by Christian Duque
In just the last couple of months I took notice of four IFBB Pro League contests with lineups that all but made me cringe. I’m talking about the Cali Pro, the (Reno) Legion Sports, the Toronto Super Show and the Empro Classic. These shows lacked any real competitive value in their lineups and were won by guys who have never seen the Olympia Top 6. Not only that, but most of the winners have never been in the Olympia Top 10. As a member of the media, I want to sound off because the sheer number of these contests will serve to dilute the Olympia title. We’ll delve into that topic on a variety of fronts, including the doing away with the points systems and to a lesser extent the restraint of the federation to make more conscientious use of the special invite.
I’ll also address the issue of too many shows from a fan perspective because at the end of the day I believe we’re all fans. And as a fan, I wouldn’t want to spend my hard-earned money to buy a ticket or pay for a livestream to a contest primarily consisting of scrubs and no-names. That waters down the competitive stage for the premier physique-based federation in the world. The latter touches upon another article that I’ve got in the works that addresses concerns from legends like Lee Priest and others who believe that there are far too many pro cards being given out. More is not always better. More shows may mean more stages for fans to see, but who is on those stages? Some of these guys couldn’t win a regional NPC show in the States, yet they can earn a place at the Mr Olympia? Anyways, let’s dive into the action.
Years ago when I was covering 3-4 NPC shows a month for StrengthAddicts I started finding a very troubling common denominator when it came to the contests I was covering. Some of the shows I would do press for had as few as a couple dozen competitors for the whole contest. That’s pretty sad when you consider the overhead promoters were working with. Imagine running a contest. You have to get a sanction, pay the piper, get a venue and pay staff. All that adds up quickly. If you’re lucky you get enough competitors to sign up. Competitor fees help promoters earn income. If you have enough competitors then you can potentially sell booths. Because one thing competitors bring it’s their friends and families. That’s how you sell tickets. The more tickets you sell, the more asses you have in seats. The more tickets you sell means the more people who might be hitting up the booths that are paying top dollar to be a part of your contest. If there aren’t many competitors and its crickets in the audience word will get out. You might be able to dupe a vendor once, but that won’t happen again. Once word gets out that you have a weak show, then prices drop. Prices for tickets, prices for booths, it all goes downhill.
Now, I can’t speak to the venues or the production value of many of the contests with weak lineups, but it all generally goes hand-in-hand. If you have a stage full of scrubs, what big company is going to want to be involved? And just because you may see big companies on the contest poster or on the stage backdrop that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re fully invested. They might have a small presence, but there’s no way a company that has a huge book of business is going to be at $10k shows. That’s an old school term for a contest that used to pay $10,000. In other words, a shit show.
Maybe shit shows nowadays don’t pay $10k in 2025 due to inflation, but the term means the same thing. You get what you pay for, right? The old adage keeps true. The problem is, you can qualify for the Olympia at a shit show the same way you can at a gem like the Tampa Pro, the Chicago Pro, or the New York Pro. So then who gets the short end of the stick? Well, I’d say the fans do.
Take the most recent show, the Empro Classic. With the exception of Angel Calderon and Sas Heirati, I hadn’t heard of any of the guys who competed there. Now maybe a bodybuilding geek knows a fun fact about each one, but even with the two guys I mentioned, who are they? Have they ever won the Olympia, the Arnold, the NY Pro? Have they ever been Top 6 or Top 10 at the O? Have they even competed at the open O? I mean, imagine being a European fan who has taken planes, trains, and automobiles from one end of Europe to the other, you get a hotel room, you buy a ticket, and you sit down and see a bunch of no-names battling it out to be 1st place at a contest that pales in comparison to any of the big shows I previously mentioned. They’re not going to see anything good. And they’re going to feel duped. They basically attend a contest that should be free to watch. I kid you not.
It’s almost akin to the wrestling matches I used to watch on television as a kid. If I wanted to Hulk Hogan wrestle the Macho Man or Big John Stud or Andre The Giant, I had to beg my parents to get pay per view. All I was going to see on tv was Hulk Hogan pummel some bum who basically amounted to a punching bag. It didn’t matter what week or month it was, they always put the bums on tv. I remember one tag team in particular, The Moon Dogs. These guys looked like a couple of rednecks they picked up at the homeless shelter. They were bums, literally. No one was going to pay to view that. It was free. And so too I compare many of these crap shows that are sanctioned by the IFBB Pro League as such – only they’re not free. Some can be quite pricy. I really feel for the fans. It’s sad that they pay good money to see this trash.
That’s not where bodybuilding should be in 2025. And just because you win a trash show, now you get to stand next to guys like Martin Fitzwater, Hadi Choopan, and Derek Lunsford? You could even be in the same callout as Mr Olympia Samson Dauda?! That almost seems like a bad joke, but that’s where we are as a sport.
The whole reason the Federation scrapped the point system was to avoid the problem we have today. Back in the day, if a bum (a bodybuilder who had no business being on the Olympia stage) competed in enough shows taking 4th and 5th placings, they could add up all their points and find their way to the big dance. The O is the Super Bowl of Bodybuilding. It used to be a contest where only guys who had the Universe and shows on that level could compete. You had to win a pro show – and there weren’t many to compete in. There were no special invites, no freebies. That’s when bodybuilding was bodybuilding. And when things got too ridiculous and you had guys on the Olympia stage who had not won a show to qualify and maybe hadn’t won a show in their whole career!! The Federation pumped the brakes.
For a brief period, it seemed Pittsburgh got it right. But then here we are, with shit show after shit show. The Cali, the Legion, the Toronto Super Show… What kind of a “super show” has a webcast that drops all the time? What kind of a super show has a stage with an orange glow so bad you can barely appreciate the physiques? That’s not a super show, that’s a shit show. It should be called the Toronto Shit Show. And who all competed at the Toronto Shit Show? Any top guys? No, just another bunch of 3rd callout guys looking for easy money and a route to the biggest show in bodybuilding. Just imagine the poor Canadian fans. Would you have paid for a ticket to that Toronto Trainwreck? I know I wouldn’t have. I’d rather save my money and go to a contest that matters.
When federations can’t seem to say no, you have a roster of shit shows that draw shit competitors and give fans a shit experience. If there’s one thing that’s in abundance – it’s shit.
Believe you me, I take no pride in crapping on shows or competitors, but if it waters down the pro card and/or the value of top titles, then I have to sound off. The next show on the pro schedule is the Dubai Pro. Now THAT’S a bodybuilding show!! How do you compare the Dubai Pro with a purse of $140,000 and a who’s who of competitors with the Cali Pro or the Toronto Shit Show? I mean there needs to be some quality control and the Federation needs to learn to say NO.
At the end of the day, it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. For the sake of the sport, for the sake of the pro card, and for the sake of the fans, please stop having so many weak shows. Otherwise, we’ll once again see guys competing on the Olympia who most people are oblivious to. Every person on that stage should be a household name. And if they’re not, then something’s wrong with that picture.
What say you? As always, thank you for reading my article, here, at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s sure to drum up considerable conversation.
