Author Topic: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?  (Read 58946 times)

Jeff Preston

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2006, 11:42:56 AM »
I think Waller would have been a bastard to start with, there are pics of him using 150's in the incline bell press in the early 70's.

And here are those pics!





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gibberj2

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2006, 12:50:52 PM »
that dont look like waller. he looks like John Kerry on the juice.

pumpster

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #27 on: May 28, 2006, 01:11:26 PM »
Quote
I always got the same impression from that photo . . . sort of a Volume vs.H.I.T ( Boyer was using Mentzers methods then  and was pissed at Arnold ) old school vs new school thing.
Supposedly it was the difference in training philosophies as well as personal dislikes. A little surprising if true-apparently Schwarzenegger got bent out of shape about Mentzer's training and how it discredited Arnold's approach, which seems more than a little small.

Personally it would be easy to dislike Schwarzenegger with the arrogance, BS and non-stop need for an ever-present side-kick to whisper negatives about others to. There is just the slightest  split-second's glimpse of Mentzer in Pumping Iron: being ignored while drinking a supplement at the Gold's Gym counter when Arnold comes in.

knny187

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #28 on: May 28, 2006, 02:19:12 PM »
When watching pumping iron....there's a spot where Waller is doing pulldowns & you can hear some 45's clanging in repetition.......(i love that sound).

Dan-O

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #29 on: June 01, 2006, 08:01:55 AM »
That was a good interview with Waller on ironage.com.  Why did I always think Waller was Aussie?  Weird...  I wonder where I got that idea.  So he was born & raised in Kentucky then?

Gord

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #30 on: June 01, 2006, 10:07:19 AM »
That was a good interview with Waller on ironage.com.  Why did I always think Waller was Aussie?  Weird...  I wonder where I got that idea.  So he was born & raised in Kentucky then?

Could you have been thinking of Roger Walker, who was actually UK born, but became an aussie citizen later and competed in the 1980 Olynmpia (like Waller)?

Here he is on the far right, back row (for some reason he kept staring at Arnold in just about every 1980 'O' shot I've seen of him)!








 
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Dan-O

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #31 on: June 01, 2006, 11:24:12 AM »
Could you have been thinking of Roger Walker, who was actually UK born, but became an aussie citizen later and competed in the 1980 Olynmpia (like Waller)?

Here he is on the far right, back row (for some reason he kept staring at Arnold in just about every 1980 'O' shot I've seen of him)!




No, I wasn't confusing him with Walker but Roger did look pretty awesome at the 1980 Olympia.  I always wondered if he would've done better if he'd had any kind of tan, which he did not.  He definitely should've gotten better than 6th place.

knny187

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #32 on: June 01, 2006, 12:00:22 PM »
No, I wasn't confusing him with Walker but Roger did look pretty awesome at the 1980 Olympia.  I always wondered if he would've done better if he'd had any kind of tan, which he did not.  He definitely should've gotten better than 6th place.

I agree.....I think he looked much better than placing 6th

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #33 on: June 02, 2006, 05:24:32 PM »
Yes, that is Ken Waller, I was reading all the magazines at the time when all that was happening, and I remember a quote about Arnold telling Mike Mentzer that he lost because he had a fat stomach.

Arnold should not have won that contest, if it was truly based on best build on that day. No surprise !

Bossa

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #34 on: June 02, 2006, 10:09:01 PM »
Yep that's the Big Red Machine!

Keith you mentioned that you would call him. If you haven't talked to Ken in awhile that might be an exercise in futility.
Bill Grant on his last trip out to LA tried to get a hold of Ken. He called Extreme Activewear where Ken worked and they told Bill that he didn't work there anymore and as soon as his house sold he was moving back east with his son.
No one seems to know where he ended up, St Louis perhaps? (I believe his sister lives there)

I interviewed Ken for Ironage a year or so ago and this is the last update that I know of.
http://ironage.us/articles/preston-waller.html


A google search for his son shows that he is in st louis

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:tdE5jbeiKxQJ:prepsports3.stltoday.com/basketballboys/06/stats/lead518.shtm+%22ron+waller%22%2Bbasketball&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=1

Playboy

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #35 on: July 31, 2006, 11:47:20 AM »
pussy? no way. he was breaking his balls and all he wanted was for the guy to melt down.
Excactly, He did the same to Ferrigno, Oliva & half the others from back in the day. That was his way of making the compitition nervous so they couldn't think straight come posing time.

bigragu

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #36 on: August 05, 2006, 07:10:21 PM »
Mentzer was mad because Arnold entered the contest at the very last minute. The rules stated that all competitors must register 3 weeks prior to the contest - this rule was obviously waived for Arnold. You see Conan was supposed to start filming in 1981, however that date was brought forward unexpectedly. The first scenes were to be shot in August 1980. In addition, Universal, the films distributor was going to use thise footage as a promo along with it's Christmas release of Flash Gordon. All of a sudden, Arnold had to get big, and fast. The best way to get big - and to get attention doing so - was to attempt the unthinkable: to make a comeback! You see Arnold was scheduled to arrive in Sydney as a TV Commentator only - so you can imagine everyone's surpise when he registered to compete at the very last minute. Mentzer was pissed.  Reg Park was also put in a precarious position as he was one of the judges and of course him and Arnold were very close. Paul Graham was the promoter of that event and him and Arnold were also very close - he is the big guy who pulls Arnold in and hugs him in the very beginning of the movie Pumping Iron. The argument between Arnold and Mike Mentzer was over the fact that Boyer Coe was instrumental in getting the IFBB rules changed for the 1980 Olympia so that instead of a winner being chosen from the best of two weight classes he would emerge from six all-comer finalists. Arnold was the only one who objected to this. Arnold wanted only two weight classes, that way there is only one man to beat. Mentzer got pissed and told Arnold that he was acting like a baby and Arnold said to Mike, " If your belly wasn't as big as your mouth, then maybe you would have a chance at this event". Mike then jumped up and got in Arnold's face and Arnold just sat cooly and laughed it off...Classic example of mental psyche-out which Arnold was famous for since it almost always worked. Needless to say, Mentzer was not a threat to Arnold's throne as Mike ended up third, behind Chris Dickerson. If anyone had a chance to beat Arnold it was Chris and not Mike.

gibberj2

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #37 on: August 06, 2006, 12:21:21 AM »
i remember seeing dickerson. he had no arms. arnold had no legs but it's better to have no legs than no arms. at least it was in 1980.

Dan-O

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #38 on: August 06, 2006, 12:32:25 AM »
Needless to say, Mentzer was not a threat to Arnold's throne as Mike ended up third, behind Chris Dickerson. If anyone had a chance to beat Arnold it was Chris and not Mike.

Actually a slight correction--Frank Zane and Boyer Coe took 3rd and 4th places respectively, leaving Mike in fifth place which was even more of a slap in the face from the powers-that-be.

knny187

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #39 on: August 06, 2006, 09:49:25 AM »
Mentzer was mad because Arnold entered the contest at the very last minute. The rules stated that all competitors must register 3 weeks prior to the contest - this rule was obviously waived for Arnold. You see Conan was supposed to start filming in 1981, however that date was brought forward unexpectedly. The first scenes were to be shot in August 1980. In addition, Universal, the films distributor was going to use thise footage as a promo along with it's Christmas release of Flash Gordon. All of a sudden, Arnold had to get big, and fast. The best way to get big - and to get attention doing so - was to attempt the unthinkable: to make a comeback! You see Arnold was scheduled to arrive in Sydney as a TV Commentator only - so you can imagine everyone's surpise when he registered to compete at the very last minute. Mentzer was pissed.  Reg Park was also put in a precarious position as he was one of the judges and of course him and Arnold were very close. Paul Graham was the promoter of that event and him and Arnold were also very close - he is the big guy who pulls Arnold in and hugs him in the very beginning of the movie Pumping Iron. The argument between Arnold and Mike Mentzer was over the fact that Boyer Coe was instrumental in getting the IFBB rules changed for the 1980 Olympia so that instead of a winner being chosen from the best of two weight classes he would emerge from six all-comer finalists. Arnold was the only one who objected to this. Arnold wanted only two weight classes, that way there is only one man to beat. Mentzer got pissed and told Arnold that he was acting like a baby and Arnold said to Mike, " If your belly wasn't as big as your mouth, then maybe you would have a chance at this event". Mike then jumped up and got in Arnold's face and Arnold just sat cooly and laughed it off...Classic example of mental psyche-out which Arnold was famous for since it almost always worked. Needless to say, Mentzer was not a threat to Arnold's throne as Mike ended up third, behind Chris Dickerson. If anyone had a chance to beat Arnold it was Chris and not Mike.

From what I read in past & old articles....this is what I remember

bigragu

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #40 on: August 06, 2006, 11:25:14 AM »
Actually a slight correction--Frank Zane and Boyer Coe took 3rd and 4th places respectively, leaving Mike in fifth place which was even more of a slap in the face from the powers-that-be.

Yes, my mistake Dan-O. Thanks for the correction.

alexxx

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #41 on: August 06, 2006, 11:27:27 AM »
From what I read in past & old articles....this is what I remember

Go on..
just push some weight!

knny187

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Jr. Yates

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #43 on: August 09, 2006, 06:30:47 PM »
I had no idea that even was  a confrontation......I knew that there was always a debate over arnold and mike about that contest. hmmm thats interesting.
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alexxx

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #44 on: August 09, 2006, 07:55:40 PM »
Looks like Arnold had something to say after all..
just push some weight!

Jr. Yates

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #45 on: August 09, 2006, 09:24:19 PM »
holy shit! thats crazy.
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gibberj2

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #46 on: August 10, 2006, 04:46:48 AM »
Arnold's abs look a little messy there. I dont think the competition was so strong. maybe if Arnold had 2 more months to regrow his legs and come in better condition there wouldn't be any controversy.

Lord Humungous

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #47 on: August 10, 2006, 08:36:00 AM »
Arnie looked like crap at that show
X

alexxx

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #48 on: August 10, 2006, 12:08:46 PM »
I have the 1980 Mr. Olympia DVD and Arnold less then stellar still blows them all away!

Here is a comparison of his form in 80(left) and 74(right).
just push some weight!

TheGoldenPrince

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Re: what was the arnold/mentzer confrontation about at the 80 olympia?
« Reply #49 on: August 15, 2006, 12:50:33 PM »
Could you have been thinking of Roger Walker, who was actually UK born, but became an aussie citizen later and competed in the 1980 Olynmpia (like Waller)?

Here he is on the far right, back row (for some reason he kept staring at Arnold in just about every 1980 'O' shot I've seen of him)!








 


What the, Mentzer blew everyone else away! Mass, shape, conditioning...1st place should have been his, not the joke that was 5th...
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