Mr. Olympia 2014 came with its fair share of controversial moments. In general, NattyOrNot.com does not care exceptionally about this event, but this time, the politics reached epic proportions.
1. Phil Heath Vs. Kai Greene
Kai Greene has always been seen as an underdog whereas Phil Heath is the champ. As expected, this year the two started fighting early – during the press conference.
In the video, Phil Heath is talking about his father when Kai Greene interrupts. Phil Heath gets real mad and becomes defensive.
Ironically, Phil Heath has attacked Kai Greene for his past on many occasions. Back in the day, Kai Greene was into porn and striptease. He’s fucked a grapefruit on video. This gave Phil Heath an opportunity to use the grapefruit argument to express his superiority over Kai. {the link is safe for work, don’t worry}.
The truth is that Kai’s past renders him anti-lucrative. The industry prefers to stick with Phil Heath and milk the naive crowd.
In a better world, sex with a grapefruit should not affect your placings in a bodybuilding show, but you should know by now that things are never that simple.
Prejudging
During the prejudging, Kai Greene looked better than the fading Phil Heath. At the end, Phil even got into a beef with Kai. In short, Kai was furious that Phil was breathing down his neck and confronted him. This was exactly what Heath wanted. His goal was to provoke Kai Greene so that the judges have a reason to separate them. It worked – Kai Greene and Dennis Wolf switched places. The judges were also kind enough to quickly end the prejudging because it was clear that Phil was regressing by the minute.
Phil Heath – Always Stepping in Front of the Line
One of Phil’s favorite cheat moves is to step in front of the posing line. This optical hack makes him appear. He’s been doing it forever.
In the image above, Phil Heath is in front of the line by a good measure. This pic is from Mr. Olympia 2012. This year he did it again.
Clearly, Mr. Heath and Dennis Wolf are in front of the line.
Whenever something is closer you, it tends to appear larger. This is Phil Heath’s reasoning behind “bitch moves” like that. The judges, on the other hand, let him do it because they want him to look even more impressive in the comparison photos.
If the champ is so good, why does he have to do this?
2. Branch Warren keeps on getting them gifts
Branch Warren placed 6th. In theory, this means that he was better than Big Ramy, but this was not the case at all. Big Ramy smoked Branch Warren. Ramy was bigger and more aesthetic. However, Branch is an old dog and has paid his dues whereas as the Big Ramy is a new guy.
Logic? Yes, bodybuilding logic.
3. Dennis Wolf keeps on getting them gifts
Dennis Wolf placed 4th even though he didn’t deserve it either. Wolf has an excellent V-taper but is missing the lower portion of his legs and back.
To tell you the truth, Mamdouh Elssbiay a.k.a. Big Ramy got robbed. He was good enough for the second or third place. However, he is too new and hard to market.
In the image above, you can see that Big Ramy looks better (at least in this photo) than the current Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Yet he placed 7th. Phil displays a better conditioning, but Big Ramy is bigger and has a superior V-taper and a more detailed midsection.
The Olympia placings should have been as follows:
1. Shawn Rhoden {classic physique that flows the best}
2. Big Ramy {insane size and still aesthetic, not the best conditioning}
3. Phil Heath {great muscle lines but huge gut and too narrow}
4. Kai Greene {looked better than Phil Heath during the prejudging but came too flat for the actual contest}
5. Dexter Jackson
Note: This is obviously very subjective.
In conclusion
The golden rule that the reigning champ is unbeatable holds true once again. The judges and the sponsors keep on pushing the same guys over and over again. They don’t judge the physiques – they judge the marketing value of the competitors.
