Arnold’s success is a perfect storm of ambition, drugs, timing, connections, charisma, and genetics.
Remove even one of these and he’d not have amounted to anything near what he has.
One cannot deny his impact or the quality of his physique as a competitive bodybuilding entity.
(P.S. On a side note, viewing any footage from his prime just reinforces how ridiculous it is to suggest the man was ever capable of pressing anything remotely close to 500 pounds. Arnold was blessed with the genetics to develop bulbous biceps and pectorals, but his frame, while proportioned and symmetrical, is thin and slight. His is not a body designed for brutish strength. And despite his talk about 500-pound squats, the few times he DID have such poundage across his back, the performance was less than dominating and “strong”. Shallow, severe forward lean and ugly.)