus ver Magnusson accomplishing the three-peat to match Bill Kazmaier was impressive. 

I liked the combination of the more traditional powerlifting events and the whacky stuff myself.

I sort of half-watched a few of these way back in the day on ESPN when staying at weirdo friend's houses who slept with the tv on....like a bunch of weirdos. They aired really late at night. So it was always like a "did that really happen?" fever dream when I thought about it the next morning.

That's it. I have nothing else to add.

Funny, I actually remember the odd time TSN airing them before or after Monday Night Raw.

Jun 24, 2020 17:59:56 GMT theend said:

I love the WSM.  I have for years.  I am the only person I know that follows the sport like most follow football.  It was top viewing on random spurts of ESPN back in the day.  Seeing the old time ones with Ken Patera and Jerry Blackwell.  I went to the Arnold Classic twice.  Met Phil Pfister and Bill Kazmaier.  

Very recently we have a really strong field of competitors.  Halfpor, Eddie Hall, Brian Shaw and Savickas.  

The deadlift is considered by many to be the ultimate test of strength.  The record was just recently broken by Halfpor who has also won the WSM over a strong level of competition.  Could he be the strongest man ever?  

Given modern nutrition and science I think he may be.  

Eddie Hall retired from WSM after he won.   Did he come back?

Nope. That's why I bought some time with " very recently"