Making the Case | Brian Shaw 

Brian began his career competing against Prime Z, and competed against Prime Thor towards the end of his career. Still picked up more trophies than almost anyone else, and had some of the best victories ever (2011 and 2017 Arnolds). He's not quite the GOAT in my opinion, but he's absolutely up there.

Competition and records aside.... has any single strongman done more good for the sport than Shaw?

For me, it's Brian Shaw or Big Z, and it is amazing that they had such overlap in their careers, so they traded wins and dominated the podium together amongst the most talented field ever including other all-time greats like Halfthor, Hall, Stoltman, Martins, and now Mitch Hooper's amazing start also dovetails into Shaw's sunset. Brian Shaw is truly one of the greatest.

FANTASTIC idea. Love the basketball making the case series and loved this. Keep em coming!

Zydrunas, Brian, and Thor are like Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal in tennis - consistently far ahead of anyone else in their eras and each of them could have been EVEN MORE dominant if they hadn't overlapped

I love Brian, and I properly cried for him when he went out on a win at his competition, but he isn't the GOAT, because that's Big Z. What Brian is is the most *influencial* strongman of all time. He brought about the era of professionalism we're now seeing in the sport, and is one of those most responsible for the growth in popularity. He will continue to have a positive influence even in retirement, due to his competition being both brutally heavy and respectful in its treatment of the athletes. Truly a great man and athlete. Thank you Brian 😊

Brian is unquestionably the greatest American strongman, and the most popular/influential strongman ever. As far as the GOAT...I think he's right behind Big Z. Big Z's sheer number of international wins, Arnold wins, and tying Brian for WSM wins makes him the best. In my mind it's Big Z, Brian, Thor, Pudz.

Big fan of Crowley, and strongman - never thought these two worlds would collide, but here we are. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Loved the video; for most of the time I've considered Brian as the second GOAT to Z; however last year's Strongest Man on Earth win made me think really really hard about who the actual GOAT is. If we're going by the best athlete, I'd still have to go with Z, as I think his IFSA, Fortissimus and 8 Arnold's beat Brian, which I think a lot of newer strongman fans forget just how many biggest comps Z has won. However, if we go by importance to the sport, its Brian hands down. Among Brian's popularity and other things, I am convinced that the last couple years Shaw Classic has been hands down the best strongman competition in history of the sport. No one has done nearly as much to grow and improve the sport like Brian, which ofc goes quite well alongside his portfolio of wins.

One misplaced sandbag cost him 5 total wsm titles

This was a really inspirational video man. All the things Brian has overcome is motivating. He's done incredible things for this sport and is in my opinion the Greatest of All Time.

Brian is absolutely amazing, competing against the toughest opponents in Big Z and Hafthor. However, you have to give Big Z the GOAT title due to the sheer number of international wins, not least a staggering 8 Arnold Classic titles.

For me the GOAT is Robert Oberst, we need an Oberst Classic soon

Brian is amazing. But there is only one Number One GOAT, and he is vereeh happeeh.

This was an absolute pleasure to watch, can't wait for more to come!

I was introduced to strongman after watching the documentary on Eddie Hall. Then I saw what it was and respected the athletes. Brian Shaw was thought of as the most genetically gifted lifter. But I think Z is the GOAT

Wow such an impressive documentary on Brian Shaw. Keep these coming ❤💪

What an awesome series idea. Loved this video, i can't wait for the rest!

This is great! Just like the NBA making the case vids, same intro song too!

Great video. I love this channel. Imo. GOAT: Zydrunas, just accomplished far more than anyone The Strongest anyone ever got: Thor Bjornsson 2018-2020 Most influential: Brian Shaw, also second GOAT

Great series idea! I’m looking forward to all of these. Brian is in the arguement, for sure. I’ll take Zudrunas though as number 1

In strongman I think that there are a number of GOATS, each for their own reasons, and Brian is definitely one of them.

Yes, the goat🤙🏻

In my mind, being in contention for the GOAT strongman title entails two things: 1) a dominant streak of wins against the best in the world, and 2) a serious claim to being the actual strongest man in the history of the sport. Only Zydrunas Savickas, Brian Shaw, and Hafthor Bjornsson meet those criteria, and of the three the ranking has to be 1) Savickas 2) Shaw, and 3) Bjornsson for achievements.

Most put him just behind big Z, I think Brian is the goat. He had no weaknesses in his prime, and until Thor and Tom, we really never saw anything like him. His era was the hardest ever, his battles with big Z are legendary. I think he is the greatest ever.

Brian Shaw is my favorite strongman and he's the reason I got into this sport. But there's no denying that Big Z is the greatest of all time. 4 WSM, 2 IFSA and an incredible 8 Arnold's makes him the best there is and will probably ever be

Shaw IS the greatest!!! He forever changed the sport of strongman and Mitch will lead strongman in the new era!!!

Wow I never know Clayton Crowley had an accent and liked strongman :0

Brian and Kaz are America's best 💯

In basketball, there is a lot of context and statistics that can change a persons view. In strongman, there is less context, and more contests, so there are more wins. While there is room to compare across eras, I don’t see the case for Brian Shaw. He competed against Zydrunas, and lost to him more than he won. What is the case for Brian over Z?

Fun fact: Brian is the only strongman with a winning head 2 head with Hooper! Brian: WSM 2022, Shaw Classic 2022 & 2023. Hooper: WSM 2023. That's 3 to 1 for Shaw.

Brian Shaw and Big Z are the Goats.

Realy good Video 👍 But how did he win the Europes Strongest Man 😅?

Z is the goat, Brian is 2nd, but Thor is the strongest we've ever seen

He definitely was the strongest man with a babyface in history.

very nice

If we're talking the absolute GOAT then it would be Big Z. But not far behind would be Brian. What makes them both so great and better than everyone else is how long they've been doing it (and I guess Big Z still competes?). I sometimes see fanboish claims that such and such is one of absolute greatest just because he won a bunch of tough shows in a row. That, while very admirable and respectable, is not as impressive as staying at the top for over a decade straight and not injuring yourself into a disability in the process. There are many great athletes at the moment, but will they be able to progress and compete in five years? Who knows. Point is, Brian and Zydrunas dominated for over a decade and this is why both of them deserve to be seen as the very top of their field.

Why not both?

Brian look like a gentle giant.. other strongman they look like killer..or fat blob but strong..but brian.. look really like gentle giant..from young till now..

This isnt Clayton Crowley. This is Клейтон Кралей

For me, Brian is the third best strongman of all time. Big Z's accomplishments within the sport are just undeniable - more titles than anyone else, a longer (and more successful) career and constantly pushing records seemingly on a whim. I put Pudz above Brian because despite having a lower level of competitors than Brian, it is impossible to ignore Pudz having a 70% win percentage, which is just insane. The honest truth is when I was thinking about this I had three guys I wanted to put in second: Brian, Pudz and Thor. The way I decided was that I could think of arguments as to why Thor was better than Brian (same number of competitions until recently, but Thor won more of them), I could think of reasons why Brian was better than Pudz (Arnolds wins), but I couldn't really justify Thor over Pudz (deadlift? If we want one event to decide strongman?). So my top five would be 1. Z 2. Pudz 3. Brian 4. Thor and 5. Kaz.

By that criteria, it's got to be either Thor or Eddie

I think Mitch Hooper will retire as the GOAT. As for who it is now, I'd declare a tie with B and Z

For me Big Z is Number 1 and Brian a very close 2nd however it’s a very very Big gap to Number 3 thus far in history.

Brian or Big Z. Z because of the amount of elite title wins and podiums, Brian because of his wins, records and time at the top. Neither are my favourite. MARTINS!!!!

Shaw has definitely been the face of the sport and a major inspiration, The Greatest is Definitely Savickas, The Strongest is Hafthor and Shaw, Thor, Hooper may be the guys with no weaknesses

Yeah dominating the heaviest show at it's heaviest year (2017 ASC) is a big statement

2010 wsm was bs. He put the bag on the platform. It fell off that was a bs call.

Pudzian

Eddie hall is stronger than

Kaz was so good they did not let him compete. He is the greatest ever and would have more WSM than anyone.

According to international achievements in the sport of strongman, Z should be considered the greatest. If talking about achieving the highest actual human strength at particular moment in time (in the sport of strongman) I would actually argue that is Biby.