25 Years ago today....The 1992 World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) Championship

[Humble Narcissist]

whats changed your mind?

He is definitely a schmoe.

[MCWAY]

Paris once stated before (I can't remember if it was in a magazine interview or one of his books), that Vince wanted him for the WBF and the gimmick that Vince had planned for him was that he would be wheeled out onto the stage while standing on a pedestal wearing a bodysuit of fake plaster to look like marble.  An "artist/sculptor" would be working with a hammer and chisel on him and sections of the marble/plaster would fall away (arms, torso, face, lower body),...  Paris would then get off the pedestal and go through a slow classical posing routine.

That sounds just like the old GNC Cybergenics commercial from back in the day.

Plus, they did something similar with Mike Christian in 1992, only they were pouring molten steel into a cast. Two foundry men wheel out the cast and open it to unveil the crackhead version of Mike Christian (already fixed in a most-muscular pose).

That gimmick and character would have been a hell of a lot better than the others alter egos of machine guns, wild childs, batmans, surfers, and whatever the hell Strydom and his 2L2Q gimmick was.

On a side note, I thought that given a fair shake upon returning, that Johnnie Morant would have done some damage in the pro levels.  He reminds me of an early version of Ronnie Coleman back when he was barely cracking the top ten.  Once Ronnie decided to up the dose, well... the rest is history.  Johnnie could have probably blown up almost as big.

I thought he got a fair shake. Morant's problem in the IFBB was the same as that in the WBF: Conditioning. As Platz said in the 1992 show, "Shape, symmetry, style, density.....If he gets harder, he'll take over!"

McMahon's take: "Unbelievable potential, Johnnie Morant. And, if he ever puts it all together, WOW! LOOK OUT!!

[LurkerNoMore]

Wonder what Morant is up to nowdays.

[MCWAY]

That gimmick and character would have been a hell of a lot better than the others alter egos of machine guns, wild childs, batmans, surfers, and whatever the hell Strydom and his 2L2Q gimmick was.

I'm not sure about that. The 1991 presentations were much better. Here's the recap that aired one week after the WBF Championship on WWF Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on whichever local UHF channel aired wrestling (and 9 days later on Prime Time Wrestling on USA Network). Keep in mind that this was back when you had to wait MONTHS for results, either from the magazines or from American Muscle on ESPN.

[LurkerNoMore]

That sounds just like the old GNC Cybergenics commercial from back in the day.

Leave it to Vince to rip off some other idea that wasn't his own.

[MCWAY]

Leave it to Vince to rip off some other idea that wasn't his own.

Maybe he modified it, ala Aaron Baker's "Dark Angel" gimmick, to replace Baker's affinity with Batman.

[AbrahamG]

I'm not sure about that. The 1991 presentations were much better. Here's the recap that aired one week after the WBF Championship on WWF Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on whichever local UHF channel aired wrestling (and 9 days later on Prime Time Wrestling on USA Network). Keep in mind that this was back when you had to wait MONTHS for results, either from the magazines or from American Muscle on ESPN.

I read somewhere years ago, that Gary used to let schmoes jerk him off back in Capetown.

[MCWAY]

Look what I found. The guy who was SUPPOSED to be part of the 1992 WBF Championship.

[Kwon]

I'm not sure about that. The 1991 presentations were much better. Here's the recap that aired one week after the WBF Championship on WWF Superstars and Wrestling Challenge on whichever local UHF channel aired wrestling (and 9 days later on Prime Time Wrestling on USA Network). Keep in mind that this was back when you had to wait MONTHS for results, either from the magazines or from American Muscle on ESPN.

Love the music back in the day

[Kwon]

Look what I found. The guy who was SUPPOSED to be part of the 1992 WBF Championship.

Lou was huge there.


Compare with the interviewer!

[MCWAY]

Love the music back in the day

It was mostly Strydom's posing music. When it goes to the top 5, that's from Eddie Robinson's routine.

Compare that to his rookie year in the IFBB where he placed 10th at his lone Olympia appearance (1990)

And, of course, there's 1992:

[oldschoolfan]

Rumor has it that mcmahon signed lou to a two million dollar contract i dont know how many years that was over, but when lou found out they were going to be drug tested , he left , and signed with weider.   the plan for 1992 was haney vs ferrigno but haney retired,  the first flex magazine i ever bought had ferrigno on the cover. lou besides arnold was the most well known bodybuilder in the world

[JAGO]

Cover looks like a re-take on an article in the 70’s ( perhaps 74 ) titled “Bring Me the Head of Schwarzenegger”. It had Lou with hands over head and Arnold’s head in his hands.

J

[joswift]

Cover looks like a re-take on an article in the 70’s ( perhaps 74 ) titled “Bring Me the Head of Schwarzenegger”. It had Lou with hands over head and Arnold’s head in his hands.

J

correct, they featured it in pumping iron

[MCWAY]

Rumor has it that mcmahon signed lou to a two million dollar contract i dont know how many years that was over, but when lou found out they were going to be drug tested , he left , and signed with weider.   the plan for 1992 was haney vs ferrigno but haney retired,  the first flex magazine i ever bought had ferrigno on the cover. lou besides arnold was the most well known bodybuilder in the world

As I recall, the numbers were more modest, $900K for two years. Ferrigno did bounce shortly after the WBF started drug testing.

I remember that Flex cover. But, it made no sense. Haney already announced his retirement after winning the 1991 Olympia, during the press conference. He broke Arnold's record and had nothing else to prove.

Just as well, had Haney competed, Ferrigno would have placed 13th, instead of 12th, at the 1992 Olympia. BTW, he got a special invite for that show, despite all the flap about guys who jumped ship to the WBF being banned for life from the IFBB.

Had he stayed in the WBF, I don't think he would have beaten Strydom (or even Jim Quinn), anyway.

[njflex]

As I recall, the numbers were more modest, $900K for two years. Ferrigno did bounce shortly after the WBF started drug testing.

I remember that Flex cover. But, it made no sense. Haney already announced his retirement after winning the 1991 Olympia, during the press conference. He broke Arnold's record and had nothing else to prove.

Just as well, had Haney competed, Ferrigno would have placed 13th, instead of 12th, at the 1992 Olympia. BTW, he got a special invite for that show, despite all the flap about guys who jumped ship to the WBF being banned for life from the IFBB.

Had he stayed in the WBF, I don't think he would have beaten Strydom (or even Jim Quinn), anyway.

he was better off with weider ,better promotion,mr o was still monster draw,he would have acted as a cartoon imbecile for mcmahon.

[MCWAY]

he was better off with weider ,better promotion,mr o was still monster draw,he would have acted as a cartoon imbecile for mcmahon.

With Haney leaving? I'm not so sure. The bidding war for Ferrigno was tense. And McMahon got him. What doomed him (and the WBF) was the feds' hounding him on anabolic use and distribution within the WWF.

A WBF show with Ferrigno (2nd biggest name in bodybuilding) on PPV, with McMahon's promotion, could have launched the WBF ahead of the IFBB (with more guys defecting, in the process), especially with BodyStars on TV every week.

[njflex]

With Haney leaving? I'm not so sure. The bidding war for Ferrigno was tense. And McMahon got him. What doomed him (and the WBF) was the feds' hounding him on anabolic use and distribution within the WWF.

A WBF show with Ferrigno (2nd biggest name in bodybuilding) on PPV, with McMahon's promotion, could have launched the WBF ahead of the IFBB (with more guys defecting, in the process), especially with BodyStars on TV every week.

YEAH..but still ifbb got stronger even so when wbf failed.

[MCWAY]

YEAH..but still ifbb got stronger even so when wbf failed.

That's because the feds were breathing down McMahon's neck. Had they'd been coming for the Weiders, it would have been a whole different story. Taking down McMahon is a far bigger story than destroying Weider.

Without the government's investigation and no testing policy, Ferrigno stays with the WBF; the second WBF championship is far better than it was (maybe even better than the first one); and likely, more IFBB guys defect and the NPC Nationals/USA winners join Team Titan.

[oldschoolfan]

With Haney leaving? I'm not so sure. The bidding war for Ferrigno was tense. And McMahon got him. What doomed him (and the WBF) was the feds' hounding him on anabolic use and distribution within the WWF.

A WBF show with Ferrigno (2nd biggest name in bodybuilding) on PPV, with McMahon's promotion, could have launched the WBF ahead of the IFBB (with more guys defecting, in the process), especially with BodyStars on TV every week.

not to mention the wbf guys were getting paid way better   strydom was getting 400k per year plus his contest winnings, haney only made 70k from the olympia that year.

[Taffin]

I read somewhere years ago, that Gary used to let schmoes jerk him off back in Capetown.

That rings a (dusty) bell.  Was that the thing about them having to stand/sit parallel to him, both looking forward - eye contact forbidden...?  Or there was a blindfold or something..?  Or have I got the wrong guy altogether LOL

[AbrahamG]

That rings a (dusty) bell.  Was that the thing about them having to stand/sit parallel to him, both looking forward - eye contact forbidden...?  Or there was a blindfold or something..?  Or have I got the wrong guy altogether LOL

I think you are on the right track.  He was good buddies with Dearth.  He was notorious for some creepy endeavors too.