Review of the 1994 English Grand Prix DVD + LOTS of pics.

[NarcissisticDeity]

nice try ND- we all know that Ronnie's waist was tiny at the AC. Dorian's waist was as wide as Lou Ferrigno's.

 

[Hulkster]

another nice try - Ronnie was 287 there. What was Dorian 260?

Anyways, from the pics, it looks like Dorian has a black eye! did he get punched out back then too?!

[NarcissisticDeity]

Whats the difference if its wide or it sticks out?  anyway both set new standards in guts .

[Hulkster]

Whats the difference if its wide or it sticks out?

because if it is tiny but sticking out you can still look good on stage (eg. Ronnie's tiny midsection at the AC 2001).




If it is wide, you can't hide it no matter what (even Arnold had to do this - he almost never posed head-on to minimize the illusion of his waist)

A big gut on top of a tiny waist (Ronnie 2001 AC) will look WAY better than a moderate gut on top of a wide waist (Dorian 1994).

[NarcissisticDeity]

Ronnie's gut was sticking out at the ASC in 01 either way , if its okay for Ronnie , its okay for Dorian , don't be hypocritical !! 

[Hulkster]

if its okay for Ronnie , its okay for Dorian

no it isn't because Dorian had a wide waist which makes it look 120X as bad. That was the whole point of my post.

Having a gut sucks - but look how many people praise Ronnie's 2001 AC shape - why do you think they do this if he has a big gut?

Answer: simple, his waist was so tiny it didn't look near as bad as it could have.  It could have looked like Dorian in 1994..

[NarcissisticDeity]

no it isn't because Dorian had a wide waist which makes it look 120X as bad. That was the whole point of my post.

Having a gut sucks - but look how many people praise Ronnie's 2001 AC shape - why do you think they do this if he has a big gut?

Answer: simple, his waist was so tiny it didn't look near as bad as it could have.  It could have looked like Dorian in 1994..

Blah Blah Blah , neither is acceptable .

[Hulkster]

Blah Blah Blah , neither is acceptable .

but having one is better than having the other..

ps - how is it that you can say that having a gut is unacceptable yet you have referred to Dorian as "the last great Mr. Olympia"??

Surely, you can't have it both ways...

[Hulkster]

cool, well written article, Matt. Keep in mind though that the effects of the crack on ND will cause him to disagree with everything positive that you said about Ronnie in the article

[nicorulez]

ND, face it both Dorian and Ronnie have wide, bloated waists.  The difference is that Ronnie has smaller obliques, so when he poses his waist is not has prominent.  Regardless, neither is in the same league as a Haney who was 250 plus with a wasp waist.  Show me a picture of Haney where he looks distended at the waist (and no GMC, I mean in a contest and not off-season).  Face it, Dorian brought in the gut and it has gone on with Coleman.  Although Coleman is the most massive bodbybuilder ever and Dorian has the best upper back, neither is even in the running for best of alltime.  Face it, Haney and even Bannout at their prime looked miles better.  I like Coleman at 286 shredded in the 2003 Mr. Olympia and Dorian in the 1993 Mr. O, but neither had the shape of a Haney or Bannout.  The next great bodybuilder will have Ronnie's size and Haney's aesthetics.  Then, there will no longer be a debate....

[LuciusFox]

ND, face it both Dorian and Ronnie have wide, bloated waists.  The difference is that Ronnie has smaller obliques, so when he poses his waist is not has prominent.  Regardless, neither is in the same league as a Haney who was 250 plus with a wasp waist.  Show me a picture of Haney where he looks distended at the waist (and no GMC, I mean in a contest and not off-season).  Face it, Dorian brought in the gut and it has gone on with Coleman.  Although Coleman is the most massive bodbybuilder ever and Dorian has the best upper back, neither is even in the running for best of alltime.  Face it, Haney and even Bannout at their prime looked miles better.  I like Coleman at 286 shredded in the 2003 Mr. Olympia and Dorian in the 1993 Mr. O, but neither had the shape of a Haney or Bannout.  The next great bodybuilder will have Ronnie's size and Haney's aesthetics.  Then, there will no longer be a debate....

 Haney had no arms, no legs and ugly abs.

[Al-Gebra]

Damn....Dillet did/does have some awesome calves.  His an a genetic freak but also an inspiration for black bodybuilders who say that they cannot build great calves because of genetics.

kinda hard to use the genetic freak of all time when it comes to building mass as an inspiration . . .

[nicorulez]

Lucius, he had great triceps, average biceps and his legs were cut.  Remember, back in the 1980's, very few BB had huge thighs.  However, he had very cut legs with good shape.  They were definitely not small.  Also, although he had an odd linea alba (the line down the middle of the abs), they were always ripped and he had awesome serratus.  Also, how many 250 pound guys today could do a vacuum pose.... .  His biceps, I agree would hurt him most definitely against Ronnie (especially a Ronnie circa 1998-1999), but he had incredible aesthetics.  Dorian looks like a big pile of cow dung next to him.  Ronnie, except when he decides to dial it in like 2003, was not as well put together.  Only BB with that kind of mass and aesthetics was Mendenhall, but he never put it together mentally.  I feel that Vic Martinez has a small chance to be someone special, and even Branch if he can build a back.  Still, if the dude wouldn't have died, Benaziza would have been pound for pound (or inch for inch) the biggest and most impressive BB ever.  Dude was a walking Sherman tank with awesome lines.

[alexxx]

WOW Cormier looks wicked in this pic! Crazy size, symetry and muscle! He needs to bring that kind of condition to the Olympia!

[peteK]

What I was getting at was that people make excuses saying that blacks cannot build their calves up when clearly Dillet, a black man, built huge calves.  I am saying that they should not whine and make excuses when that man did it.  He would have been the total package freak if he fixed whatever problem he had with his back.

What I don't understand is that someone who is half black and half white, as Dillett is, is considered to be black by the public. In all likeliness his calves are thanks to his white genes! This entire black and white thing reminds me of Tiger Woods, who is part Asian, part black and I believe even part white, yet he's considered to be black.

(On a side note. There are no African Americans who have 100% African genes, they all have a little bit of white in them thanks to the slave-owners who couldn't keep their hands of the women.)

[sculpture]

I'd like to end this whole yates thing soon and debunk the myths that he should of won in 94. These photos go some distance in showing just how awful his physique was. I have some screen captures from the 94 O which show yates in all his wonderful, most ugly glory but i won't post them just yet. I enjoy listening to ND et al wax on about how good he was and how poor ronnie is.

[bailey]

How easily people forget. 2001 was not too long ago. I love Dorian, He had that "look"
Maybe It was just that grainy , carved out of stone look that set him apart. You really had to see Dorian on stage. ( remember he competed with the absolute best) and he just stood out. ( paper skin thin ) O' well If you haven't seen the Doz on stage you don't know what I mean. If you thought he looked hard as nails in pics. You had to see him on stage. Trust me. I think that's why allot of people look at his pics and say this and that. The judges however were there in person and that's why he always won. He just had that something that set him apart. Having said that, Ronnie Coleman at the 2001
Arnold classic was the most complete perfect bodybuilder ever ! Maybe someone can post a bunch of pics ?  Ronnie has even said it himself, that he could never capture that look again ! On a different scale. All of us that train here, and have or have not competed. You all know how when everything falls In place and you just look awesome on a certain day, wether you are trying or not. You just hit it !! Well obviously Big Ron was trying to look his best, and everything just fell into place. He nailed It. In the 2001 Arnold Classic his look was so different from that of any other year ever in his career. He may not have been his biggest. He was for sure his best .
Out !!!

[bailey]

Just looking at the above pics reminds me of how the 2001 Ironman champ Chris cormier was also at his best ever !

[Hulkster]

Hulkster, I have not read enough of your posts to know but what would you consider to be Dorian's strengths to be?  I know you said some of his back poses, but what else?  Just curious.

not a whole lot. Seriously - poor taper in his 1993 best ever shape, poor vascularity, few striations except for his lower back, poor overall arms, horrible (and I mean horrible) delt shape from the front, watery, bloated, unseparated quads, poor chest.

All of these faults are easily visible in Dorian's most muscular pose.

His strengths?

back, abs (in 1991 and 1992 only) and calves.  And even then, most of the time, his back double biceps pose wasn't exactly stellar.

He is The Supreme Ruler of All Overratedness!



People talk about how "dry" dorian was. Well, I say, if he was so dry, why the hell were his delts, chest, arms, quads and upper back not detailed to the max?



here they are at their respective bests..

[LuciusFox]

What I don't understand is that someone who is half black and half white, as Dillett is, is considered to be black by the public. In all likeliness his calves are thanks to his white genes! This entire black and white thing reminds me of Tiger Woods, who is part Asian, part black and I believe even part white, yet he's considered to be black.

(On a side note. There are no African Americans who have 100% African genes, they all have a little bit of white in them thanks to the slave-owners who couldn't keep their hands of the women.)

 This always amuses me. It is clear that we still believe in the "one drop" rule. I especially love it when some high-yellow light skinned person calls themselves black and then attempts to say that others are not black enough

[GMCtrk]

I will need to get some screen grabs from the 1996 English GP where Dorian's career was on the road to being over.  His physique from the front was barely top six material in my opinion.  From behind he dominated of course, but shouldn't it be a requirement to at least be top three from the front for the back poses to win you the show?  Dorian from the front and back was night and day!  I'm talking clear winner VS. top six at best.

It was obviously enough to win him the show becuase his back was so far ahead of everyone else its not even funny. And just not the back, but head to toe. If you don't think calves make a difference, watch any Dorian olympia and the top 6 posedown just look at the calves on all of them. It basically looked like Dorian's gastrocs attached at his ankle.