With the 2026 contest season before us, the rumors of comebacks are starting to swirl all over the message boards, Facebook groups, subreddits and beyond. This is a time when bodybuilding fans find themselves talking about hypothetical scenarios. In the midst of virtual comparisons and talk of contests years past, many fans find themselves asking whether or not some of their favorite bodybuilders will make comebacks. At this point talking about a Kai Greene comeback seems almost pointless. Other folks talk about a Phil Heath comeback. Kai has not competed since 2016 so making a comeback seems very unlikely. Once you talk about a decade or more it’s almost like a complete waste of time. In the case of Phil Heath, on the other hand, it isn’t such a waste of time because he competed just 6 years ago. Actually, less than 6 years ago because he competed at the 2020 Olympia. And not only did he compete at that Olympia but he looked very good and he was in the Top 3. As a result, talking about a comeback in 2026 while it might be a bit of a stretch isn’t a complete travesty.
Then you look at Big Ramy. Now Big Ramy is a completely different story because he is a two-time Mr Olympia that won both titles in this decade. He won his first title in 2020, he won his second title in 2021, and he was extremely competitive in 2022 and 2023. In 2022 he lost his Olympia taking 5th place. In 2023 he took 5th place at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. Even though both placings were lackluster for an Olympia champion, that only puts him 3 years off from the stage. And the fact of the matter is many people, myself included, don’t really believe that he lost the title because he lost his way in terms of his physique. Rather, we believe he lost his way in other regards. We’ll talk more about that later in the article. The main question is can Ramy come back? Will he come back? And is it even feasible to talk about it?
Is Ramy’s look still competitive? Absolutely it is! He’s a giant with tremendous muscle bellies and the ability to come in very conditioned when he wants to be. He may need to have someone like Dennis James in his corner, but he can do it. And what do I mean by having someone like Dennis James in his corner? I mean having somebody that is going to basically hold his hand throughout the process. Some people have said that Ramy’s a little bit on the lazy side and other people have said that he needs to be monitored. If he’s on the money, he’s very dangerous. If all things are fair, there is really no reason why Ramy couldn’t win the title back. We saw Jay Cutler do it in 2009 and we saw Derek Lunsford to do it in 2025. Although it has only happened two times in the 60 years of the Olympia run, there’s really no reason why The Egyptian Phenom couldn’t be the third man to do it. But that’s also assuming all things are fair. The big question is, does Ramy even want the title?
I think that after 2022 and 2023 those years left a very bitter taste in The Egyptian Phenom’s mouth. First, it’s very rare for someone to lose the Olympia title and place outside of the top three. Most guys lose it and place second or third. I think it happened once with Frank Zane – he placed fourth. But to go from first to 5th is almost unheard of. I believe this was a message that was being sent. Not only did Ramy stand up to the president at his show in Pittsburgh earlier the year he lost the Olympia, but he didn’t give any sort of an explanation for nearly 10 days. It was the ultimate snub and many people, myself included, believe that it cost him the title.
Respect goes a long way in this industry and when you disrespect the president, a man that has given his life to bodybuilding, there’s going to be consequences. We can’t prove it, but I can certainly point to it. As a writer that’s been doing this for nearly 20 years, I can tell you that no one has ever disrespected the president to that degree. And especially not a reigning Mr. Olympia. It makes me believe like it was payback, especially when you look at Big Ramy’s second win as Mr Olympia. In 2020 he narrowly beat Brandon Curry. In 2021 Brandon came out of nowhere and looked better than Ramy did. Nonetheless, Ramy was able to hold the title. Has anybody ever thought about that? Has anyone ever thought how fishy that was? Well it’s because once you’re Mr Olympia you have to technically get knocked out in order to lose the title. And the rationale was Brandon did not knock out Big Ramy in 2021. Personally, I think that’s a load of horseshit but that’s what everybody is always told. So what happened in 2022? Did Ramy look so terrible that he had to take fifth? Or was the writing on the wall?
A lot of these guys believe they are not allowed to win the top title. Guys like Ramy and guys like Kai have that in common. I would say Victor Martinez, to a certain extent, as well. These are guys that came so close to winning but just never did. But the difference with Ramy is that he actually did win. He won twice. Nonetheless he may believe that he will never win again. It’s very hard to undo the damage. I don’t know what his relationship is with the Federation at this point. I don’t even know what his relationship with bodybuilding is at this point. I mean even during his reign he was considered somewhat of a hermit. That might have worked in the 1990s with Dorian but it certainly doesn’t work in the social media age. Fans want to see their favorite competitors on a daily basis. Many times, they even want to see their competitors more than on a daily basis. And with Ramy, he would compete at the Olympian then disappear. That’s simply not going to grow the sport of bodybuilding. We saw this with Hadi as well. Guys that would literally show up to Vegas, win the big show, take a few photo shoots, and then disappear for the rest of the year. With guys like Brandon, Derek, and Samson, they went old school and really hit the pavement. They landed on their feet and they toured the world. Those are the better Mr Olympias in my humble opinion. At the end of the day, it’s not about who promotes better, it’s about who has the best physique. Anything beyond that is politics.
A lot of folks in bodybuilding do not like to acknowledge that politics even exist. And maybe they don’t. But in the case of Big Ramy you almost have to believe that politics played some kind of a role because of the fact that his descent was just so bizarre. And his assent wasn’t necessarily an overnight success, either. For a solid decade he was bouncing around the pro circuit. A lot of people didn’t think he was going to win the Olympia after nearly winning it in 2017. At the end of the day, Ramy may remain semi-retired. He was able to win two Olympias, which is more than most people will ever accomplish in their careers. Perhaps even the payday is not worth it. Perhaps he will remain in some kind of limbo for the time being. It’s very similar to where Kai Greene is. Is he retired? Could he come back? Who the hell knows. He’s still big as a house, still looks very impressive, and keeps his fans on the edge of their seats. Maybe that’s the recipe that Big Ramy is focusing on.
But I will tell you that a lot of his fans want him to come back. I remember when he was on top and how the Egyptian fan base practically took over Las Vegas. They were all over social media. This guy was larger than life. He was bigger than the Beatles in the Arab world. Could he come back? Will he come back? I certainly don’t know but I’m telling you it would be huge if he tried. Enough time hasn’t passed though. Only time will tell but he has everything in his arsenal to win back the title. If politics are not going to be an obstacle, there’s no telling what he can do.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
