25 Years ago today....The 1992 World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) Championship

[LurkerNoMore]

Lex was recovering from the motorcycle accident at the time and had just walked out of the prior federation he was wrestling for (because he was a sorry ass who won the title by beating a sorry ass hand-picked-that-made-no-sense washed up Barry Windham for the belt and he couldn't even do that without cheating) and was snapped up by Vince before he changed his mind and went back.  Lex wasn't allowed to wrestle for another federation, but he skirted that by being associated with the WBF and still keeping his name and face on tv each week.

[joswift]

Says who? The judges were all former IFBB pros, including (for the first show, at least, former Mr. Olympia, Chris Dickerson).

The evening show was simply the "entertainment" round, where the bodybuilders could do whatever they liked (and McMahon's money could foot). Besides, Strydom won multiple shows in the IFBB and placed top 5 at the Olympia...BEFORE he went to the WBF.

they placed in line with the value of their contracts, why do you think people turned up fat... no point dieting if you know the outcome..

[MCWAY]

they placed in line with the value of their contracts, why do you think people turned up fat... no point dieting if you know the outcome..

Their contracts had zilch to do with it. Baker and Dearth made the top 5 in the 1992 show. They weren't among the higher paid guys.

Plus, I believe Robinson got more than DeMey. Yet, DeMey beat him in both shows. Zuccolotto's contract was reportedly higher than either Dearth or Baker. Yet, the Zuke never made the top 5.

[Ronnie Rep]

hahah they werent real contests...

This.

[Kwon]

Says who?

Logic and reason.

[MCWAY]

Logic and reason.

Again, explain Zuccolotto making way more money than Dearth or Baker, despite not making top 5 in either show.

Then there are the judges: Dave Draper (head judge for both shows),  Pete Grymkowski, Chris Dickerson, Tina Plakinger, Janice Raigan, Bob Birdsong, just to name a few.

[joswift]

Again, explain Zuccolotto making way more money than Dearth or Baker, despite not making top 5 in either show.

Then there are the judges: Dave Draper (head judge for both shows),  Pete Grymkowski, Chris Dickerson, Tina Plakinger, Janice Raigan, Bob Birdsong, just to name a few.

[MCWAY]

And this is supposed to support your claim that because the WBF was run by McMahon, the contests were supposedly rigged (based on the bodybuilders' contracts), despite lower-payed guys placing higher than higher-payed ones?

By that logic, what was the IFBB's excuse, particularly in the 1994 Olympia?

[Hulkotron]

Great hairpiece on Gary

[LurkerNoMore]

ICO-PRO!!!

[AbrahamG]

Whatever happened to Howard, anyways?

[MCWAY]

ICO-PRO!!!

I used their weight gainer (Mega-Gro 10,000) once. That stuff was like wet concrete.

BTW, Shawn Ray stated in a interview that one of the reasons he didn't jump ship to the WBF was that McMahon offered him LESS money than he offered Troy Zuccolotto (Ray's friend and training partner, at the time).

Ray claimed that McMahon offered him 225K a year but offered the Zuke $275K a year.

Ray was coming off a 3rd-place finish at the 1990 Olympia. The Zuke won the NPC Nationals and the overall IFBB World Championship (Mr. Universe) in 1989; but he hadn't competed at all in 1990.

My guess is that, to the Titan suits, a tall, blonde-hair, blue-eyed white dude would sell more than a short black man with a flattop.

I say this to further skewer the claim that the WBF guys' contest placings were due to the monetary value of their contracts (again, Zuke never cracked the top 5 at either of the WBF shows; whereas, lesser-paid guys did).

[Humble Narcissist]

I used their weight gainer (Mega-Gro 10,000) once. That stuff was like wet concrete.

BTW, Shawn Ray stated in a interview that one of the reasons he didn't jump ship to the WBF was that McMahon offered him LESS money than he offered Troy Zuccolotto (Ray's friend and training partner, at the time).

Ray claimed that McMahon offered him 225K a year but offered the Zuke $275K a year.

Ray was coming off a 3rd-place finish at the 1990 Olympia. The Zuke won the NPC Nationals and the overall IFBB World Championship (Mr. Universe) in 1989; but he hadn't competed at all in 1990.

My guess is that, to the Titan suits, a tall, blonde-hair, blue-eyed white dude would sell more than a short black man with a flattop.

I say this to further skewer the claim that the WBF guys' contest placings were due to the monetary value of their contracts (again, Zuke never cracked the top 5 at either of the WBF shows; whereas, lesser-paid guys did).

Yes, Icopro was awful tasting as well and even the package it came in looked like shit.  I think they still tried to sell it for a few years after the WBF went bust.

[oldschoolfan]

shawn mooney , who worked for the wwf for a long time and was there during this time said strydom was getting 400k per year plus whatever he won, winning the wbf show, this easily eclipsed anything any ibf pro was making at the time.  the mr olympia first place check  was what 100k ? i think

[Humble Narcissist]

shawn mooney , who worked for the wwf for a long time and was there during this time said strydom was getting 400k per year plus whatever he won, winning the wbf show, this easily eclipsed anything any ibf pro was making at the time.  the mr olympia first place check  was what 100k ? i think

Yes, Strydom was their big fish.  They offered Lou a big contract as well but Weider got him to stay and compete in the O again.

[joswift]

Weider convinced Bob Paris to stay with the IFBB, once the WBF folded he dropped Paris like a stone

[Humble Narcissist]

Weider convinced Bob Paris to stay with the IFBB, once the WBF folded he dropped Paris like a stone

Paris would have fit in those gay looking WBF contests well.

[joswift]

Paris would have fit in those gay looking WBF contests well.

he wasnt gay enough...

[Humble Narcissist]

he wasnt gay enough...

At the time I thought Vince McMahon was gay.

[joswift]

At the time I thought Vince McMahon was gay.

whats changed your mind?

[MCWAY]

shawn mooney , who worked for the wwf for a long time and was there during this time said strydom was getting 400k per year plus whatever he won, winning the wbf show, this easily eclipsed anything any ibf pro was making at the time.  the mr olympia first place check  was what 100k ? i think

Haney got 60K for the 1990 Olympia and 80K in 1991. Gary Strydom got $100K for both WBF title wins. It was at the 1992 Olympia where Dorian Yates got $100K. It's been at least that much ever since then. But, Strydom got the first six-figure payday (to the best of my knowledge) for winning a pro bodybuilding show).

Yes, Strydom was their big fish.  They offered Lou a big contract as well but Weider got him to stay and compete in the O again.

Not quite. Lou actually joined the WBF first. He bailed in March of 1992, after the WBF started drug-testing, and went back to the IFBB.


  

The 1992 show was supposed to be the BIG match between Ferrigno and Strydom. But, it never happened.



When Ferrigno left, Vince futilely tried to use Lex Luger in his place for "crossover" appeal (i.e. his promo at WrestleMania VIII and his hosting of WBF Bodystars).

[/youtube]

[MCWAY]

Gary weighed 227 for 1991 where he looked his most shredded. Not sure about WBF he tried to say  he was 260. Most guys got ready just on HGH and test for the last 12-18 months and had to lower their levels to beat the test come comp and testing time, some faired better than others, I remember the word was Strydom wasn't getting tested, truth was he was using a lot more HGH more than  likely as he had the best paying contract. Christian was 20 lbs heavier and harder 8 weeks out.

Strydom claims in this interview that he indeed was tested, just like the other guys. He even blasts two Hulks (Ferrigno and Hogan).

The only thing I must repute is the fact that Vince let me skip the drug testing? That’s false. I think all of that finger pointing to this was due to how Vince manipulated me in a meeting in a conference room in LA (With all the other athletes present) where he asked me in the meeting if I would do a drug test. I said yes (All the guys thought I knew something and suspected I was using a secret drug including Louie) I only agreed like that because he had threatened me on the phone the week before that I had to do it or forfeit my remaining contract. I called his buff and refused only to find out that he would’ve halted those payments. I thought it would hurt the federation and thought it would hurt the show but in the end I understood why he did it. He had no choice. Actually, he tested me more intensely than any other athlete. He couldn’t afford to keep me around because even off all the gear I still appeared in the “form” that could have been perceived that I was still on the gear. During these FBI investigations and false claims made that he sold steroids to the athletes he had no choice but to clean everyone up around him. It was bullshit he never sold anything and never encourage anyone to do anything but work hard. Hulk Hogan made that shit up and in my mind the famous Hulk Hokkie still remains to be a f#ckin punk in my mind for doing that to Vince. So yea Vince wanted everything related to steroids away from the parent company as it could have taken everything down.”

https://www.evolutionofbodybuilding.net/gary-strydom-wbf

[MCWAY]

Lex was recovering from the motorcycle accident at the time and had just walked out of the prior federation he was wrestling for (because he was a sorry ass who won the title by beating a sorry ass hand-picked-that-made-no-sense washed up Barry Windham for the belt and he couldn't even do that without cheating) and was snapped up by Vince before he changed his mind and went back.  Lex wasn't allowed to wrestle for another federation, but he skirted that by being associated with the WBF and still keeping his name and face on tv each week.

There's a Youtube video where Luger claims that it was HIS idea to join the WBF as a means of getting out of his last year of his WCW contract. He told WCW that they could save money by cutting his last year of their contract with him and that he wouldn't wrestle.

WCW didn't know that Luger was going to Titan as a bodybuilder for a year, until that year was up. Then, he'd become a wrestler. Hence, he would show up at the 1992 WBF championship as a "guest poser" (as well as being a pitiful replacement for Lou Ferrigno).

[LurkerNoMore]

Paris would have fit in those gay looking WBF contests well.

Paris once stated before (I can't remember if it was in a magazine interview or one of his books), that Vince wanted him for the WBF and the gimmick that Vince had planned for him was that he would be wheeled out onto the stage while standing on a pedestal wearing a bodysuit of fake plaster to look like marble.  An "artist/sculptor" would be working with a hammer and chisel on him and sections of the marble/plaster would fall away (arms, torso, face, lower body),...  Paris would then get off the pedestal and go through a slow classical posing routine.

That gimmick and character would have been a hell of a lot better than the others alter egos of machine guns, wild childs, batmans, surfers, and whatever the hell Strydom and his 2L2Q gimmick was.

On a side note, I thought that given a fair shake upon returning, that Johnnie Morant would have done some damage in the pro levels.  He reminds me of an early version of Ronnie Coleman back when he was barely cracking the top ten.  Once Ronnie decided to up the dose, well... the rest is history.  Johnnie could have probably blown up almost as big.

[njflex]

Paris once stated before (I can't remember if it was in a magazine interview or one of his books), that Vince wanted him for the WBF and the gimmick that Vince had planned for him was that he would be wheeled out onto the stage while standing on a pedestal wearing a bodysuit of fake plaster to look like marble.  An "artist/sculptor" would be working with a hammer and chisel on him and sections of the marble/plaster would fall away (arms, torso, face, lower body),...  Paris would then get off the pedestal and go through a slow classical posing routine.

That gimmick and character would have been a hell of a lot better than the others alter egos of machine guns, wild childs, batmans, surfers, and whatever the hell Strydom and his 2L2Q gimmick was.

On a side note, I thought that given a fair shake upon returning, that Johnnie Morant would have done some damage in the pro levels.  He reminds me of an early version of Ronnie Coleman back when he was barely cracking the top ten.  Once Ronnie decided to up the dose, well... the rest is history.  Johnnie could have probably blown up almost as big.