Ronnie's straight firsts are relative to who he was competing with , he got straight firsts in 2000 as well did he get better? NO not compared to 1998 which he himself has said repeatedly was his best Olympia showing among others and why? he was bone dry and rock hard
Ronnie 1999 little bigger not as hard or dry is that really an improvement? I don't think Flex looked as good in 99 as he did in 98 either which explains why Ronnie beat him easily
I agree that the scoring is relative to who he was competing against, but the 99 O top 6 was almost the same as in 98. I saw the 2000 Olympia video and they all looked worse, but I don't think there was much difference from 98 to 99 as far as Ronnie's competition is concerned. Flex was almost the same in my opinion, plus the synthol enhanced arms/delts made him look a bit more 'impressive'.
As far as Ronnie, he was a bit less dry in 99, but he was a tad bigger which gave him an overall better look. He compromised one for the other, but the thing is which made him look better for the judges? Why would a bit less dry be better than bigger, improved separation, etc?
I mean, its not like the 2003 vs 98 difference, in which case his conditioning got much worse for size's sake.