What happened to Thor in the dumbbell medley? He used to be a world class dumbbell lifter when he came a hair from beating the wr, Mateusz had just set with 315lbs, when he (Thor) almost locked out the 330lb dumbbell. I realize he is coming off a pec tear, which I assume was his left peck since he favors his left arm in the one arm dumbbell lift. M. Rhône’s do you know why he didn’t use his right arm which is also very strong?
@@Failsafeman100 www.iamthecaveman.com he's a powerlifting champion and makes many products you see Strongmen using - tacky, kit bags etc. Also a regular at Giant's Live and Strongman Champions league so has a good feel for things on the ground amongst the athletes.
Hooper agreed with his call. It wasn't really controversial in that sense, but I agree with Matt. The joking with MvM that he wanted him refeeing was both hilarious and showed his humor about the favorable calls he'd had.
Audience have become so comfortable with shady refreeing that anything upto the the standard sticks out to them. Be it not bringing your neck through during the press (hooper) or dragging the frame to the finish line (novikov) or wonky deadlift lockouts. Athletes are doing so because rules are vague and most refrees allow that.
I think we should be talking about "legends" and "legacies" right now. Thor is definitely already a legend in the sport. Because he retired early from the bad taste in his mouth from WSM and Eddie(not blaming anyone)...the fans got screwed and his legacy was obviously effected. IMHO, Thor is the strongest man to ever walk this planet. But because he retired early I have Brian and Big Z ahead of him in career achievements. Now here comes this new kid, Hooper. He's already become a legend by owning the sport so fast and furiously. IMHO, he's the best all around athlete that Strongman has ever seen(over Pudge but not as pretty). I also think he is the toughest mentally. Add to that his intelligence and the way he plays the game...if he stays healthy he's gonna surpass all of the greats. I know it's too early to say that...but look at him.
I honestly think he doesn’t come close to Big Z’s achievements. Lots of new fans to the sport. Needs 5 more WSM wins, 6 more ASC titles, world records across multiple classic events and active and dominant in 100 + other comps to equal Z’s achievements. Hooper now is not a better all round strongman than 2018 Thor but he’s excellent.
@@MattRhodesSport I agree he doesn't come close to Big Z's achievements so far(only Brian Shaw is up there). But he definitely has the potential to surpass Big Z and Brian as far as how dominant he has been able to be right from the start. If(and it's a big if) Mitch wins 5 or six WSMs(and a bunch of other big events) "in a row"...he's surpassed everyone and could retire if he wanted to(without chasing after 100's of other trophies). Percentage wise...he's been a freak of nature with how consistent he is. But Big Z and Brian were able to be top competition for the longest times and I'm not trying to diminish that at all. I'm just being positive and hoping Mitch stays healthy and has longevity with this Dynasty. Yes I see a dynasty coming.
Great video as always Matt. a) Big Loz: I love Big Loz, him, you, Matt, and the Lalas Brothers have the best strongman content out in RU-vid. Loz is part of the reason a lot of us have interest in the sport. That been saidn, and despise he is great on the mic, he should not be couching his guys when he is on commentary. Is not his fault, he is very invested in them and who knows where Bobby and Mitch would be without him, but it doesn´t seem very Professional. b) Big Z: Definetly right call. The sport was in a very good spot in 2020 before Covid, after that, it really feels like the Arnold´s lost something, like the events point system got simplified as we saw in Ohio this year, and refereeing got bad, there´s been bad calls in the past but was not so often in the Arnold´s shows, nothing to do with WSM wich is no mans land in that aspect, but is good to see Big Z is very strict, as he should, Mitch got very favorable calls in the past, so it was about time. And this, as you said, is a good thing for him, threfore he can work on those little aspects that might cost him. c) Woman and Man steramed together is just great, now we don´t have to wait for hours between events, and is so entertaining, altough the organizers are still learning with the girls, last year in Ohio the frame was too light, this year the sandbag was too light, but that is something they´ll fix in the near future. d) Moose vs Mountain: M&M, this two together are just so wholesome, is good to have good competition in the sport and respectful (for those wondering, the face off was a work), i see this two elevating the sport higher. Mitch, is the type of atlethe that would fit right in the time where Brian, Z, Thor and Eddie (Eddie in minor scale) where dominating the sport, he is proving he is one of the greatest, saddly he got there so quick cause he had little competition. We have to face the truth, when Thor retired we felt like the sport got more competitive only because the last of the dominating monsters went out and others like Caron an Prittchet where starting to fell injured all the time, so that gave space for the underdogs to reach for the podiums. Mitch, a man that could go head to head in the strongest time of the sport comes in, obvioulsy he would win everything, there was no one to stop him. Even now that shows, there are events where Thor is untouchable, but in the past he was pushed by other atlethes, now Mitch can get 2nd or 3rd not loosing many points where he would struggle to make 6th in the past. Still, this is the rivalry we deserve in the sport, let´s hope it stays on good terms.
thank you for another banger of a video and Mitchell Hooper agreed in his video that he did not have the dumbell under control, Zydrunas said a millisecond more with the elbow locked out and he would have gotten the lift but it was hilarious Mitchell joking saying can you and Magnus switch ,I'm sure he will work on that lockout look how far he has come in just 2 years I even wonder sometimes if he is human ,idk about you but he reminds me of Magnus Ver Magnusson in some ways also Jouko Ahola and Mariusz Pudzanowski ,came out of nowhere and dominated. I am also excited about Lucas Hatton just wow the strength in that man I hope he gets an invite to a Giants Live so he can have a place at WSM Regards Elisabeth
A while back, Big Z took a swipe at some of Hooper's down call pictures bu saying: nice standing incline. Frankly, Mitch hasn't handled his spate of gift down calls. Granted, a judge gives you a down call, you take it. The call would be on him and bot Hooper. However, Hooper shoots himself in the foot by defending his down calls. He should have done what Martins did with his absolute gift down call: admit that he got a gift. He said if he was a judge, he wouldn't have given himself a down on that dumbbell.
Exactly as I see it. I think him and Loz have realised fan sentiment and now changed their tune saying strict judging is good rather than trying to defend lifts that clearly shouldn't have been given right up to Columbus a couple weeks ago.
Who knows. Thor and Hooper are making plans for the Rogue Invitational, etc. Who's going to win, etc... It wouldn't be the first time someone like Hatton just shows up and takes it.
Fellow Canadian, and HUGE Hooper fan, but I agree. Mitch was close on that press, but not quite there.. If he was strong enough to hold that angle for full second or so, we might say good lift, but that was not the case. Had he got the dumb bell vertical, he would have had no problem holding for down signal. Lost the event, won the show. He killed on the yoke. It doesn't seem possible a human could run that fast with 1000 pounds. Lucas also crushed that event, and probably could have double repped on each of the dumb bells. Definitely a guy to watch.
In my opinion the Arnold UK sports festival was poorly executed this year. Many of the top bb talent didn’t attend or cancelled and strongman was no exception to the spate of missing star athletes. Then there was the events. I have never favored only 5 events and the fact that two of the events on the same day were pressing events underscores that this contest was poorly conceived in my estimation. It didn’t help my opinion of the contest that 2 pressing events prevented Thor, my favorite strongman, from winning the title,
Admittedly I also expected more now that they took it over after the shambles with Eddie and his mate running it before. Perhaps we are expecting something close to Columbus but it can’t be like that just a couple weeks afterwards.
I went on the Sunday with my mate and we were gutted with the expo tbh. They moved the strongman comp back from 2pm to 11am. That gave us 2 hours to look round the expo, and that's with an early access ticket. Then only 8 men competed, half of them injured.
I haven’t mate. We are connected on insta and message occasionally, perhaps I’ll start doing interviews again. He was a great strongman and character wasn’t he. I was fortunate to see him compete.
Excellent discussion Matt! Thank you for everything you are doing! Really looking forward to the winning streak of 👑 Hafthor starting from the Rogue Invitational...
If/when Hafthor gets his pressing in place, Mitchell will have to more all out and less "just do what needed". I am looking forward to seeing that! More fight.
Great breakdown of the show. As exciting as the men's contest was - Hafthor getting better and Lucas emerging as a great contender, the women's contest was possibly even more exciting. I'm so psyched about the future of strongman and strongwoman.
I can answer that for Matt 🙂We covered each event here and I praised his performance in each and every one of them. I said nothing else about him. Is me backing Big Z’s refereeing which was so clearly correct the issue or are you referring to something else?
@MattRhodesSport I actually think the single best point made in this entire podcast was that if Big Z and/or Brian Shaw have a higher standard when reffing then that's a standard that every ref should elevate to. Now, I'm new to your channel and only have watched the 2 most recent Arnold's breakdowns. But in both of them (especially the US Arnold video) you talk about refs at times being inconsistent with their good lift standards. You make a point of saying this needs to be on the refs to be better and an athlete should only be doing as instructed. But, in both videos you have made points of following up that point with calling out wonky lifts from Hooper alone. If you believe that an athlete needs to get to the standard that a ref sets then it seems disingenuous to be calling Hooper out for favorable lifts that are called good by said refs. You and your guest also talk about how Hooper is a heel and praise Thor. In the US Arnold breakdown you called Hooper a decisive figure in the sport because of controversial comments made last year (Not saying they didn't happen but I couldn't find them in a google search). Yet arguably, In the 8ish years I've watched Strongman I don't think I've ever seen a bigger heel then Thor with how he acted after Eddie Hall's 2017 Worlds Strongest Man win. Even the end of this video. The time stamps are final standings then 3 segments with conversation about the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers. I just get the impression from both videos that you would rather anyone else in the field win then him. Hence my question.
I think the issue is you have watched the sport from the perspective of a narrative created by certain organisations and therefore you talk about Thor the biggest heel ever because of his behaviour. I fully understand why you would think that but it’s a storyline created by Eddie, Colin and WSM. I don’t want to go back over it all again. I don’t understand the other point, as you correctly say we always point out bad lifts given are refs responsibility, not athletes. Hooper is the spotlight as he’s winning everything and he’s had a number of not even close overheads given which is bad for him too. This weekend he was refereed strictly and won which is perfect for him and the sport.
@@MattRhodesSport I didn't say Thor was the biggest heel ever. I can say I don't know enough about the history of the sport for that statement. Not going to say that Hall wasn't a heel either. But that's quite dismissive to say that a guy campaigning to deligitimize a significant competition win isn't a heel play is interesting. Also, maybe I'm wrong that you dislike Hooper. But, through the only 2 videos I've seen the discussion around his parts of the competition seem to be more of a concern if his efforts should have actually counted vs how impressive he actually is. 49:15ish of the Strongman Arnold US video you said it was factual that he is the least popular champion ever. I have a hard time not feeling like you don't like him when you say something like that that can't actually be factually proven. Your guest (my mistake, not you) goes on to say that he has said things that were controversial that cause people to not like him (you didn't say it but you didn't disagree either). Again, I couldn't find what Hooper has said that was being referenced and if there is actually something I would love it if you could point me in that direction.
Thor didn’t campaign to delegitimise a significant competition. He told the truth which should be respected. Hooper is excellent, I recognised and promoted his potential for more than a year before he began competing at elite level. As with many others, personal interaction with him however was not a positive experience. But I’m still able to the separate the two facts hence why I’m always acknowledging his ability and event and competitions wins with praise.
Great chat fellas! Big Z did great. Good calls. Matt Rhodes hope your channel is going well. I only watch the strongman stuff. I don't follow the arm wrestling videos.
I don't really understand the whole Hooper-as-heel thing you guys got going on. Eddie Hall was a heel but Mitch? I wonder if people are projecting some kind of resentment over the fact that he seemed to come out of nowhere and therefore maybe didn't put in the time or earn his status or something. I don't know. Just seems odd to me.
To do with the things he’s said and done publicly and privately. The fact he came out of nowhere (sort of, I promoted him for a year before he’d ever done elite strongman) is impressive to me rather than to be held against any athlete.
@@MattRhodesSport i agree with this commenter, there is some kind of hatred toward mitch and the reason is because of old mindsets on strength, mitch is a new way and the old minds dont like it, they think he is "cheating" somehow it seems, you also seem to think this whether you say as much or not, and i have to say that in a world of extreme PED usage you would look at anybody who has achieved what he has as a "cheater"
I commented exactly why above . Of course others might not like him for those reasons that he didn’t ‘put the time in’ etc but personally I think that makes it more impressive if anything. So don’t spout nonsense that I don’t mean what I say. I repeat - things he’s said and done publicly and privately is my issue and for many others. He’s not a cheat and clearly damn good.
MattRhodes you made a video a while ago I remember about the truth of strongman and steroids, peds ect, what happened to it, it was pretty good and got me into watching your channel.
Shame about Jardine getting a rep disallowed as I think that would have won her the comp? Lifted second rep at the same time as Magnus raised his hand to signal next lift, so only marginally disallowed. What were your thoughts on the lift being disallowed? Agree on the sandbag toss - I couldn't watch it live so was skipping ahead to each throw and even then it was a drag, so I can't imagine watching it in real time. The only other thing that was disappointing was having no graphics showing current standings going into each event as it made it difficult to track exactly what positions some people were fighting for and how close it was.
I need to re-watch that disallowed rep, I thought it seemed unlucky at the time. Hopefully more score graphics will be added for both Arnolds events next year.
Great video Matt and Marcus, I love all things strongman and strongwoman, but as you said, the sound was dead in that room I couldn't hear anything apart from the commentary. The mens line up was disappointing. The womens line up was great. Zydrunas is such a great ref, doesn't give special treatment to noone (which is the right way and the only way) if big z wasn't there Mitch would do fake lifts and get the down signal , also when z didn't accept the last one he did Mitch laughed about swapping with Magnus, because we all know Magnus is not as strict as he used to be and often gives dodgy lifts which is wrong. I used to like Loz but he's changed since Mitch has come along, he seems overly obsessed with him and his channel he can not stop talking about him " Mitch hooper, Mitch hooper, Mitch hooper " very annoying. Also I agree a coach should NOT be on the stage and should NOT be commentating, and I don't want Loz commentating on any show that Mitch, Andrea or Bobby is competing in. I don't want to see any coach commentating on a competition where there athletes are, it's wrong , biast , and I do not like it, The show seemed not very professionally run in my opinion. But I still like it cause I just love the sport but I really enjoyed the womens side . If I had to rate it, for the strongwomen I'd give 8/10. For the men's side is give 4/10 and for an overall rating I'd give 5.5/10 because of the mens line up, the set up, Loz been biast as always and I don't like coaches commentating where there athletes compete. Great video Matt , very honest and fair as always 💪🏻👋🏻
Thanks for your detailed opinion mate. Agree with a lot. That's another big plus of having men and women one after the other, if one event isn't great then there's still a chance the next one will be. The fact it's all free too, we are very lucky.
if you pick an event at the end for a tiebreaker it should be drawn from a hat or something to eliminate choosing an event that someone is good at. maybe even do an audience vote
I was there for both days and the crowd atmosphere was brilliant, particularly on the Sunday for ‘finals’. Everyone was going crazy for the women’s throwing and deadlifts. Really good atmosphere. I think it was brilliantly run with good timings etc. I would agree that the athlete line up on the men’s side wasn’t the greatest due to injury/ no reserves, but the women’s show was absolutely stacked.
Big Z is the man for the job 💪 Was watching Loz's livestream on Monday evening, he 100% agreed with disallowed rep for Mitch, said that's how every judge should be - strict, and 100% focused 👌
Strange then that he thought the Hooper stone lift was ok in Columbus. Big Z got it 100%, his and Brian's high standards in refereeing take so many issues out of the sport.
i watched the live stream and im team moose but mitch didn't get that lift he wasn't in control for more then 1 second after stumbling and he knows that
The audience sounded very quiet on the livestream but people that were actually there in person said it was loud. Not as good as Arnold's Columbus but still loud.
It turned out to be a good well run competition. I thought it was going to be a bit 'Poundshop', a poor imitation of Arnolds USA after the fiasco of people pulling out and having no reserves planned and a obscure live stream. It was a well organised and professional show. They just need to give the same attention to the preplanning of it. Better marketing and communication, a more accessible live stream and a better date and strongpeople line up. They treated it like it was an accessory to the Expo (which it is really) and not a standalone headliner.
I don’t know what you 2 are whining about, it was an extremely simple and easy to watch the live stream, next time, don’t just assume where it will be streamed, do a little research before hand
😂 we said it was an excellent free stream. Fans and athletes contacted me asking how to watch it..That’s your only input from all the talking points - brilliant!
@@MattRhodesSport I had ZERO idea WSM was up! You have an energy field that pulls people towards you whenever strongmen compete 😂No you just crossed my mind the other day, went to IG to see if you'd posted recently, didn't see anything new. Got me worried for a second ngl 😅 But it's all good now and you're back to posting 💪
Big Z was right on everybody. He and Magnus are the refs to have. Shaw will also become the standard as well. I think if you had 11 or 12 healthy athletes, Thor might not have been 2nd, but 3rd. The point split would have been different. Its definitely getting very interesting.
The women competed at the Arnold.Also, but there's no talk about them.We're trying to grow this sport.At least give them a little bit of praise for the hard work they put in
Honestly, Tom is done and dusted at this point. I dont buy into the hype about the Stoltman Brothers training harder for wsm compared to the Arnold Classic.
Compared to Mitch who already have 4 major titles now with 3 Arnold Classic wins and 1 wsm. Tom have been competing for 10 years now, and only have 2 major title winnings.@@Hesher93
Talk about looking for a fault to suit your narrative, whilst doing nothing yourself. This isn’t a paid program. We discussed the women’s comp here and were full of praise. I also covered both on my Instagram for hours and hours both days unmonetised as it’s always been, just to give the sport some coverage. How many other channels on all of RU-vid have? I think maybe 1 other. That’s literally it on the entire internet. Your comment is absolutely pathetic.
There was far less interest in the women's comp, I was at the show and when the women came on, lots of people went back into the Arnold expo (which was behind the main stage). When the men came on, they all came back to their seats.
