World’s Strongest Man 1984 Fantasy Warfare

WSM 1977 Fantasy Warfare

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sultan Rakhmanov, Vasiliy Alekseyev, and Hulk Hogan in one of the early World’s Strongest Man contest.

I’ve found this a while ago into the bowels of the web.

It would have been great!

But impossible since 1977 is a couple of years too soon.

So I created a more appropriate version.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Bodybuilder
Born: July 30, 1947 Austria
Size: 6’1.5″, 235 lbs
Peak: 7-time IFBB Mr Olympia winner. Winning his last one in 1980.
Arnold gained worldwide recognition in 1982 with Conan The Barbarian movie.

For such a contest, he would need to be at his off-season weight of 260 lbs.

Personal records:
Clean and press – 264 lb (120 kg)
Snatch – 243 lb (110 kg)[4]
Clean and jerk – 298 lb (135 kg)
Squat – 545 lb (247 kg)
Bench press – 520 lb (240 kg)
Deadlift – 683 lb (310 kg)
With his less than stellar best lift, Arnold wouldn’t be more than a celebrity contender.

Sultan Rakhmanov

Olympic Weightlifter & Arm Wrestler
Born: 6 July 1950 USSR
Size: 6’2″, 320 lbs
Peak: Won the gold medal in the super heavyweight class of the 1980 Summer Olympics with a 195 kg (429 lbs) Snatch; a 245 kg (539 lbs) Clean-and-Jerk for a Total of 440 kg (968 lbs).

Vasiliy Alekseyev

Olympic Weightlifter known as one of the top 5 Strongest Men Who Ever Lived.
Born: 7 January 1942 USSR
Size: 6’1″, 353 lbs
Peak: 2-Time super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist at the 1972 and 1976 games.
Clean and jerk: 256.0 kg (564 lbs) on 1 November 1977 in Moscow.
So 1977 was his peak.
He retired in 1980 after a disappointing performance at the Moscow Olympics.

Hulk Hogan

Pro Wrestler
Born: August 11, 1953 USA
Size: 6’8″, 302 lbs
Peak: The birth of Hulkamania when he won the WWF World Championship defeating Iron Sheik on January 23, 1984.
Was rumored to bench press 550 lbs and shoulder press 495 lbs. But he once said that he never bench press more than 425 lbs???

Just like Arnold, Hogan would have been just a celebrity contender.

Now, let’s try to make the year fits for each of our muscle icons.

Not it won’t take place in 1977. Only Alekseyev was a household name at the time.

First and foremost, Arnold and Hogan need their celebrity status for mass-appeal, apart from looking super strong, don’t have any credential to participate in a WSM contest. But their appearance at the event would have been a MAJOR boost for the strongman sport and the many years to come. It would have changed the entire WSM landscape for the best. More TV and mainstream media coverage, major sponsors, and more money for the competitors. Since the strongman sport to this day suffers from a complete absence of mainstream media coverage and laughable money prizes ¢ for the contenders.

Then add two of the strongest men who ever lived to this and wow, the WSM goes to the moon 🚀

USA vs USSR
After all, Arnold was America’s adopted son.

The year has to be 1984

WSM 1984

Hulkamania was running wild. Arnold was a mega-star. Both were, and still are to this day, world famous celebrities.
Alekseyev was 42 years old and four years into retirement. Past his prime, but good enough to outlift our two oiled and sun-tanned mega stars with ease.
Sultan Rakhmanov, age 34, still young in strength sports’ years.

Now let’s see who were the WSM Contenders in 1984.

Oh shit!

Our four mainstream muscle icons will have some serious challenges to overcome.

1984 World’s Strongest Man

23-24 January 1985 in the cold winter of Sweden
Yes, the 1984 WSM took place in 1985??

What actually happened there.

#	Name	Nationality	Pts
1	Jon Pall Sigmarsson	Iceland	57.5
2	Ab Wolders	Netherlands	51.5
3	Geoff Capes	United Kingdom	49
4	Rudolph Kuester	West Germany	34
4	Dave Waddington	United States	34
6	Dan Poulin	Canada	22
7	Yngve Gustavsson	Sweden	21.5
8	Pius Ochieng	Kenya	18.5

Now, we have to make place for our two Olympic gold medalists, our Wrestling World Champion, and to everyone’s favorite action heroe/ 6-time Mr. Olympia.
Two easy picks, the undersized weightlifter Pius Ochieng has to go. Fellow French Canadian, arm wrestler and bulldozer operator Dan Poulin is next.
Rudolph Kuester and ~~Yngve Gustavsson~~ are next in line. Nope, Sweden needs his hometown boy Yngve Gustavssonso. So Ab Wolders is thrown out. A purely political and heart breaking ~~choice~~ sacrifice! Since Ab Wolders was a fantastic all-around strongman/ powerlifter.

But with the remaining four contenders, our two Olympians will be in very deep water. And our two paper strongmen will be exposed.

Here’s our Dream 1984 WSM line-up

1. Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Iceland, 6’3″, 293 lbs, age 34. Last year WSM Finalist. Second WSM contest.
2. Geoff Capes, England, 6’5.5″, 375 lbs, age 35. 1983 WSM winner. 3rd WSM contest.
3. Dave Waddington, USA, 6′, age 32. 3rd WSM contest. The first man to squat 1,003 pounds in 1981. Way before the ironman squat suit, mile-long knee wraps and other non-sense.
4. Yngve Gustavsson, Sweden, Powerlifter
5. Sultan Rakhmanov, USSR, 6’2″, 320 lbs, age 34.
6. Vasiliy Alekseyev, USSR, 6’1″, 353 lbs, age 43
7. Hulk Hogan, USA, 6’8″, 320 lbs, age 31
8. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austria/USA, 6’1.5″, 260 lbs, age 37

Now the Events.

Truck Pull.
Caber Toss.
Rock Press.
Front Hold.
Sled Push.
Loading Race.
Floor Press.
Arm Wrestling.

The Events are perfectly suited for our 8 contenders. Hogan and Schwarzenegger can’t be worse than Poulin and Ochieng. And the Rock Press is a must see for our two Soviet wonders.

What really happened in our dream WSM 1984

1- Truck Pull: Sigmarsson (8 pts); Capes (7 pts); Alekseyev (6 pts); Rakhmanov (5 pts); Arnold (4 pts); Waddington (3 pts); Hogan (2 pts); Gustavsson (1 pt)

2- Caber Toss: Sigmarsson (8 pts); Capes (7 pts); Waddington (6 pts); Rakhmanov (5 pts); Alekseyev (4 pts); Gustavsson (3 pts); Hogan (2 pts); Arnold (1 pt)

3- Rock Press: Alekseyev prooved to have some gas left in the tank by winning the overhead rock press (8 pts); Rakhmanov came second, what do you think? (7 pts); Sigmarsson (6 pts); Capes (5 pts); Waddington (3 pts); Gustavsson (3 pts); Hogan (3 pts); Arnold (1 pt)

4- Front Hold: Big surprise, Hulk Hogan won the event (8 pts); Sigmarsson (7 pts); Rakhmanov (6 pts); Alekseyev (5 pts); Wallington (4 pts); Gustavsson (3 pts); Capes (2 pts); Arnold (1 pt)

5- Sled Push: Capes (8 pts); Sigmarsson (7 pts); Alekseyev (6 pts); Rakhmanov (5 pts); Waddington (4 pts); Hogan (3 pts); Gustavsson (2 pts); Arnold (1 pt)

6- Loading Race: Sigmarsson (8 pts); Capes (7 pts); Rakhmanov (6 pts); Alekseyev (5 pts); Hogan (4 pts); Gustavsson (3 pt); Arnold (2 pts); Waddington (1 pt)

7- Floor Press: Waddington (8 pts); Capes (7 pts); Sigmarsson (6 pts); Alekseyev (4.5 pts); Arnold (4.5 pts); Rakhmanov (2.5 pts); Hogan (2.5 pts); Gustavsson (1 pt)

8- Arm Wrestling: Sultan Rakhmanov won the arm wrestling event (8 pts); Sigmarsson (7 pts); Capes (6 pts); Hogan (5 pts); Alekseyev (4 pts); Waddington (3 pts); Arnold (2 pts); Last place, Gustavsson (1 pt)

TOTAL POINTS