Ok, we take pictures of some of our favorite figure and fitness competitors, but soon, we may even get to play with them. Siren (Valarie Waugaman), Stealth (Tanji Johnson), Fury (Jamie Reed), and Venom (Beth Horn) just might have their own action ‘figure’ doll in the works. According to a press release: 

“Jakks Pacific signed an exclusive worldwide master toy license with MGM Consumer Products for American Gladiators, a television program that airs on NBC. Jakks expects to launch a line of American Gladiators toys and related products in Spring 2009, based on the characters and challenges seen on the show. American Gladiators is produced by MGM Television and Reveille in association with Flor-Jon Films, Inc. The comprehensive American Gladiators license agreement includes action figures, accessories, as well as outdoor sports and seasonal products, and role play toys, all based on the new American Gladiators live action series and the classic television series.”

Now, we need some for the bodybuilding community too.

 Here is the press release from BSN regarding the show:  

Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition Inc. (BSN), the world leaders in cutting-edge physique and performance products, is proud to announce that they will be exclusively featured on the popular cable TV show American Chopper, which stars Paul Teutul Sr., his sons Paul Teutul Jr., Mikey Teutul and the rest of the Orange County Choppers (OCC) crew. The American Chopper episode will document the building of a custom fabrication, one-of-kind BSN-themed chopper, and in addition to the starring the OCC crew, will also have cameo appearances by The Girls of BSN, Team BSN athletes Anthony Presciano and 8-Time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, along with BSN co-founders and current President and Vice President, Chris Ferguson and Scott James.

In addition to the manufacture of the custom fabrication one-of-kind BSN-themed chopper, BSN also commissioned the production of an additional replica BSN chopper, with plans to donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this replica bike to the Warrior Transition Unit of the Keller Army Community Hospital in West Point, New York. With military hospitals a cause near and dear to BSN’s heart, Co-Founder and Vice President Scott James commented, “We really wanted to do something to give back to the soldiers who put their lives on the line every day protecting our country. We shot the bike’s unveil at a soldier’s monument in West Point, NY near the Keller Army Community Hospital and it made us all feel really proud. I want to thank everyone at the Warrior Transition Unit, the Keller Army Community Hospital and all of our brave military personnel for going above and beyond the call of duty everyday. I also want to thank Discovery and the boys at OCC for the most memorable and rewarding experience of my life.”

One of the most eagerly anticipated episodes of the new American Chopper season, be sure to tune into the BSN Bike Build episode of American Chopper on April 24th, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. EST on TLC! Don’t miss it!

The IFBB has removed the 2008 Keystone Classic Pro Bodybuilding contest from the 2008 Calendar of Events. It was set for June 21st, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  For those pros who were going to compete in this show, the next IFBB contest is on the 4th of July weekend in Houston, Texas.

The 20,000 sq ft FitFest Expo and the National Qualifying NPC Keystone Amateur & NPC Pennsylvania States will still be held on June 21st at Ag Hall in Allentown, PA.

Three new challenges will debut on the American Gladiator’s Season Two. They are called Depth, Sway Poles and Side Swipe. Filming begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. More information soon…

Gym Management Services, one of the premiere franchises of Gold’s Gym International, is proud to announce that they recently moved their executive offices from Hollywood to Northridge, California. The brand new 6,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility will provide Gym Management Services representatives with the most advanced technology available and an enlarged office building to allow the management company to operate at maximum efficiency.

“Our explosive growth in the past few years has really pushed us to focus on expanding internally and externally,” said Angel Banos, CEO of Gym Management Services. “We spent 12 years in the previous building and are thrilled with our decision to move our executive offices to a more
centralized location.”

The new facility was built from the ground up in order to accommodate the needs of staff and management and provide them with the highest technology and software available.  Inside the new building are offices for department heads including the Group Exercise Director, Retail/Food Buyer, Fitness Director, CFO/Accounting, Information Technology and a Customer Service department.  The new facility also includes an award-winning Gold’s Gym University, to provide an extensive training program for new and current employees.

Gym Management Services owns and operates many of the Los Angeles area Gold’s Gyms including Hollywood, North Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.  The official location for the management company’s new office is located at 19835 Nordhoff St., Bldg 1A, Unit B, in Northridge, California.

Congratulations to Merv Petralba on the new addition to the family. Merv is one of the main photographers for Ironman Magazine, and is seen regularly at many IFBB and NPC shows covering the events. Trinity Drew Petralba was born on April 7, 2008 at 12:05am a little after midnight.  She was 6 pounds, 8 ounces.

Forget Sony Studios in Culver Studios, where the events for Season one was taped at. This time, for Season Two, they are going bigger and better. What? Are you saying they are not taping in a 42,000 square foot set. Nope, they are going to be taping at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, at 3939 South Figueroa Street, very close to where USC is. That places is huge, and has about 13,000 seats around the arena. Now that is going to be an event. It also as the room to house all of the events, instead of just building them up and removing them every few days.Unlike Season One, we hear that there is going to be a pool which is above water, and you can see in, so you can watch the Gladiator and competitors under water too.

The first show will begin taping on Tuesday, April 8th, at 5pm. Each show will last 4-5 hours, so expect to be there, until after 10pm. Taping should last from April 8 to around April 20th or so.

Season Two’s premiere will be two hours long, and will begin on Monday, May 12th, and will continue every Monday with a 90 minute show. Who will be the new Gladiators? Who won’t be on the show?

Well, we know from various sources that Matt Morgan and Erin Toughill, both MMA stars, are going to be two of the new Gladiators. Add to that, perhaps, the two winners of Season One, and we have four new Gladiators to check out. Check here for more updates.

The last time we saw Lee Priest, we were at the 2008 Arnold Classic, where Lee was standing in the MuscleMag booth greeting some fans. Today, Lee decided to sign a deal with Muscular Development, and judging from many rumors, it looks like Lee will be let back into the IFBB, and perhaps be allowed to compete at the 2008 Atlantic Pro. If he places in the top three there, then it is off to the Olympia stage. But first, he needs to be reinstatement into the IFBB.Congratulations Lee on your contract with MD.

After being with Muscular Development magazine for the past few years, Dexter Jackson made a bold choice, and signed with Weider Publications (Flex, Muscle & Fitness Magazine) in a stunning move that left many in the industry surprised. Many people did not even know that Dexter’s contract with MD was up. Still, the announcement on Tuesday evening on Flexonline created quite a stir, as Dexter had just come off winning three IFBB contests in a row (2008 Arnold Classic, 2008 Australian Pro, 2008 New Zealand Pro).Congratulation to Dexter, as teaming up with Weider, along with his Muscletech contract, puts Dexter is a great position as he rests and gears up for the 2008 Mr. Olympia contest. We here see Dexter as easily being in the top 4 at the 2008 Mr. Olympia, along with Jay Cutler, Dennis Wolf, and Phil Heath.

Kudos to the creative team who run the 2008 Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, for providing a special contest for the IFBB pros who are under 202 pounds.On Saturday, September 27th, 12 competitors, all who have to be 202 pounds or under, will take the stage at the Las Vegas expo stage, and battle it out. The winner takes $7,500. Second place $3,000. Third place $1,500.

Now here comes the interesting part. If you are qualified for the Mr. Olympia, you can’t compete in this show. This show, an IFBB special invite contest, is to showcase some of the smaller guys who didn’t have a chance to make it to the Mr. Olympia contest.

For more information on how to compete, contact Robin Chang at Weider.

Dexter Jackson made it three in a row, and completing the sweep by winning the 2008 IFBB Zew Zealand Elite Bodybuilding Pro contest in Aukland on March 15th. After winning the Arnold Classic two weeks before, and then the Australia Pro a week ago, Dexter is now going to rest up for the 2008 Mr. Olympia show. Dexter is on a roll! Here are the results for the 2008 New Zealand Pro

1. Dexter Jackson
2. Melvin Anthony
3. Toney Freeman
4. Sergey Shelestov
5. Troy Alves
6. Ronnie Rockel
7. Jaroslav Horvath
8. Oscar Tua Dexter
9. Oliver Adzievski
10. Salah Ibraham
11. Constantinos Demetiou
12. Michael Kingsnorth

For complete scorecard results, please go to:

Dexter Jackson continues to dominate as Dexter wins the 2008 Australia Pro Grand Prix, down in Melbourne, Australia. Promoter Tony Doherty did a tremendous job again in producing a wonderful contest. Here are the placings.

1. Dexter Jackson
2. Melvin Anthony
3. Mel ElMoussawi
4. Toney Freeman
5. Troy Alves
6. Ronnie Rockel
7. Sergey Shelestov
8. Jaroslav Horvath
9. Martin Kjellstrom
10. Oscar Tau Dexter
11. Constantinos Demetriou
12. Michael Kingsnorth
13. Oliver Adzeivski
14. Bola Ojex
15. Salah Ibraham

For complete scorecard results, please go to:

Monday, May 12th is when we will see the second season of American Gladiators premier on NBC. Which new Gladiators will come aboard, we are not sure yet, but we know that TNA’s wrestling star Matt Morgan will become one of the newest American Gladiators.

We are not sure yet if Evan Dollard and Monica Carlson, the winners of Season One, will become American Gladiators, although they have been offered the chance to do so.  At this past weekends Arnold Classic expo in Columbus, Ohio, the casting crew of AG were still looking and interviewing potentional Gladiators and competitors.

So how were the ratings for Season One? It was the number one new series for NBC, will an average rating of close to 10 million people per week! Now that isnt bad at all!

We have also learned that a number of Season One Gladiators will not be back on the show, due to various reasons. But until the official Gladiator list is completed for Season 2, anything can happen.

Saturday night, March 2, at the Veteran Memorial Auditorium, which seats 3,300 people, we saw an incredible show, in which Dexter Jackson beat Phil Heath and Kai Greene to become the winner of the 2008 Arnold Classic Men’s Bodybuilding contest. Last year’s winner, Victor Martinez, was injured a few weeks before the show, and most likely, be out for the entire year.

Here is the results for the 2008 Arnold Classic Men’s Bodybuilding

1. Dexter Jackson
2. Phil Health
3. Kai Greene
4. Branch Warren
5. Silvio Samuel
6. Gustavo Badell
7. Toney Freeman
8. Melvin Anthony
9. Johnnie Jackson
10. Desmond Miller
11. Moe Elmoussawi
12. David Henry
13. Ronnie Rockel
14. DeShaun Grimez
15. A.D. Cherry
    

For complete scorecard results, please go to:

Will Harris is always a wild card in the quest for a top five placing at the Ironman Pro. But the competitor surprised us last year with almost winning the 2007 Europa Pro show. So can Will come with a better physique at the Ironman Pro? Various sources who train with Will say yes, he is going to surprise everyone!

For more pics, click below

From our sources, Melvin Anthony has come back from a month out in Kuwait, where he ate, slept and trained hard for the upcoming Arnold Classic competition March 1st. Melvin went out there to endorse a gym, signed a lot of photographs, made a number of appearance, and even went on an Arabic television show much like the ‘Jay Leno’ show that we have here, and talked about bodybuilding, competing and training. Melvin spoke in English to the host, while the translator gave his responses. It was a blast.

Our friends say that Melvin is 255 pounds, and his conditioning is right on to surprise many at the Arnold Classic. Melvin may be considered the underdog at the Arnold Classic to place even in the top three, but he intends to beat out his own physique from the last show, which was the Olympia. Either way, it is going to be a great battle on stage between the competitors. We will next see Melvin at the Ironman Pro show, but not competing. Melvin will be there to check out his fellow competitors, and will be at the Weider booth, since Muscletech may not have a booth there.

CBS2 News gave us the identity of the two people who died on Saturday, February 2nd at their home. To our dismay and surprise, it was Dr. Bruce Nadler and his wife Terri, but of gunshot wounds that they say Bruce inflicted. Dr. Bruce Nadler was well known in the bodybuilding circles, and he took care of a number of bodybuilder, both before in New York, and also in Los Angeles. Here is the story.

On Monday, authorities identified a husband and wife who died in an apparent murder-suicide in the Park La Brea area of Los Angeles. Bruce and Terri Nadler, both 61, died on Saturday of gunshot wounds that authorities believe were inflicted by Bruce, said Craig Harvey of the coroner’s office. Officers were sent to the 200 block of South Detroit Street on a “shots fired” call about 11:25 a.m. Saturday, and found the bodies in their home, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. Homicide investigators believe they’ve also found the weapon used in the killings, but have not established a motive.

Lonnie Teper, the emcee of the Ironman Pro, puts on his swami hat and breaks down the deepest lineup in the show’s history. Check out LT in this very entertaining video.