Every year, truly great physiques emerge from the NPC Nationals. The Nationals (and the NPC USA) are, essentially, the "farm system" for future IFBB greats. Haney, Gaspari and others emerged from these big shows but the one single show that should go down in the record books as the most spectacular battle ever was the 1991 NPC Nationals held in Pittsburgh. I was lucky enough to "take part" in it by virtue of having worked with two of that year's top placers; Paul DeMayo and Chris
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| Paul DeMayo and Kevin Levrone at the 1991 NPC Jr Nationals |
Cormier. Chris was coming off a 3rd place at the NPC USA that year (having been edged out by both Flex Wheeler and Chris Duffy). After that show Chris couldn't quite decide what would be his next step. As a near-natural competitor at the time, he discovered the NPC was hosting a (drug-tested) Team Universe posedown to be held the same night as the NPC Nationals in Pittsburgh. He reckoned, he could come into that show 100 percent clean and walk away with a qualification for the Mr Universe. That was plan A. Plan B was to whip through the Universe and grab a Pro Card. He asked me about it and I was easily on board, "Who the hell can beat you Chris!" was my exact response. More on that later.
1991 was a breakout year for Paul DeMayo. We had been friends for some time and I had been working with him for several shows. Coming into the NPC Jr Nationals that year, he seemed to have improved a lot. He was gaining a lot of density and muscle maturity and as the show kept creeping closer, I recall he was having a problem with his weight. He was worried he was too heavy. I kept reassuring him that he was actually getting leaner every week and regardless of what the scale said, he was on track to be his best ever. After the weigh in, Paul seemed down, like I had never seen him before. "I'm gonna have my hands full with this freak I saw backstage," he whined.
I thought Paul was kidding and when I realized he wasn't I went into my full-blown denial act. "Shit, Paul whoever this guy is, he can't possibly have your quads." "No," replied Paul, " his wheels are pretty damn good." "Well he can't have your delts and tris!" I said with a defensive posture that came with being 23 years old. That's when I knew Paul was talking about someone other-worldy. DeMayo said matter-of-factly in his thick Boston accent, "His shoulders look better than anyone on the Olympia stage." What occurred the next day at a Junior level show was just insane. It was the loudest wildest prejudging I have ever been to. When the dust settled, Paul nudged Levrone by a point. That was the good news. The bad news was they had to face each other again in about 12 weeks at the NPC Nationals in Pittsburgh.
Little could I have imagined that the Demayo-Levrone showdown at the Jr Nationals would replay itself out in Pittsburgh. Once again, I expected "my guy" to steamroll the show. I also thought I was thinking rationally in expecting no one to give Cormier any real trouble for the drug-tested Universe posedown. Then I got the call. "Uh Chris. It's Chris. Dude there's a big guy here who's going to give me trouble." Once again, I reverted into a state of denial as he explained to me about "some monster big dude from Texas with a crazy back and the best arms I've ever seen." That crazy big dude would go on to become the "Big Nasty" but at the time, no one had ever heard the name Ronnie Coleman. The final results: Coleman got the win over Cormier and went on to dominate the Universe and notch a pro card.
Onto the Open Class. This was the show where Levrone seemed to have gained 4-5 pounds of real, 100% dense and ripped muscle from the Juniors (only 3 months before). In a sport where people are truly fortunate to pull that off in a year, Levrone almost magically, accomplished that in less than 100 days. When he came out in the comparison rounds, you could sense the air had been pulled out of DeMayo and Flex Wheeler who ended up third and second, respectively. Levrone's crunch shot-- the one every bodybuilder has come to know and love-- was insane. His back lat spread, where he seems to double in size was untouchable, and he knew it. The more he was compared, the quicker it became clear that not only was he the winner of this show, but he would go on to smash pro shows, one after another. As I recall this lineup, the top placings were: 1st Kevin Levrone, 2nd Flex Wheeler, 3rd Paul DeMayo, 4th Ronnie Coleman, 5th Matt Mendenhall, 6th Bob Cicherillo, 7th Chris Cormier, 8th Edgar Fletcher, 9th Dean Caputo
To check out Chris books visit www.amazon.com and for his nutritional line visit www.procardnutrition.com
