Sore Loser? Well, I think he had the right to react the way he did.
quote Flex magazine Jan 1999
Flex Wheeler
It's true I didn't quite duplicate my condition at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic. if I'd been able to do that , I would have won EASILY !!
How is that not being a sore loser? "Had I done this or that, I could have taken over the world!!!"
But you know what? He did NOT. So he didn't win. It's sour grapes, or being a sore loser being that he said what he did. Had he said "I was not at my best, and Ronnie won fair and square, he deserves it" then that would suffice and be more professional.
The differences were minimal as ND put it and to be frank, not many could argue if he had won the show.
Many have argued- and with you ad nauseam- that Ronnie won. He was bigger, harder and more dominant in 99 than he was in 98. Tom Prince said it. Flex himself said it in the magazine that bears his name. I'll paraphrase his quote; "Ronnie won. I wasn't at my best and tried to do the prep myself instead of with Chad. What I did on stage was in the heat of the moment, but looking at the photos, Ronnie got what he deserved."
What do you feel about the second part of my statement....would others like Dex and Vic have gotten a better look if Flex had won, instead of guys like Gunter, James and Rhul?
I don't really think this is relevant to the discussion at hand, but to humor you....
...No I don't think it would have been any different in later years. Ronnie didn't show up in gargantuan size till '03. The mass game was being played, no doubt, but Ronnie took it to the next level in '03. Ronnie DID show up off in 2000, and in 2001, but it wasn't till '03 that the mass at all costs mentality took over and our Mr. O became a big bloated bag of shit ever year thereafter.
If Flex had won, would it have been different? Probably not, imo. Flex put on 20lbs or so to compete with Ronnie for the 99 title. Things may have been a bit more aesthetic, but by how much we can't say. Because just like the "would of, could have, should have" mentality Flex displayed in ND's quote......Flex didn't win we will never know.
Unless you invented a time machine?