I think part of the reason why Ronnie sucked in 2001 and 2002 was that one of his biggest strong points, his arms, sucked at those contests.
That makes a big impression on people when your knockout bodypart is no longer your ace in the hole.
I mean, look at this arm shot from 2003:

huge difference.
The same thing happened to Dorian in 1994:
all of a sudden his super ripped lower back failed to light up the judges and crowd like it used to, since it was not really ripped anymore.
things like these make a difference.
It would be like showing up onstage with one arm!
