The PDI was basically the "Special Olympics of bodybuilding" ,lol.All you have to do is look at the competitors, Troy Moore, mouthy ugly midget, horrible physique,felon 10x over, Jack London, nice guy, big guy, horible physique.
The PDI was giving away pro cards, the athletes didnt even have to earn there "pro " status. They offered Vinny Galanti a pro, card, without himn ever competing in one of there shows.
How can you have top athletes when anybody who comes along is "given" a pro card? The one thing the NPC has going for them is it is as hard as hell to get a pro card.There are only 3 shows that can qualify you as a "pro" and there are only 8 pro cards given per year.One at the North American, 2 at the USA, and 5 given away at Nationals, thats it!!Only about 5 of the pro cards have any value, because the middle weight and below who turn pro at Nationals, arent going to do anything as a pro anyway.Clifton Torres, perfect example.
Sami is one of the few guys in the PDI with a good physique, but Sammy wouldnt break top 10 at a IFBB pro show, anytime soon.
I am not putting down the guys at the PDI, I am putting down the organization for not raising there standards on what a pro should look like.
If you look at the pics of some of the guys in the PDI, half of them dont look like they even dieted hard, and some of them didnt even look like they tanned or even used pro tan.(I am just going by pics I saw)