you can make anyone look small, or shitty, or big waisted, or narrow, or fat if you pull a f@ggot move and root through every photograph for one where the guy you dont like happens to be in a bad position
thats something to take into account, even though the guys didnt have todays guts (started with Yates, Fux, Ferrigno's comeback, Nasser), there would also be situations where Arnold and contemporaries would not look as "flattering".
Thing is, there werent cell-phones with cameras and digital cameras and internet then, so it was only the carefully picked and censored, favourable photos in the mags initially.
1st guy I noticed with a bit of a gut was Momo Benaziza when he didnt keep it in check.
but the original comparison, yesteryear vs today, not very pretty waistlines.