Yamamoto Pro Cup Will Be Bigger Than the Olympia?
It’s hard to see past the glitz and glamour of the Olympia production, but at the end of the day, people come to see the competitors on stage. And with some key individuals not at this year’s Olympia, it forces them to get excited about the next competition they will all be at. Which brings up the next pro show. Everyone has been talking about the IFBB Yamamoto Pro Cup being held in Padova, Italy the week after the Olympia. So, I wanted to toss my two cents in as well and discuss what I see the Yamamoto Pro Cup turning out to be and my reasoning.
It’s Just Not the Same
Last year Rhoden upset the champ to break Phil Heath’s Olympia winning streak – and good for him, he looked great. And for the second straight year, we’ve got a new champ. But was this year’s Olympia the same as previous years? In my opinion, no. Here’s the bottom line, Phil wasn’t in the mix (and who knows, maybe he retired?), Shawn wasn’t allowed to compete, and Ramy decided to not qualify for the show and had to sit out (which I honestly don’t understand his reasoning for).
So, let’s recap: No Shawn, no Phil, no Ramy. Three competitors everyone wanted to see. Did this cause the 2019 Olympia to have a dark cloud over it? I think so. It was full of controversies left and right. I honestly feel bad that Dan Solomon took over the show and was dropped bad news after bad news on his lap and had to turn nothing into something. I can’t imagine the level of stress he was under to put on a great show that everyone expects to see when they come to Vegas.
Now, that’s no disrespect to any of the competitors who stepped on stage but let’s be serious, had the three competitors mentioned above been in the line-up, things would be drastically different. I was not present at this year’s Olympia but from the people whom I spoke with, they mentioned that the overall atmosphere of the show was off and it didn’t feel the same as it did in previous years. Which brings up the next topic being the Yamamoto Pro Cup and if it has the potential to be bigger than the O. Personally, I think the Yamamoto Pro Cup is going to be huge.
Will the Yamamoto Pro Cup Be Bigger Than The O?
At the time of writing this article, I have not seen the accurate and updated list of competitors to be competing at the Yamamoto Pro Cup. However, from the marketing materials released online, it appears that many of the BIG names will be competing. Some of these names include Shawn Rhoden (who hasn’t been on stage all year and was banned from the Olympia), Big Ramy, William Bonac, Cedric McMillan, and Roelly Winklaar.
In essence, if this line-up were to be accurate, this SHOULD HAVE BEEN what the Olympia looked like. Because of the potential to see all of these competitors on the same stage (basically adding Shawn and Ramy to, what was, the Olympia line-up), I believe this show could be bigger and more exciting than the Olympia.
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