@@josephmccabe9146Only because he refused to bulk and sacrifice his stamina. If he bulked up, he'd be up there. You forget that he had a deadlift above 850 pounds and wasn't a slouch in loglift either. In high rep events, Pudz was king.
I think in pure, raw strength, I'd go with Zydrunas. Shaw was a great counterbalance and Bjornsson of course was always nipping at their heels but Z and Brian pushed the sport to what it is now for better or for worse. My favorites though out the years in terms of dominant champions though have to be Magnus Ver Magnusson and Marius Pudzianowski. They were so incredibly well rounded and in the case of Marius Puzianowski, he was basically peerless. His most impressive loss in my mind isn't even Vasyl for the reasons mentioned in this video (I think he just had more in the tank as that year was absolutely exhausting. Everyone was spent and Virastyuk simply had that manic energy keeping him going to the finish) or Zydrunas which was also a great win. It was Phil Pfister. Marius was at his absolute best and Phil tapped into some stoic place and managed to beat the Dominator in a competition that he could have easily eaten everyone on the planet alive in, any other day. That being said I think when Thor peaked out, he was pretty incredible and possibly in terms of dominance only second to Pudzianoski in terms of total dominance. (With the exception of Loz's epic win in 2016.) For me, I'd say Marius has to be the greatest strongman for what I consider strongman to be as a long term fan and with the understanding of what David Webster and Douglas Edmunds were looking for in a well rounded champion. Hafthor Bjornsson is IMO the most naturally talented strongman ever, and Zydrunas and maybe Kaz on absolute brute strength. I guess the argument could be made for Eddie in raw strength but he didn't have the consistency, longevity and was not as well rounded as either Bill or Big Z or even Brian Shaw.
Everybody always says he wasn't that strong, but he beat them more than they beat him. Brian,Z, big loz a whole bunch of them. Bet Marius would easily kick they're ass
In no particular order, Hafthor, Zydrunas, Mariusz, Brian, Kaz, Jon Pall and Magnus Ver are the 7 Greatest Strongmen of All time. However, when it comes to Pure Brute Strength, Hafthor Julius Bjornsson is the Strongest Man to have ever lived.
No,hafthor and his attitude stinks. The way he behaves in strongman events is very disrespectful,him and his yes men suck. Mariusz is in my opinion #1 of all time.
Pure strength big z has no equal except maybe Eddie Thor only won worlds once and was possibly a deadlift specialist his 501 is still a very dubious record to this day
My thing is you rise up to your competition. Did he do this? Yes he did he would come back the next year stronger than before and dominate he was awesome to watch
What helped Mariusz was his metabolism. He could eat 5lbs of ice cream and it wouldn’t affect his performance. Having no dietary restrictions really boosts one’s morale to maintain your fitness and into an MMA career at almost 50!
Between 2002-2004 Mariusz arguably was the best strongman at the time with his WSM, ESM and grand prix wins. 2004 WSM he narrowly lost to Vasyl and Big Z. There were some remarks on comment sections that Vasyl got a false start on the yoke event, and if that didn't happen, the three of them would have tied in points with Mariusz winning the comp through event countback(deadlift, atlas stones what would have been super yoke).
Thanks for the video !! He is my favorite strongman and to me the most complete strongman ever. He is definitely the best of his time (2000-2009) nobody has ever been that dominant in any era ! He understood that you don't just need to be strong but also athletic, fast and have very good stamina, and his determination to win was on another level !! Here is my Top 5 Greatest Strongmen of All Time : 1. Zydrunas Savickas (LIT) 2. Brian Shaw (USA) 3. Mariusz Pudzianowski (POL) 4. Bill Kazmaïer (USA) 5. Jon Pall Sigmarsson (ICE) What's yours ?
Solid top 5. It’s hard to argue against Z being the greatest and Brian, Mariusz and Kaz being a step behind. I can see JPS, MVM and Thor being pretty much interchangable.
@@thestrongmanhistorian Yeah totally, Thor is definitely one of the best too, considering the fact that he competed in the toughest era ever with Big z and Shaw at their prime ^^ I think that he has 3 second places and 3 third places before he won in 2018, plus he won 3 times in a row the Arnold Strongman Classic that's really impressive !
Its funny that shaw missed a total of 5 titles because of a sandbag mishap earlyin his career and Pudzianowski won his 5th title because his opponent had a mishap on the atlas stones.
To me: Zydrunas is the best Strongman athlete, Kazmaier is the most impressive strongman for his time and at his peak, could likely still compete against today's athletes... but Eddie in 2017 was objectively the most statically strong *MAN* who has ever lived.
Definitely the Dominator, however, I simply can’t put him as the GOAT because he won during the split, he won the lighter shows (relatively obv), and once WSM got heavy again he left (for a good reason but still)
To be fair to Pudz, even tho Z was better at the 2009 WSM he absolutely had a shot at winning it. It’s not like he got his ass handed to him. The top 5 times at the Plane Pull and Stones were all within like 2 seconds. That’s where Pudzian lost 6points to Z. It could have flipped if he was just a touch faster in those.
Who are the other GOAT candidates going to be? Žydrūnas is an obvious one, and I'd expect the other four-time winners to be there. Kaz deserves a mention too. But that still leaves a spot open.
@@thestrongmanhistorian thanks you. He was my guess for that spot. Despite only 1 WSM win, he has a lot of extremely high placements and also tons of victories in other international comps. And while I wasn't following the sport back then, people seem to agree that he was the best strongman ever that one year.
I thought about including Jouko in this series but making the case for him would be really tough. I wish he didn’t retire when he was the best, would have been great to see him in the early 2000s.
Definitely one of the best. Another one to consider is Kazmaier. All things considered, I think Z should count as the greatest. That might be challenged in the near future by Tom or Hooper. And the greatest strongman natural talent is Biby, in my opinion.
Powerlifting is a far purer test of strength than strongman contests. Therefore the strongest man in history is Jesus Olivares who set a raw powerlifting total at 2,540 lbs (1,152.5 kg), in 2023.
Strongmen can get very close to those numbers in a couple of months of PL training, just look at Hafthor or Graham Hicks. Jesus would have to train strongman for years to even be close to the best.
In individual lifts, maybe, but all three main lifts on the same day? Strongman contests require you to sacrifice some strength for speed and endurance in order to run around with weights.
Thor put up a 1100 total in wraps with a 6weeks prep. Hicks 1100 in wraps first time squatting for max. The fact that they can pull an all time great total out of their ass speaks volumes.
If one of them could break the powerlifting world record total in one day then I would consider them to be the strongest of all time. Just having one great lift on one night isn't enough to make them the strongest of all time - except maybe in just that lift if it breaks the previous world record.
I looked at your channel. Not much about Ole Bill. He is the best...EVER....no doubt. You don't even have him on your "strong man" channel. What is up? You don't like fact or Americans?
I literally made a video about the best Americans with Kaz in it. So I have Bill on my “strong man” channel but I guess you don’t like facts or non Americans.
He was definitely the most hungry out of all of them, beyond human
He’s easily my favorite.
He’s the one that got me into the sport. He’s no doubt the 3rd best of all time.
Mariusz was an absolute beast
His international win rate really should be considered more than it does in most lists.
Hard to argue against him being top 3
His 70.5% international winning percentage will never be surpassed. Truly the 'Dominator' of Strongman!
Never won any Arnold’s, wasn’t strong enough.
@@josephmccabe9146Only because he refused to bulk and sacrifice his stamina. If he bulked up, he'd be up there. You forget that he had a deadlift above 850 pounds and wasn't a slouch in loglift either. In high rep events, Pudz was king.
I think in pure, raw strength, I'd go with Zydrunas. Shaw was a great counterbalance and Bjornsson of course was always nipping at their heels but Z and Brian pushed the sport to what it is now for better or for worse. My favorites though out the years in terms of dominant champions though have to be Magnus Ver Magnusson and Marius Pudzianowski. They were so incredibly well rounded and in the case of Marius Puzianowski, he was basically peerless. His most impressive loss in my mind isn't even Vasyl for the reasons mentioned in this video (I think he just had more in the tank as that year was absolutely exhausting. Everyone was spent and Virastyuk simply had that manic energy keeping him going to the finish) or Zydrunas which was also a great win. It was Phil Pfister. Marius was at his absolute best and Phil tapped into some stoic place and managed to beat the Dominator in a competition that he could have easily eaten everyone on the planet alive in, any other day. That being said I think when Thor peaked out, he was pretty incredible and possibly in terms of dominance only second to Pudzianoski in terms of total dominance. (With the exception of Loz's epic win in 2016.)
For me, I'd say Marius has to be the greatest strongman for what I consider strongman to be as a long term fan and with the understanding of what David Webster and Douglas Edmunds were looking for in a well rounded champion. Hafthor Bjornsson is IMO the most naturally talented strongman ever, and Zydrunas and maybe Kaz on absolute brute strength. I guess the argument could be made for Eddie in raw strength but he didn't have the consistency, longevity and was not as well rounded as either Bill or Big Z or even Brian Shaw.
Everybody always says he wasn't that strong, but he beat them more than they beat him. Brian,Z, big loz a whole bunch of them. Bet Marius would easily kick they're ass
All sports have to be entertaining and nobody was more entertaining than Mariusz.
He is such an enigma to me, since he has always had the physique of a bodybuilder! Freak genetics and fantastic athlete!
B U T T H E I F S A S P L I T
He whooped plenty of the IFSA competitors prior to the split.
In no particular order, Hafthor, Zydrunas, Mariusz, Brian, Kaz, Jon Pall and Magnus Ver are the 7 Greatest Strongmen of All time. However, when it comes to Pure Brute Strength, Hafthor Julius Bjornsson is the Strongest Man to have ever lived.
Kazmaier would like a word, at least for the 7 greatest
@@metalheadjackass he literally said kaz
@@Kiromony My bad, I misread. :(
No,hafthor and his attitude stinks. The way he behaves in strongman events is very disrespectful,him and his yes men suck. Mariusz is in my opinion #1 of all time.
Pure strength big z has no equal except maybe Eddie Thor only won worlds once and was possibly a deadlift specialist his 501 is still a very dubious record to this day
Doesn’t matter what people say, he will forever hold the 5x world strongest man! No one will ever match or beat that! Polish Power!
The Dominator ❤
My thing is you rise up to your competition. Did he do this? Yes he did he would come back the next year stronger than before and dominate he was awesome to watch
What helped Mariusz was his metabolism. He could eat 5lbs of ice cream and it wouldn’t affect his performance. Having no dietary restrictions really boosts one’s morale to maintain your fitness and into an MMA career at almost 50!
Quite a highlight
Bringing nba contenti
to strongman. Love it
Glad you enjoyed. Clayton has great content.
Kasmier was screwed, he should've got 5 or 6.
....To nic by nie dało... nia dało by nic 😊
Unfortunately I couldn’t include the audio of that clip. Nonslavic people wouldn’t get it. To nic by nie dalo.
Between 2002-2004 Mariusz arguably was the best strongman at the time with his WSM, ESM and grand prix wins. 2004 WSM he narrowly lost to Vasyl and Big Z. There were some remarks on comment sections that Vasyl got a false start on the yoke event, and if that didn't happen, the three of them would have tied in points with Mariusz winning the comp through event countback(deadlift, atlas stones what would have been super yoke).
Thanks for the video !! He is my favorite strongman and to me the most complete strongman ever.
He is definitely the best of his time (2000-2009) nobody has ever been that dominant in any era !
He understood that you don't just need to be strong but also athletic, fast and have very good stamina, and his determination to win was on another level !!
Here is my Top 5 Greatest Strongmen of All Time :
1. Zydrunas Savickas (LIT)
2. Brian Shaw (USA)
3. Mariusz Pudzianowski (POL)
4. Bill Kazmaïer (USA)
5. Jon Pall Sigmarsson (ICE)
What's yours ?
Solid top 5. It’s hard to argue against Z being the greatest and Brian, Mariusz and Kaz being a step behind.
I can see JPS, MVM and Thor being pretty much interchangable.
@@thestrongmanhistorian Yeah totally, Thor is definitely one of the best too, considering the fact that he competed in the toughest era ever with Big z and Shaw at their prime ^^
I think that he has 3 second places and 3 third places before he won in 2018, plus he won 3 times in a row the Arnold Strongman Classic that's really impressive !
He will be a part of this series for that exact reason.
Its funny that shaw missed a total of 5 titles because of a sandbag mishap earlyin his career and Pudzianowski won his 5th title because his opponent had a mishap on the atlas stones.
To me: Zydrunas is the best Strongman athlete, Kazmaier is the most impressive strongman for his time and at his peak, could likely still compete against today's athletes... but Eddie in 2017 was objectively the most statically strong *MAN* who has ever lived.
Definitely the Dominator, however, I simply can’t put him as the GOAT because he won during the split, he won the lighter shows (relatively obv), and once WSM got heavy again he left (for a good reason but still)
To be fair to Pudz, even tho Z was better at the 2009 WSM he absolutely had a shot at winning it.
It’s not like he got his ass handed to him.
The top 5 times at the Plane Pull and Stones were all within like 2 seconds. That’s where Pudzian lost 6points to Z. It could have flipped if he was just a touch faster in those.
@@thestrongmanhistorian - Z is like 70 pounds heavier than mariusz. its a testament to his well-roundedness that he kept up with him.
Who are the other GOAT candidates going to be? Žydrūnas is an obvious one, and I'd expect the other four-time winners to be there. Kaz deserves a mention too. But that still leaves a spot open.
Thor
@@thestrongmanhistorian thanks you. He was my guess for that spot. Despite only 1 WSM win, he has a lot of extremely high placements and also tons of victories in other international comps. And while I wasn't following the sport back then, people seem to agree that he was the best strongman ever that one year.
That will probably be the last video as he still has some years left in him.
@@thestrongmanhistorian that makes sense. He is still a contender for winning the big shows.
Big Z is the strongest man to ever walk the 🌎
he is second, first is mighty bloatlord KYRIAKOS KAPAKOULAK (Grizzly)🤣
@@bury4660 🤣🤣 that's funny
Personally I'd say Jouko Ahola is the greatest, he was very small compared to these guys.
I thought about including Jouko in this series but making the case for him would be really tough. I wish he didn’t retire when he was the best, would have been great to see him in the early 2000s.
Did he say baggy shoes or bad issues 😅
Back issues
Definitely one of the best. Another one to consider is Kazmaier. All things considered, I think Z should count as the greatest. That might be challenged in the near future by Tom or Hooper. And the greatest strongman natural talent is Biby, in my opinion.
The guys that I'll be doing these videos for are Zydrunas, Kaz, Maggie, JPS and Thor.
Powerlifting is a far purer test of strength than strongman contests. Therefore the strongest man in history is Jesus Olivares who set a raw powerlifting total at 2,540 lbs (1,152.5 kg), in 2023.
Strongmen can get very close to those numbers in a couple of months of PL training, just look at Hafthor or Graham Hicks. Jesus would have to train strongman for years to even be close to the best.
In individual lifts, maybe, but all three main lifts on the same day? Strongman contests require you to sacrifice some strength for speed and endurance in order to run around with weights.
Thor put up a 1100 total in wraps with a 6weeks prep. Hicks 1100 in wraps first time squatting for max.
The fact that they can pull an all time great total out of their ass speaks volumes.
If one of them could break the powerlifting world record total in one day then I would consider them to be the strongest of all time. Just having one great lift on one night isn't enough to make them the strongest of all time - except maybe in just that lift if it breaks the previous world record.
No Olympic lifting is
the dominator is the GOAT
I looked at your channel. Not much about Ole Bill. He is the best...EVER....no doubt. You don't even have him on your "strong man" channel. What is up? You don't like fact or Americans?
I literally made a video about the best Americans with Kaz in it. So I have Bill on my “strong man” channel but I guess you don’t like facts or non Americans.