I think you’re correct and I would agree with you.
But winning the WSM makes that person the strongest in the public’s eyes. The WSM has more name recognition than the ASC.
I have always thought WSM contests were “circus” events. I always thought guys like Juoko Ahola and
Mariusz Pudzianowski were to “small” to really be the world’s strongest man. Although I was convinced that Mariusz was the strongest man who competed in those events at the time.
By "those events", do you mean strongman contests? Not to nitpick your GREAT POST [!!] or anything. I only ask because while Mariusz Pudzianowski was the strongest in the events in the WSM contests at the time, I don't know if he was the strongest man as defined by "strongman" standards ["pure strength and strength endurance" competitions, as Flexacon described it], if we were to compare him to some of his direct competition in WSM and other strongman contests of that era. For example, I was shocked to see that Mariusz placed 6th in the Arnold Pro Strongman in 2006, when Zydrunas Savickas won it that year, despite Mariusz being the reigning "World's Strongest Man" titleholder at the time.
And I'm assuming that's what you mean - that at that time [once Mariusz racked up a few W's], you thought that Mariusz was the world's strongest actual strongman at that time [in that era, 2002-2008], but in hindsight, we are both questioning that.
Again, not to nitpick - but then, here we are in a thread that is calling into question what it means to be "strong" or "the strongest", given there are multiple ways to judge strength. For example, while Zydrunas Savickas may still have the record for heaviest log press at like 503-lb, or whatever he finally reached before retiring, he would not beat that top Iranian heavyweight Olympic lifter at the Clean & Press...who [the Iranian] pressed something like 585-lb overhead in that event.
I'd be very curious what Zydrunas could Clean & Press - but it's safe to say that he could not break or tie the world record in any Olympic lift, nor could whoever is the current strongest Clean & Press world record holder have beaten Zydrunas' lifetime maximum log press, while that Olympic lifter was at his prime [or currently, if the Olympic lift record holder for Clean & Press is still competing].
There was a top Iranian Olympic lifter who I believe held the all-time record who was competing - but that may have been in 2016.
I never thought a tall skinny basketball player like Brian Shaw would get big enough to be competitive and when he did I realized that NFL locker rooms are probably full of men that could also be world champions had they chosen to pursue that route.
That said Olympic lifters are probably the strongest men in strength sports.
Just one small point regarding NFL players:
I think NFL players [linebackers - or maybe linemen specifically], are hugely strong [and obviously athletic, while on GH - and in some cases, have masses of dreadlocks which somehow don't impede their performance, LOL, and I've even heard that some of them are functional alcoholics in addition to making it rain fifty or even hundreds dollar bills at strip clubs].
But...just looking at the history of strongman contests...it looks like strongman champions and top three podium finishers. I think OD Wilson placed 2nd in 1991, but sadly died in 1992 [the years may be one earlier in both, but I think I got that right].
Then there is that massive Black guy who has something like an 1100-lb squat who competed in the past 3-4 years or thereabouts, who I could probably best in a contest to see who could retrieve a dog's squeeze toy from under the couch in the fastest time.
But USUALLY, we do not see Black winners or podium finishers in strongman contests.
There are some epic strong Black dudes - Mark Henry and Mark Felix come to mind - but they are more rare than we would think when looking at the average NFL roster. Intuitively, I feel exactly as you do...but I think we would have seen more Black top strength athletes if it was in the cards.
I remember reading a comment online stating that all the strongest Black guys go to the NFL...but I don't think that's a sufficient explanation...I think football is similar to strongman in terms of being strong while going down the athletic side of sport...but even more athletic than strongman, and so it's not a perfect apples to apples comparison.
Although it's not a completely imperfect comparison either [it's not apples and oranges...maybe more like apples and grapefruits, as Bob described one of the Arnold's where Kai Greene was competing, in his live commentary, LOL].
The NFL is probably the best example of pro athletes having potential in sheer or strict strength sports, when compared to the "Big" sports [football, basketball, hockey, and baseball...in whatever order], or among pro sports in general, aside from Olympic lifting [but including other Olympic sports, such as curling, which I would assume has very little crossover to athleticism in general, let alone to strength sports, or tennis, or any other].
I still just think that the Black athletic advantages, while pretty obvious in my mind, do not extend to strength sports in terms of the very best in the world. I think we would have seen more Black top WSM or powerlifting competitors if that was true.
On that note...here in Canada, French Canadians [the Quebecois] have won all the Canada's Strongest Man titles since 1997. Can you believe that? But even more surprising - I can't think of one top WSM level strongman who is French who has been "France French" ever...only the Quebecois.
So while racial differences intrigue me, there may even be some intra-racial, and even INTRA-ETHNIC GROUP, differences that are at play here.
I mean...it's not that "French people" are overrepresented in strongman...it's specifically the Quebecois.
I don't know if that's because the stronger and more robust French people settled in North America or if it's strictly a cultural heritage thing, where more Quebecois people compete in strongman due to its history, or as with most things - a bit of both, with the only question being to what extent or exact percentage do environment and genes drive these things.
I tend to think most things are strongly genetic, but the Quebec versus France strongman comparison is an interesting one.
I think the NFL players would be very, very strong - but I don't think they would be beating the likes of Brian Shaw or Hapthor Bjornnson.
PS - I hate Hollywood and the propaganda it produces [and I loved that the Oscars only had 9.85 million viewers, down from around ONE BILLION viewers in the mid-nineties], but I did think the movie "Concussion" was worth watching. I don't doubt that it was part of some other brainwashing agenda that went over my head, but I was happy to see Hollywood raise awareness about NFL's concussion problem, as pro athlete health concerns me, and no amount of money matters if you sustain a certain level of brain damage due to repeated head trauma.