Depends on what standard your using. If its mass yes Flex would have been beat by Ronnie, but you have to remember the 1998 O was Flex's to lose, if Flex came in shape, Flex would have won. If your talking shape+cuts, 93 Flex would win. Now the 1993 Arnold Flex, is to me, the pinnacle of what a bber should look like. Take a look at that kneeling twist back shot of Flex, you can't deny that is one pic that is up there with the twisting Arnold double bi shot, or the Sergio victory
98 Mr O was Flex's to lose only because 98 Mr O Ronnie's shape had never been seen before. Even if Flex had been as dry and conditioned as he was earlier that year, IMO he would have lost to Ronnie. While Ronnies shape in the years to come has been heavily criticised due to his gut and all, at the 98 MR O, he was untouchable - Even though his delts were a bit flatish and his calves were lacking, his stucture, muscularity, conditioning, dryness, muscle seperation, vascularity and above all, size gave him an incredibly freakish look. The only reason his victory was close was because Flex had all the precontest momentum happening for him, while Ronnie was simply expected to land somewhere between 4 - 6th. Any person who has seen the pics or more so, the video, can easily see how Ronnie just blew everyone else away with his standout bodyparts.
And the kneeling twist shot of Flex, while being one of his signature poses that he pulls off to near perfection, is only one shot. Look at the following shots of Ronnie from the 98 Mr O - Front double bi (Gyno notwithstanding), Side chest, all the back poses and most muscular and you'll see he's in a league of his own. Like someone once said, a good big guy will always take out a good (relatively) little guy.
BTW, I think Alex Federov has surpassed Flex in the kneeling twisted back shot (not all the time, but in that one pic that was posted a few days ago)
