its stupid to think that when dieted down, everyones strength is reduced by the same percentage. Obviously some are going to remain very strong, its their genetics. Jay Cutler seems weak as hell in contest condition, but ronnie is still up there with world class numbers. Come the offseason however everything changes.
Ruhl claims a 545 smith machine military press i believe, what do you think of that? Tom Prince was noted for being able to do 455 for 3-4 reps on the military press. Everyone is different. Now IMO the claims are pure bullshit from Branch, though i hear he is actually as strong as a bull but not as strong as Johnny.
As for the 1000 deadlift, its just my opinion but i think the only man that ever had a chance of breaking it was Mark Henry. He is the strongest man on earth without a doubt, and if he trained for it then nobody would come close to him. But now he has been given his big push in the WWE i doubt we will ever see him in strength competitions ever again. Bill kazmaier stated that Henry was only at 80% of his best and was still the strongest man in the world. If that is true, thats some very scary shit!