If there’s one thing bodybuilding fans all have in common is their never ending need to bitch and moan about something. If it’s not a fan bitching about Kevin English winning another NY Pro, then it’s Toney Freeman calling out the entire pro league for being unjust.
Synthol in the biceps or Kai Greene snubbing Ron Noreman on contest prep all stir up controversy in the sport. But what really has the fans bitching and moaning is the great debate of 90’s bodybuilders vs. today’s bodybuilders. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, although mine is usually right, but what really separates todays pros vs. a 90’s pro isn’t striated glutes or lumpy calves Flex Wheeler, it’s good old fashion charisma. Love him or hate him, Mr. Big Banners/Bright Lights Shawn Ray knew how to stir up some shit. You would have thought the guy had a staff of WWE writers doing his material. He took shots at Dorian, Flex, Nasser, and Jurassic Paul Dilette and only spared those with physiques similar to his classic yet much smaller structure.
Before Shawn captivated fans, the sport only had the legend himself, Arnold, to keep people entertained not only with his iconic physique, but the personality that later made him one of the most polarizing international celebrities of all time. Arnold was the Muhammad Ali of bodybuilding. He would beat his opponents mentally long before anyone oiled up and stepped on a bodybuilding stage.
It’s hard to believe, but by the 2013 Mr. Olympia it will have been 8 years since Ronnie Coleman took home his 8th Sandow. Now talk about a guy with a charismatic personality. Only the Big Nasty comes out for his night show posing routine wearing a king’s robe and crown with the Lion King sound track in the background. Parking lot lunges in 110 degree Texas heat wearing bright yellow spandex still weighing 310lb just weeks prior to winning the Mr. O. And still years after even stepping foot on a stage the guy still has the longest line at any expo he attends. Ronnie has a knack for making any stranger feel like his old friend. Yeah Buddy!
And where do we sit today? Taking a look at the top half of the IFBB pro league there is a lot left to be desired in terms of charisma. I love physiques like Shawn Rhoden and Dexter Jackson, but man they might just be the two chillest dudes on the planet. Half the time you wouldn’t know if they were asleep even with their eyes wide open. Dennis Wolf has a lot of potential but half of his interviews I feel like he doesn’t really quite understand the questions people ask and ends up answering everything the same, “I need to eat more carbs sometimes yeah, and uh yeah it is good, and yeah I’ll be bringing up my lower back more, umm yeah so I make improvements, and uh get Top 3, yeah…haha”. And every time I listen to Branch I’m not sure if he’s going to choke slam the cameraman or throw a 200lb dumbbell at some kid for not being intense enough.
Now don’t get me wrong there are some characters amongst us in bodybuilding. Ben Pakulski tried to talk a little trash to Branch at the Olympia press conference. I’m not sure if it was all for the upcoming docudrama movie, Generation Iron, due out in summer of 2013, but it was an attempt at showing his personality. Toney Freeman has no trouble giving his opinion or showing his charisma, but sometimes I think he sees himself as the Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction of the bodybuilding world, “Say what again, say what again, I dare you, I double dare you mother fucker say what one more goddamn time.”
Kai Greene is incredibly charismatic with a huge fan base. As Dave pointed out on Heavy Muscle Radio, the guy almost thrives on controversy and drama. Only Kai would buy 2 rooms at the Olympia and shuffle back and forth to avoid his two guru’s running into one another. The problem with Kai is when the bright lights are on him he tends to shut down. When he gets asked questions at the Olympia presser such as, “Kai do you think you can beat Phil this year?” and responds with a solitary, “yes”, he is just provoking the fans to root against him. He has to seize those opportunities when they arise. 
And then there’s Phil Heath. He’s very interesting if you’re curious about his new pair of Jordan’s, what color his Beats by Dre headphones are or when he’s going to be getting his mani and pedi for the week. But outside of being well spoken and gracious to his fans he could be much better in front of the camera if he chose to be.
The ironic thing is that the on-air personalities on RxMuscle, Dave and Aaron, have much more charisma than the vast majority of the athletes they cover. Imagine if Rx had the same deep pockets to spend on athletes that Flex and MD have. With their personalities they could almost groom the pro’s the way an acting coach or public relations professional would assist a celebrity in becoming more likeable to their fans.
Click over to MD, the once charismatic Shawn Ray now gives the least in depth and lackluster interviews and contest previews I have ever seen. Back when Flex Wheeler was doing interviews if you closed your eyes he sounded like Randy Jackson from American Idol – you know what I mean ‘dawg’, not exactly someone you can listen to for more than 3 minutes.
Maybe one of the fan favorites like Evan or Kai can take the lead amongst the charismatic pros, unfortunately, what draws so many fans to them is there enigmatic personalities. With any luck we’ll see a new side to the bodybuilders in next summer’s movie, but until then we’ll have to wait until Mike Pulcinella or Zhasni create another fabricated entertaining masterpiece of our athletes.
Follow Matt on Twitter @MattMeinrod
