Starting around the :27 mark, who were those two guys please? What a trip. The Spanish guy is making all kinds of menacing faces at that afro jive soul bro, and when the latter wins he is pissed and walks away like a bad ass! Great stuff.
We lost Cleve on Tuesday, he was 58 years old. A true legend and a giant of a man with a heart to match. So long old buddy, see you on the other side.
I'm also wondering what year this was, and also when do you guys think Cleve was at his peak? I know for a fact that John Brzenk beat Virgil sometime before Over the Top when he was the underdog still, can't remember what year Brzenk said it was.
I think it's 1982 This was one of the best tournaments I don't know but there was a certain charm during those times - The stars were Virgil and Arnold Their final match was a treat - You won't find many matches like that
I don;t believe it Voevoda took steroids????...and I used to like him a lot i actually thought he was clean ..Now i have to give Virgil alot more credibility...he was natural and u say he didnt participate full time which makes his success even greater since he beat champions beasts like Ed Arnold and Cleve Dean without steroids in a sport which was a *hobby*for him
voevoda took juice. Do not think less of him for that, you really shouldn't be disapointed in voevoda. There are plenty of armwrestlers that juice. There are some top armwrestlers that put on 30 pounds of muscle in a few months. hhhmmm it's hard to believe a man in his 40's can do that. I'm not going to name names or tell you the first hand collections/stories to expose people, but some armwrestlers do/have juiced.
I have a lot of respect for Voevoda ..but was just a big shocked when you mentioned him roided up but the thing is if he was taking part in Olympics surely he would have been tested for drugs and all- But he came through clean...BTW who is the man *in his 40's* Brzenk??
Steroids are only in your body for so long. People don't take them forever, they do 6 to 10 week cycles. Some steroids, such as anavar are only in your system for three weeks after a cycle, test propinate only two weeks. I'm not calling out brzenk, he's a great champion and is only leveling the playing field, but he picked up some muscle mass in between the larrat, cyplenkov fight These are just observations, read up studies on how much muscle one can gain, it is not 30 pounds in three months
Voevoda was up to 270 for his supermatch with Michael Todd, and is at 235 now for Judo (walking around) 2 years later. I don't know for sure if he took roids. I'm sure he leaned up some but 35 lbs. is a lot to lose and he wasn't exactly fat at 270. How'd he lose all of it? In 2003 Bagent beat him at Worlds right handed, Pushkar held him for a while at Europeans ( Drud tested events - Taras beat Pushkar a couple month later). The next year Voevoda plows through Taras, Brzenk, Bagent, Girdner.
Yep Virgil won he truely deserved it - Taking on both Cleve and Arnold on like that. The Cleve match wasa amazing display of his strength , with Arnold it as a case i think of one too many shoulder rolls - Virgil had him figured out because he kept repeating the same tactic
I agree I feel Voevoda was the best too...DEvon Larratt gave an honest assessment when asked about his chances with Voevoda and Cadorette he says he could take on Cadorette but get smashed by Voevoda to the pad...he says the only chance i might hav against him would be in a super 6 tournament
I'v heard a lot about Virgil Arciero and Ed Arnold ..now finally got a chance to see them in action...and whatever i heard was spot on...they were in a class of their own
Virgil won this. I was training with allen fischer, we had a talk about old time armwrestlers and who was the strongest. He talked a lot about Virgil, but now I get to see a video of him, he was a powerhouse.
I heard a lot about Virgil too he had imnse power plus he had his own set of exercises he would never follow everybody else...How would you rank him compared to today's breed..guys like Voevoda or Larrat or any other
I've practiced with larratt, I think larrat's bicep might not be as strong as virgils, but the thing about larrat is his hand size, technique and his pronation is extremely strong. He would isolate virgils bicep, with strong pronation in a hook and win. I don't think anyone has been on the same level as voevoda when he is trained.
You made interesting points about Virgil - There was a quote in some article i read about a week ago on the net by Bruce Way regarding Virgil's power saying it is *was on another dimension* compared to everybody else he encountered & this video proves it If he was around today he would easily be in the top 3 ..& Voevoda was class for me the last hero of armwrestling..I reckon he could take on Larratt in his prime
Alllen Fischer said this, "When I armwrestled john brzenk, I still feel a human like resistance going against him, against virgil I did not feel this. He would blow through your arm all at once, and I could tell that I was not creating any resistance for his arm."
Fisher must have praised Ed Arnold too who's beaten Lupkes..He was special too..As far as Voevoda is concerned outof the current breed he was the most special..I wish he stayed on ..I think only Ed Arnold out of the yesteryears would have the capacity to test Voevoda maybe not defeat him..Voevoda in my view would crush anybody else
You may never know actually Voevoda has been my favourite since he came onto the scene he had everything...But Virgil may be equally matched power wise ...He was well known for his strength during his reign as well
Virgil armwrestled only in the US and it was a hobby. He did not devote all of his time to armsport. He did not take steroids and he was only about 220 pounds. Voevoda dominated the world with his right, he weighed 45 pounds more, is a world class athlete (silver medalist olympian, national judo champ) he devoted all of his time to armwrestling, and he was on steroids. It wouldn't even be close. Certain steroids (anadrol/halotestin) MAKE YOU GAIN STRENGTH, not only mass, but strength as well.
Now this is one of the best tournaments iv seen...with proper arm wrestling and excitin matches...where they just went ahead and did the job...not like todays armwrestling where they take 20 mins to start because they cant get the right grip only to get the stra put on few seconds after that takes another 15 mins with no action..miss these times
hey man if i'm not mistaken....is that guy his 1st opponent in the yellow with the beard at 8 seconds..the guy from over the top John Grizzly it looks like him
It was his frame my friend. Not trying to be argumentative, but technique and/or conditioning was never his strength. It was his pure, massive, inhuman strength that made him the legend he now is...
But he lost to 2 ppl there!...It goes to show that those 2 who beat him are v.powerful too...that guy with the afro would have given him tough competition too ..
Ed Arnold. The guy who placed second place behind John Brzenk at Over the Top in 1986. He was one of the best shoulder rollers in the country who is not an active puller anymore.
Thanks..Hadnt heard of him before..The stand out character that i remember in over the top was the John Grizzly guy with his little stunts that he did
He was 6 foot 8 475 pounds. Head 25 inch arms with 23 inch forearms goodnecked and the biggest hands u will ever see. He was a weorld champion 8 times i believe.
@SDSen I think Cleve Dean had alot more raw power overall. Yea Lupkes might have in armwrestling but Dean competed in the worlds strongest man and actually won the truck pulling event. Now that my friend is raw power!
@TheMightykaz ...Yes Brzenk meant arm wrestling specific power he said if arm wrestling had no technique involved Lupkes would most definitely win. but otherwise your right about raw power overall
@TheMightykaz lol, there are people who say that if Lupkes entered the WSM, he would have win overall. Well, maybe it's BS, but he was a fucking strong guy on his prime (and still is lol)
@SDSen I think Dennis Cyplenkov is much more powerful than Lupkes. Dennis has horrible technique, and and so he overpowers everybody even in the right hand even though he is left.
@SDSen I don't need Brzenk's assesment to decide for myself. I see how Cyplenkov beats all kind of people, left and right handed. I've heard Brzenk talk about Cyplenkov as well. You wrote your opinion on here. Others can do the same.
@khalsasikh - Whatever suits you! All i'm saying is that Brzenk's assessment carries a hell of a lot more weight than any of our predictions, he's fought all of them & has more AW expertise than anybody combined! but yea as you stated we all have our own opinions!
@SDSen In defense of Dean though, Richard Lupkes trained like an animal and was an experienced strength athlete. What was scary about Cleve Dean was that he was all natural in his strength. He never trained in the gym or with weights until many years later after he was injured. He was a pig farmer, and this made him very powerful naturally.
@khalsasikh Lupkes was also a farmer where he claims he got a lot of his strength from what's even scarier is that he hardly did any table practice for pulling & yet could still flash opponents imagine how he'd be like if he had the expertise & pulling skill to go along with it, Dean was great one of my favourites was Virgil Arciero who won this tourney who absorbed Dean's hit as you see here, that man was one heck of a force so powerful
@SDSen Come on sdsen. As one of my heroes Superstar Billy Graham told me, when you see a certain level of muscle mass an density such as Lupkes has, you would be a fool to think that is natural. I am a big Lupkes fan, but lets face reality.
@tolaros2 Pig farming is very hard work because you have to catch them dead in their tracks and some of them can weigh as much as 600 pouns or more. When you do this it makes you strong naturally in your whole body. I did some pig farming years ago. We would have to pull pigs off the truck and they didn't want to move. You really had to dig deep down and pull hard with your whole body. You can't get this kind of strength by lifting weights.
@khalsasikh I'm not saying it doesn't get you strong,it sure does.Farmers,engineers,construction workers get strong hands because they use them all the time for their job.
Cleve dean was born huge,strong with really huge hand.
That's genetics.Farming helped but it wasn't farming that gave him his hand size,it was his parents.
John Brzenk has top class strength and his job doesn't require strength like the jobs I mentioned.
That guy in the white shirt was jumping the gun on the "go" signal and kept getting away with it.
NemeanLion 2 months ago
That second bout starting at :20 is hilarious. Guy A tries to freak out the other guy who has none of it, and sets his ass down in about 3 seconds.
As for Cleave, I remember seeing him on Worlds Strongest Man. His strength was impressive.
bergbryce 7 months ago
Starting around the :27 mark, who were those two guys please? What a trip. The Spanish guy is making all kinds of menacing faces at that afro jive soul bro, and when the latter wins he is pissed and walks away like a bad ass! Great stuff.
treetoptop 9 months ago
RIP BUDDY
mrpanstheman 9 months ago
go armwrestling with God R.I.P
k7s8x 9 months ago
We lost Cleve on Tuesday, he was 58 years old. A true legend and a giant of a man with a heart to match. So long old buddy, see you on the other side.
jmf257 9 months ago
He will be missed...RIP
smvshane78 9 months ago
RIP big guy. A very sad day.
gginflo 9 months ago
0:42 ->01-05 Rick Zumwalt - Bob "Bull" Hurley(Over the Top)
sigruna88 1 year ago
@sigruna88 haha yes he is :D
MrRezz0 10 months ago
nice vodeo thanks 4 posting
q8shiaprince 1 year ago
0:57 fake!
HouZuo 1 year ago
listen to the thump
dlemanczyk 1 year ago
that white shirt dude that beats dean at min 1.28 has a false start the mofocker
in the final again false start but the bold guy beats him regardless
nice
gripler1k1 2 years ago
I wish I could find cleave to say hi.. he was my roomate in college..nicest guy you ever want to meet
steve
leomaximus001 2 years ago 2
is it true that cleve never did any weigh training ?
GilbyRFlow 2 years ago
i think it is but not 100 % sure
executioner900 2 years ago
Would youll consider cleve dean the 2nd best armwrestler ever? Assuming first is brenzk.
Man they really celebrate when those 2 beat Dean also.
TheMightykaz 2 years ago
Notice Bruce Way there shaking Dean's hand right at the start - Another beast
hazchem81 2 years ago
I'm also wondering what year this was, and also when do you guys think Cleve was at his peak? I know for a fact that John Brzenk beat Virgil sometime before Over the Top when he was the underdog still, can't remember what year Brzenk said it was.
HandelandJ 2 years ago
I think it's 1982 This was one of the best tournaments I don't know but there was a certain charm during those times - The stars were Virgil and Arnold Their final match was a treat - You won't find many matches like that
hazchem81 2 years ago 2
A prime Cleve Dean vs a prime Lupkes would have been an amazing battle - a true power fest
SDSen 2 years ago 5
what year was this
GilbyRFlow 2 years ago
Wonder what Virgil said to Cleve at 1:54- Cleve was obviously complaining about the shoulder roll that Ed used
iconoclast82 2 years ago
I don;t believe it Voevoda took steroids????...and I used to like him a lot i actually thought he was clean ..Now i have to give Virgil alot more credibility...he was natural and u say he didnt participate full time which makes his success even greater since he beat champions beasts like Ed Arnold and Cleve Dean without steroids in a sport which was a *hobby*for him
SDSen 2 years ago 2
voevoda took juice. Do not think less of him for that, you really shouldn't be disapointed in voevoda. There are plenty of armwrestlers that juice. There are some top armwrestlers that put on 30 pounds of muscle in a few months. hhhmmm it's hard to believe a man in his 40's can do that. I'm not going to name names or tell you the first hand collections/stories to expose people, but some armwrestlers do/have juiced.
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago 3
I have a lot of respect for Voevoda ..but was just a big shocked when you mentioned him roided up but the thing is if he was taking part in Olympics surely he would have been tested for drugs and all- But he came through clean...BTW who is the man *in his 40's* Brzenk??
SDSen 2 years ago
Steroids are only in your body for so long. People don't take them forever, they do 6 to 10 week cycles. Some steroids, such as anavar are only in your system for three weeks after a cycle, test propinate only two weeks. I'm not calling out brzenk, he's a great champion and is only leveling the playing field, but he picked up some muscle mass in between the larrat, cyplenkov fight These are just observations, read up studies on how much muscle one can gain, it is not 30 pounds in three months
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
Voevoda was up to 270 for his supermatch with Michael Todd, and is at 235 now for Judo (walking around) 2 years later. I don't know for sure if he took roids. I'm sure he leaned up some but 35 lbs. is a lot to lose and he wasn't exactly fat at 270. How'd he lose all of it? In 2003 Bagent beat him at Worlds right handed, Pushkar held him for a while at Europeans ( Drud tested events - Taras beat Pushkar a couple month later). The next year Voevoda plows through Taras, Brzenk, Bagent, Girdner.
HandelandJ 2 years ago 2
Yep Virgil won he truely deserved it - Taking on both Cleve and Arnold on like that. The Cleve match wasa amazing display of his strength , with Arnold it as a case i think of one too many shoulder rolls - Virgil had him figured out because he kept repeating the same tactic
iconoclast82 2 years ago
I agree I feel Voevoda was the best too...DEvon Larratt gave an honest assessment when asked about his chances with Voevoda and Cadorette he says he could take on Cadorette but get smashed by Voevoda to the pad...he says the only chance i might hav against him would be in a super 6 tournament
VeerGill 2 years ago
That guy at 8 seconds into the video is massive
abdulsaeed 2 years ago
I'v heard a lot about Virgil Arciero and Ed Arnold ..now finally got a chance to see them in action...and whatever i heard was spot on...they were in a class of their own
abbas565 2 years ago
Comment removed
amarpratap 2 years ago
Virgil won this. I was training with allen fischer, we had a talk about old time armwrestlers and who was the strongest. He talked a lot about Virgil, but now I get to see a video of him, he was a powerhouse.
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
I heard a lot about Virgil too he had imnse power plus he had his own set of exercises he would never follow everybody else...How would you rank him compared to today's breed..guys like Voevoda or Larrat or any other
iconoclast82 2 years ago
I've practiced with larratt, I think larrat's bicep might not be as strong as virgils, but the thing about larrat is his hand size, technique and his pronation is extremely strong. He would isolate virgils bicep, with strong pronation in a hook and win. I don't think anyone has been on the same level as voevoda when he is trained.
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
You made interesting points about Virgil - There was a quote in some article i read about a week ago on the net by Bruce Way regarding Virgil's power saying it is *was on another dimension* compared to everybody else he encountered & this video proves it If he was around today he would easily be in the top 3 ..& Voevoda was class for me the last hero of armwrestling..I reckon he could take on Larratt in his prime
VeerGill 2 years ago
Alllen Fischer said this, "When I armwrestled john brzenk, I still feel a human like resistance going against him, against virgil I did not feel this. He would blow through your arm all at once, and I could tell that I was not creating any resistance for his arm."
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago 2
Didn't Allen Fisher say anything about Voevoda or Richard Lupkes ?
Virgil was certainly one of the strongest no doubt
hazchem81 2 years ago
no, I do not know why he did not mention lupkes...he has never pulled voevoda, common sense says that voevoda was stronger than virgil though
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
Fisher must have praised Ed Arnold too who's beaten Lupkes..He was special too..As far as Voevoda is concerned outof the current breed he was the most special..I wish he stayed on ..I think only Ed Arnold out of the yesteryears would have the capacity to test Voevoda maybe not defeat him..Voevoda in my view would crush anybody else
VeerGill 2 years ago
& just look at Virgil ...such a humble man !...Bagent needs to seriously take a look at these guys and their attitude
vij009 2 years ago
You may never know actually Voevoda has been my favourite since he came onto the scene he had everything...But Virgil may be equally matched power wise ...He was well known for his strength during his reign as well
prodigy320 2 years ago
LMAO...you just don't get it? Do you want me to explain it to you?
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
Please do explain! Let's hear your theory..All I'm saying is that both were very powerful
prodigy320 2 years ago
Virgil armwrestled only in the US and it was a hobby. He did not devote all of his time to armsport. He did not take steroids and he was only about 220 pounds. Voevoda dominated the world with his right, he weighed 45 pounds more, is a world class athlete (silver medalist olympian, national judo champ) he devoted all of his time to armwrestling, and he was on steroids. It wouldn't even be close. Certain steroids (anadrol/halotestin) MAKE YOU GAIN STRENGTH, not only mass, but strength as well.
nismoz31turbo 2 years ago
From what I could find Virgil weighed in at over 242lbs If you check his stats they mention the weight category His rpime weight was around 250lbs
prodigy320 2 years ago
Now this is one of the best tournaments iv seen...with proper arm wrestling and excitin matches...where they just went ahead and did the job...not like todays armwrestling where they take 20 mins to start because they cant get the right grip only to get the stra put on few seconds after that takes another 15 mins with no action..miss these times
prodigy320 2 years ago
Ed Arnold the legend!...What happpened to the guy with the Afro he should have had more matches didnt he get through???
hazchem81 2 years ago
they didnt show any more matches with the guy in the afro
SDSen 2 years ago
lol...we used to do this in our college on the desk....:P
GabbruPunjabi 2 years ago
lol the funniest was at 20 seconds...then he loses....and the last fight was excellent
SDSen 2 years ago
hey man if i'm not mistaken....is that guy his 1st opponent in the yellow with the beard at 8 seconds..the guy from over the top John Grizzly it looks like him
SDSen 2 years ago
Holy shit that man is en largo!
PigsInCyberspace 2 years ago
Cleave dean is a freak of nature. He's build like damn silver back....
robotwookie 2 years ago 10
built
robotwookie 2 years ago
He's fat !...the guy who beat him with the moustache had a good physique
SDSen 2 years ago
Amazing observation. Yes, he is fat. He also has a mosterous frame that has kept him going for a very long time....
robotwookie 2 years ago
I wouldnt go that far as to say that his frame kept him going...it was his blend of strength skill and technique..
SDSen 2 years ago
It was his frame my friend. Not trying to be argumentative, but technique and/or conditioning was never his strength. It was his pure, massive, inhuman strength that made him the legend he now is...
robotwookie 2 years ago
Fair point:)...I agree..he was blessed with incredible strength..a bit like Bruce Way
SDSen 2 years ago
But he lost to 2 ppl there!...It goes to show that those 2 who beat him are v.powerful too...that guy with the afro would have given him tough competition too ..
VeerGill 2 years ago
They were most certainly powerful. Dean would beat them 99/100 but it was their day to shine.
robotwookie 2 years ago 2
That final match was amazin!
VeerGill 2 years ago
who is the guy in the white shirt at 1.15 who beats Cleve
amarpratap 2 years ago
Ed Arnold. The guy who placed second place behind John Brzenk at Over the Top in 1986. He was one of the best shoulder rollers in the country who is not an active puller anymore.
backpressure123 2 years ago
Thanks..Hadnt heard of him before..The stand out character that i remember in over the top was the John Grizzly guy with his little stunts that he did
amarpratap 2 years ago
How high was Bruce way ranked ?..He was one powerful guy
iconoclast82 2 years ago
Virgil Arciero wa also a star and a really powerful puller too u must have heard about him as well
vij009 2 years ago
He was 6 foot 8 475 pounds. Head 25 inch arms with 23 inch forearms goodnecked and the biggest hands u will ever see. He was a weorld champion 8 times i believe.
TheMightykaz 2 years ago
True - But Lupkes had the most raw power of anybody according to Brzenk who pulled both of them he described it as scary power
SDSen 2 years ago 5
@SDSen I think Cleve Dean had alot more raw power overall. Yea Lupkes might have in armwrestling but Dean competed in the worlds strongest man and actually won the truck pulling event. Now that my friend is raw power!
TheMightykaz 1 year ago
@TheMightykaz ...Yes Brzenk meant arm wrestling specific power he said if arm wrestling had no technique involved Lupkes would most definitely win. but otherwise your right about raw power overall
SDSen 1 year ago
@TheMightykaz lol, there are people who say that if Lupkes entered the WSM, he would have win overall. Well, maybe it's BS, but he was a fucking strong guy on his prime (and still is lol)
Feon2 1 year ago
@SDSen I think Dennis Cyplenkov is much more powerful than Lupkes. Dennis has horrible technique, and and so he overpowers everybody even in the right hand even though he is left.
khalsasikh 11 months ago
@khalsasikh ..I think Brzenk is in a better position to assess power!
SDSen 11 months ago
@SDSen I don't need Brzenk's assesment to decide for myself. I see how Cyplenkov beats all kind of people, left and right handed. I've heard Brzenk talk about Cyplenkov as well. You wrote your opinion on here. Others can do the same.
khalsasikh 11 months ago
@khalsasikh - Whatever suits you! All i'm saying is that Brzenk's assessment carries a hell of a lot more weight than any of our predictions, he's fought all of them & has more AW expertise than anybody combined! but yea as you stated we all have our own opinions!
SDSen 11 months ago
@SDSen In defense of Dean though, Richard Lupkes trained like an animal and was an experienced strength athlete. What was scary about Cleve Dean was that he was all natural in his strength. He never trained in the gym or with weights until many years later after he was injured. He was a pig farmer, and this made him very powerful naturally.
khalsasikh 8 months ago
@khalsasikh Lupkes was also a farmer where he claims he got a lot of his strength from what's even scarier is that he hardly did any table practice for pulling & yet could still flash opponents imagine how he'd be like if he had the expertise & pulling skill to go along with it, Dean was great one of my favourites was Virgil Arciero who won this tourney who absorbed Dean's hit as you see here, that man was one heck of a force so powerful
SDSen 8 months ago
@SDSen bullshit,he lives on dianabol,he always been.
masterpatric07 7 months ago
@masterpatric07 . Was there any point to your comment or are you just trying to start something off
SDSen 7 months ago
@SDSen yes that he uses enhancers ,i do not respect that.only that.
masterpatric07 7 months ago
@masterpatric07 Any proof of that?
SDSen 7 months ago
@SDSen Come on sdsen. As one of my heroes Superstar Billy Graham told me, when you see a certain level of muscle mass an density such as Lupkes has, you would be a fool to think that is natural. I am a big Lupkes fan, but lets face reality.
treetoptop 6 months ago
@treetoptop By that token almost of them juice then.
SDSen 6 months ago
@khalsasikh What does pig farming has to do with natural strength?
tolaros2 2 weeks ago
@tolaros2 Pig farming is very hard work because you have to catch them dead in their tracks and some of them can weigh as much as 600 pouns or more. When you do this it makes you strong naturally in your whole body. I did some pig farming years ago. We would have to pull pigs off the truck and they didn't want to move. You really had to dig deep down and pull hard with your whole body. You can't get this kind of strength by lifting weights.
khalsasikh 2 weeks ago
@khalsasikh I'm not saying it doesn't get you strong,it sure does.Farmers,engineers,construction workers get strong hands because they use them all the time for their job.
Cleve dean was born huge,strong with really huge hand.
That's genetics.Farming helped but it wasn't farming that gave him his hand size,it was his parents.
John Brzenk has top class strength and his job doesn't require strength like the jobs I mentioned.
tolaros2 1 week ago
@SDSen Yea inside pressure Lupkes is unmatched. Well Cypplenkov might be getting close.
TheMightykaz 2 months ago
thank you SO MUCH for finally making cleve DEAN footage available !!!
NiXPredator 2 years ago