what i don't get are the claims that ronnie near the beginning of his olympia reign wasn't incredible, as nd attempts to do. flex wasn't his 93 best, but still incredible. nasser was near his peak. levrone as well, not to mention chris cormier in 1999 or shawn ray always up there. sure in 2001 and 2004 he was the "established" champion and got some gimmes, but in 1998 he was the underdog, he was a lower-ranked guy and a met-rx athlete.
if politics were what gave him his victories, the late 1990s make no sense because wheeler should have taken it. he was the favorite, the classical physique, far less blocky than dorian, and he'd just had a kid. on paper he was the clear winner. yet apparently the lackluster and gut-ridden ronnie coleman was given a victory just to piss everyone off.