Wow, thanks for the info!
Now it makes sense one of the things he said "I had to go through extremes to able to turn pro" I guess conditioning was a big struggle for him as he almost died during 93 Arnold due to his diuretic use.
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"When Mike Matarazzo went pro, he learned the hard way that it was a whole different level. It was hard to impress anyone with his size alone. Razor-sharp relief was what he needed! However, his attempt to achieve "nuclear quality" at the 1993 Arnold Classic almost ended in tragedy. In pursuit of super relief, Mike overdid it with diuretics and potassium, a mineral that thickens the blood very strongly. At the same time, he hardly drank! On the podium, Matarazzo weighed 109.5 kg and looked phenomenal, not getting lost against such megastars as Flex Wheeler, Lee Labrada and Paul Dillet, and managed to take an honorable sixth place. However, at what cost! "I could hardly pose, I was cramping up," Mike recalled, "at times my eyes went dark and I couldn't see anything." As a result, the athlete ended up in a hospital bed, and doctors had to work hard to bring him back to health. “I was lying in a ward, my parents were next to me, and I could not understand what made me almost kill myself,” Matarazzo recalled about those events years later.”
From Volume 1 of the book "Stars of World Bodybuilding"
If this is accurate, he certainly was very busy ..
1989 Gold's Gym Classic, 1st
1991 NPC USA Championships, Heavyweight, 1st and Overall
1991 Mr. Olympia, 16th
1992 Arnold Classic, 15th
1992 Ironman Pro Invitational, 5th
1993 Marissa Classic, 6th
1993 Night of Champions, 8th
1993 Mr. Olympia, 18th
1993 Pittsburgh Pro Invitational, 2nd
1994 Arnold Classic, 9th
1994 San Jose Pro Invitational, 8th
1995 Florida Pro Invitational, 7th
1995 South Beach Pro Invitational, 7th
1996 Grand Prix Czech Republic, 9th
1996 Grand Prix Russia, 9th
1996 Grand Prix Switzerland, 9th
1996 Night of Champions, 5th
1996 Mr. Olympia, 13th
1997 Canada Pro Cup, 2nd
1997 Grand Prix Germany, 11th
1997 Grand Prix Hungary, 10th
1997 Grand Prix Spain, 10th
1997 Night of Champions, 4th
1997 Mr. Olympia, 13th
1997 Toronto Pro Invitational, 2nd
1998 Night of Champions, 3rd
1998 Mr. Olympia, 9th
1998 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 7th
1998 Toronto Pro Invitational, 3rd
1999 Mr. Olympia, 11th
2000 Night of Champions, 18th
2000 Toronto Pro Invitational, 6th
2001 Night of Champions, 5th
2001 Mr. Olympia, 21st