look at Chris Cormier and Flex Wheeler in that 99 pic!
they would beat the 93 versions of Flex and Shawn. So much for ND saying Dorian faced a higher level of competition.
Yeah, that's probably why Cormier never won any major pro show, huh? He won the NOC back in 1997 the Ironman a couple times and a few Grand Prix shows, but that's about it. And Wheeler's best is often acknowledged to be either the 1993 ASC or, in my opinion, the 1993 Ironman. He was fuller in 1999, but he lacked the crisp conditioning and dryness that he had at his best.
And Dorian competed against Cormier and Wheeler and defeated them. Same competition as Dorian faced. The major difference is that, with the exception of Cormier, who might have reached his peak at the 99' Olympia - which doesen't matter, since defeating a prime Cormier is not as impressive as defeating a prime Wheeler or Levrone -, Ronnie never faced Wheeler, Ray, Levrone and Dillet at their bests. Dorian defeated a prime Ray(94'/96' Olympias), a prime Wheeler(93' Olympia even though he wasn't as good as he looked at the Ironman that year, he still had a closer look to that at the 93' Olympias rather than at the 99'), a prime Levrone(95' Olympia) and so on and so forth.
SUCKMYMUSCLE