M.E SHOW REPORT
Report by Andrew Carruthers, Editor-In-Chief
Photography by Gary Phillips
!
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4th Den nis Wolf
1st Phil Heath
2nd Kai Gree ne
F
OR MOST OF THE FANS, THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
MR OLYMPIA CONTEST WAS A TIME TO REFLECT, A TIME TO
CELEBRATE AND A TIME TO COMMEND ALL THOSE WORTHY OF
THEIR TITLES – BOTH PRESENT AND PAST. BEFORE THE START
OF THE 50TH EDITION ONLY 13 MEN’S NAMES WERE IN THAT VAULT
OF IMMORTALITY – THE ONES WORTHY OF CALLING THEMSELVES MR
OLYMPIA, AND THIS YEAR THAT NUMBER WOULD REMAIN AT EXACTLY
THAT - 13. THIS YEAR’S SHOW WAS A TIME TO APPRECIATE HOW
FAR THE SHOW HAS COME, THE LIFETIMES OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE
CHANGED THE FACE OF THE SPORT FOR ETERNITY AND A TIME TO
GIVE THANKS TO THOSE WHO MADE THE SPORT WHAT IT IS TODAY.
“PHIL AND KAI’S PRE-
JUDGING POSING GOT
A LITTLE TOO CLOSE
FOR COMFORT.”
98
Muscle Evolution
But for those of us who think a little deeper,
and have this undying love for the sport we
call bodybuilding, this was no anniversary –
this was WAR! The War For Four as it became
known through the bodybuilding world
started like any other with subtle build-up
speeches enticing some rivalry between
competitors.
Video clips, social media posts, tweets,
Instagram posts – all part of the slow build up
to what was possibly going to be the current
champion’s most difficult fight yet to hold
on to the coveted title, let alone win the war
for four Sandows in a row. To most of the
athletes partaking in the Mr Olympia contest,
the press conference before pre-judging is a
chance for fans and media to interact with the
athletes, get their ideas on the show ahead
and possibly get a little rivalry going through
some smack talk just to build up some energy
for the fans and athletes alike. With IFBB
Pro and show commentator Bob Cicherello
leading the press conference with his mic,
slowly but surely enticing the world’s best
bodybuilders to get some smack talk going,
it wasn’t long before Kai and Phil started
exchanging words.
What started off as humorous and polite
3rd Shaw n Rho den
banter between two of the
world’s most formidable
physiques, soon ended up in
a combination of interrupted
arguments, heated tones,
elevated volumes, insults and, of
course, slight disrespect from Kai’s
side as he rudely interrupted Phil’s
speech about his father who passed
away earlier this year. The result of the
disruption wasn’t pretty and I think that a
few of the Olympians were seen shaking
their heads at Kai in total disbelieve that
he had interrupted Phil’s emotional speech
about his dad’s passing. There wasn’t much
else to be said between the other athletes
as the conference became consumed by the
Phil and Kai show. As the press conference
drew to a close, it was stated many times
over that the end results would show on
stage and with Kai weighing over 40 pounds
(18.1kg) more than the current champion it
was evident that we were about to see a new
version of the already monstrous Kai Greene.
The press conference ended as abruptly as it
had begun and as always, everyone thought
the confrontation was over. But no one was
expecting what was about to happen in pre-
judging.
From the first few call outs in prejudging
it was clear that as predicted, this was going
to be another Phil and Kai show with Dennis
Wolf and Shawn Rhoden battling it out for 3rd
and 4th place. At the start of pre-judging both
Phil and Kai seemed to look a little smooth on
the surface of the skin with Phil slightly more
detailed. As pre-judging progressed though
it was the massive physique of the underdog