From what I've seen of the Moose on RU-vid, as well as Thor, I think it's going to be battles between the both of them in the near future. As far as I am concerned, I can support them both. I really have a tremendous amount of liking and respect for both of these gentlemen. And it's always good tuning into your videos, Uncle Loz and Aunt Liz! You are always knowledgeable and generous in your appraisals!
To be fair to everyone else , the line up these days is the weakest i have seen in years for strongman , if Thor wasn't around Hooper probably wouldn't even need to prepare for these comps.
@joik3308 Honestly mate, the only person who's even come close to having a chance this year was Thor at SMOE. People mentioned Trey at GL with what? 4 points off winning but it's a 5 event show that Mitch didn't peak for. Trey doesn't get close at a major title, at least not yet IMO.
@@joik3308 I don't agree at all. The TOP guys now aren't as great as the likes of Thor, Brian, Z, and maybe Martins and Mateusz, but the rest of the field is definitely stronger now than it used to be. It's far more competitive because there are far more higher level athletes now. You just don't have as many absolute freaks.
@@Adam-bw6dj Trey has won the Shaw Classic so he can preform big, however he is more event specific than Mitch. I could see Trey beating Mitch, but it would have to be all good events for Trey.
Thor doesn't need to win the overhead pressing events, he just needs to lose less points. Then he will be neck and neck with Mitch and wins will be a coin toss between them.
I would love to see some competition for Mitch! He’s definitely going to push Thor but I’m doubtful at this point. Maybe one more year and Thor will be ready.
The audio leak after that confirmed it for me that it was all shady as fuck , that year was perfectly designed for 1 man to win that was horrible at moving events and boom all the sudden they are gone.
@@simenandersen3262Why does that matter? He'd been on the podium the year before and they knew he was capable of doing it with more of a static focus on the events. And Eddie was good enough at truck pull and stones. It was 💯 catered to Eddie.
I'm thoroughly convinced that Mitch will be the greatest strongman we've ever seen. I reckon Thor will put the pressure on but I think that it'll only push Mitch to greater heights.
@@Larry-n4n Oh absolutely, but remember Mitch is still young and insanely dominant already in a sport where athletes tend to peak in their 30s. He's got more than enough time to beat Big Zs record provided he stays healthy.
The one thing people also forget about SMOE is that Mitch played the chess game about knowing what effort he had to give in which events to secure the win. I think the only event that didn't really go his way were the manhood stones since he wanted the two reps, but when you watch Mitch's prediction video, he thought Thor was going to do slightly better on the overheads than he did which is why I think he thought he needed two reps on the stone. So yea, he got a bit lucky that Thor dropped more points than expected, but I don't think it changed a whole lot.
Let's recap Deadlift: He secured that 2nd and Evan got robbed, so yeah. No chances of him pushing Thor who won on the second lift. OHP Medly: Mit h had to go beast mode, Wich he did, to secure 1st. No chess game. Barrel throw: Secure what? Second? He went for first and got dominated Stones: You explained it. Smith machine: LMAO. This was a mess and... Quarter reps, no hate, but that's what it was and he still went beast mode. Medley: lost to Thor. Dumbbell: Miscalculated and still at the third. Fingers and stairs: Lost to Thor by a big margin. I tell you something. Mitch won fair but let's not pretend he wasn't trying to catch with Thor and got dominated
cheeky little edit, we see you, Liz. rooting for Mitch cause his videos have helped me improve my own training. i'm no expert, but i'm also not a complete newbie anymore, you live and learn. it'll be a hell of a comp, wanna see Matt Ragg do well, too. P.S. no idea why, but people keep putting the apostrophy in plural nouns and i'm not keen on that. it's not possessive case so it's not needed here.
I wish Evan would get serious about it. He talks about wanting to win every comp but he doesn't behave like that's true. He behaves like he he just wants attention. It's all theatrics even down to fucking up his lifting technique for the sake of theatrics; Just heaving at everything like a lunatic and not paying attention to even the most basic of technical details. If Evan gets his shit together, I think he can beat Mitch. He's got the height and levers advantage, he's fast as hell and has absurd power. All he's missing is a straightened out brain, a good squat and to drop the back slapping grip and rip silliness.
The Rogue's seems to be very stamina and endurance intensive with all those medleys. Thor used to be very good at moving and carrying, but at this time I think the stamina will be in Mitch's favor. And then, there are the overhead events...
I'm a huge Thor fan but I can admit that Hooper is an absolute specimen & he's on track for the GOAT status the way he's going. If he can avoid injury I can't see him being stopped. But imagine if injuries were just not a thing and all the Strongmen that competed were always in top condition or thereabouts, would be very interesting to see the results!
On a different note than the video, it looks like WSM 2025 is going to 25 Athletes. Uncle Liz and Aunt Liz, is there anything you can do to stop this from happening haha?! It’s heartbreaking as a fan, because it gives less athletes an opportunity to compete on the big stage. There is so much talent and the fact that they’re thinking about cutting down the group to only 25 is WILD!
Their arcs of progression are likley to converge at some point soon. Just a matter of when and how. I imagine the SMOE will be a comp that exposes the distance between the two in 2025 No matter, what a great time to be a Strongman fan 💪🤘🍁
So many folks saying Thor is just a static monster and as such doesn't stand a chance against Mitch who is good across the board 😂. I remember a few years ago when Thor didn't have the deadlift WR and won comp after comp because he was so good at all events. I don't see how one doesn't think Thor would be tough competition fir Mitch once his pressing is back up.
Nothing against Mitch but Thor was competing against top conditioned Big Z, Brian, Eddie Hall etc. Whereas, currently all Top athletes are injured. Wins against quality opposition would always be considered better.
The only other Strongman that has been as dominant as Mitch was Pudzianowski. I remember watching WSM on ESPN every year in the early-mid 2000’s and you already knew that nobody was beating him, it was always pure domination. I feel like he gets left out of the goat conversation way too often because he looked like a bodybuilder and he was considered “small” lol for the typical strongman. I definitely have him in my top 5.
Thor with beard? Yes! Without beard? No haha just kidding. At the moment I believe a few others could besides Thor but they can’t make any mistakes at all. Mitch is just something nobody can explain.
I think the facts are that Mitch is Number one in the world right now. I don't think Tom is coming into Rogue as well prepared as he could be, both mentally and physically. I hope I'm wrong. Thor is coming into Rogue as well prepared as he can be but I don't think his pressing is back at "fullthor". By the Arnold's next year however I think we will see what a full strength Hafthor Bjornsson can do and that will definitely give Mitch some real competition. In the Giants roster however the only people I see pushing the Moose based on this year's performances are Trey Mitchell and Luke Richardson. I sincerely hope Tom can find his mojo again before worlds. If he wins Britain's or Europe's (and I think Richardson has to be favourite for both right now) then we will see if his new coach and training routine is working. Again.I hope it does.
1) I'm sure Mitch ain't gonna be stopped at this Rogue invitational. Thor will get there and when his OHP is fixed it will become a coin toss. Well, not a coin toss, Thor will win heavier comps like Arnold's and SMOE and Mitch the less heavy ones. b) This Rogue invitational still gonna be crazy. Nothing is for given yet. Deadlift is a ladder kwich sucks) and that gives the guys chances to actually beat Thor, unless Thor decides to go barehand raw at it. Other events are gonna be crazy. Mitch will have to make sure he does a good stone run too c) Thor is more likely looking at next year or maybe even 2026. Thing is, as Kearney once explained, over head strenght is the last thing to come together when you comeback from a hiatus or an injury, Thor has made awesome progress, but he is not there yet amd mext year he probably won't be "quite there" yet aswell. Bet your a he will though.
Rob tore his tricep and never gained his peak strength back. He relies on the split-jerk. Thor needs to really get good at a solid push-press or, what is it called that Novikov and Pavlo do, power-jerk or something, where it's a double-dip push-press? That thing.
I have a strong feeling that, with the deadlift, Thor will never let Hooper beat him. Mitch is doing so much that I wouldnt be surprised if he comes up with an injury that sets him back some. He is smart about what he does but the rate at which he is progressing, he is riding that line. That's just my two cents.
If Mitch keeps this up or even keeps it up at like 80%, we'll be talking about him as a GOAT candidate in 3-4 years no doubt. Imagine, his stats would be crazy
There's only 1 time I'd bet against Thor, and that's when he's facing Mitch. Don't get me wrong, he's a phenomenal athlete, but I also think Mitch isn't always pushed to the very edge to save himself for the rest of the comp. It kind of shows by how quickly he recovers and remains dominant at all of these shows
The fact Mitch is not going up against competition not that strong is the problem here. Yes he is good enough to still beat a fully fit Thor and Tom but being under so much more pressure is when you start making mistakes, I still think we have a possibility of seeing the best year yet for Mitch in 2025 going against Thor and Tom and setting himself as a true great I'm the sport.
A part of me doesn't want Tom Stoltman to compete in Rogue I think it's too soon. He should wait until next year to compete. And be at his best for Arnold's and worlds
If Mitch can maintain the versatility as he ages and trains, and avoids the specialization that the others tend to fall into then Mitch will at the very LEAST be in the podium 10/10 times until retirement or injury.
I think if it was 2020 Thor, we'd be saying the same thing, just replace Mitch with Thor. Unfortunately, Thor tore his pec prepping for a idealistic goal in PL. And to make matters worse, he stopped chasing it immediately, so it's like an injury for no reason. I think for Thor even to have any chance at beating Mitch across a full show that includes overhead, he'll need to be very competitive on overhead events, which as of right this second, isn't realistic. I think the Log portion alone at Rogue on the Farmer's into Log will be the deciding factor, not even the overhead medley at the end, in which the axles will prove very heavy for Thor right now. And for Trey to beat Mitch, his moving events need to be more urgent. I think Trey is beating himself psychologically with grip and moving events. He can keep up and beat Mitch on a lot of things right now, including static events. When he went for the 470, that was the "see, he can do more than he leads himself on to do" moment. At SMOE, he limited his numbers a lot. Could've pulled 30 more lbs on the deadlift after his 3rd attempt. Mitch is just being consistent, healthy, and rounding his weaknesses out. That's what wins comps. And he's the best in the world at that right now. *Edit, sorry about not mentioning Tom. He just needs to be psychologically locked in and get his static lifts back. He's really the best package right now in full form. His overhead is actually nuts compared to what it used to be. Won the Log for reps at Rogue last year handily.
Tbh, I think Mitch wins by a lot. The deadlift and stones are the only ones I can see Thor winning. Based on the weights we know, I don’t think it’s a heavy enough show to slow Mitch down, and Thor will lose too much on the OH events. I actually think Evan could have a chance to squeeze into second if he’s healthy again.
I'm cocnerned for Thor's pressing. He's been making progress but still fails badly in comp. Coming back from such a serious pec injury is a long process, and I wonder if it can ever be where it was. I think it'll be another year before Thor's pressing comes right and he's not getting any younger. I hope I'm wrong as a big Thor fan.
If anyome thinks over the course of a full comp that Thor will beat Mitch then they r off their heads. Thor has been out for 2 long to mount a serious challenge to Mitch, he will have some great events but wont be as consistant at this point as the Moose. I jist prey that Tom gets back!!!!!!!
Full power Hafthor can definitely beat Hooper. But then everyhing must be 100%, which i dont think it is yet. Next year perhaps. He must get back to pressing 210+ log and 200+ axle to br able to beat Mitch.
Mateusz could challenge Mitch on pretty much any event except of course deadlift. Unfortunately I just don't see him ever being able to win a comp against Mitch if he comes anything lower than 3rd or 4th on any single event. Mitch is getting to the point where he's almost always 1st or 2nd on every event.
Thor wins rogue. His pressing isn't a weekness anymore. The judging at s'moe was garbage. He pressed it twice which was good for 3rd or 4th . And if the squat heights were equal they would of been neck and neck. Mitch was huffing and puffing come the end and Thor is coming in fresh.
The heaviest lifting is done by all the "if"s in that SMOE chain of logic. :) I think it'll be a good fight but Mitch is really well suited for the "heavy crossfit" style, so Thor has to be on the top of his game.
In an event without deadlift. Kieliszkowski. Even in Hafthors most dominant year. Kieliszkowski was chasing him. I hate that he has had so many injuries. (I am not Polish in any way, shape of form. Mateusz has amazed me more than any strongman ever. Sorry. I don't really care about powerlifting lifts. It's impressive. It's most impressive with bars and controlled everything. It's almost as if there are 3 or more type of strongman. Static, tactician, athlete or freak. I will never be able to understand how Kieliszkowski has a weakness in deadlift....he is damn never dominant in almost every other event that uses similar structure/muscle. I guess it is akin to Rauno having a weak grip. 20 years of deadlifting.....
Thor can beat Mitch. But Thor should not weigh so much to beat Mitch on the movement events. He’s too good. I don’t know why we still talk about Tom. It’s always oh he has the potential he has the potential but it never seems to show up unless it’s worlds, strongest man.
WSM is a hell of a day to show up though. Tom's capable. I feel like Tom is the only non Mitch/Thor person capable of winning. That's the thing, there's people who can beat Tom off his day, but all of those people won't finish higher than 3rd if Mitch and Thor are both there. Tom COULD win, but probably won't.
People just assuming Thor will catch up to Mitch as if Mitch ain’t still training and getting better. Mitch got 505 off the floor, dont think many were expecting that.
Staying injury free forever in Strongman would be a miracle on its own , so its just a matter of time until the amount of competitions Mitch does catches up to him.
It seems like his body is beat to sht. Either he needs a couple of years of serious rehab or he's done...shoulder and back nerve damage unfortunately. SM is a brutal sport
@@1vootman which is a shame, because he doesn't have that many years left. He and Kieliszkowski are the guys always sitting out half of the year due to injuries. Indeed a brutal sport
