029. Arnold Speaks On His 1980 Comeback
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Arnold’s Reasons For His 1980 Comeback
Just when you thought it was safe to move on from the 1980 Mr. Olympia…
A question from a reader sucked us right back into the thick of one of the most controversial Mr. Olympias ever!
Anthony Corradini asked Randy why he brushed over Arnold’s own remarks concerning his return to competition in 1980 in a 2007 interview with Pro Bodybuilding Weekly.
Randy addresses Anthony’s pertinent question then responds in full (even throwing in some facts) to what the then governator had to say about his return to competition.
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Hosts: Randy Roach and Tamas Acs
Episode #29
Arnold’s Comeback
In This Episode:
Arnold’s February 2007 intrview with Pro Bodybuilding Weekly
Why did Arnold come back in 1980 to compete
What did Bill Pearl tell Arnold at the end of pre-judging
What was Randy’s opinion on Arnold’s condition
Similar circumstances with the 1975 Mr. Olympia
Iconic shots in bodybuilding
Related Links:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007-radio-show-archive.html
Episode Summary
Anthony Corradini is thanked for bringing to Randy’s attention a 2007 interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Pro Bodybuilding Weekly
Anthony was curious as to why Randy did not include Arnold’s comments about the 1980 Mr. Olympia
Randy at first was not aware of the 2007 interview, but did recall hearing it 9 years ago after listening once again
Tamas played a clip from the show where Arnold spoke on why he competed in 1980
Randy had not begun researching the 1980 Mr. Olympia back in 2007 when he first listened to the show
After playing the clip, Randy elaborated on Arnold’s reasoning for his competition return
Did Arnold return for revenge on Frank Zane for embarrassing Arnold on CBS television following Franks third Mr. Olympia victory
Was Arnold wanting to teach Boyer Coe and Mike Mentzer a lesson for criticizing Arnold’s training
Did Arnold compete because filming for Conan the Barbarian was delayed
Was there further rasoning
It was discussed how Arnold’s return to bodybuilding at that time of his career could be argued as a backward step for him
Arnold’s strained relationship with Joe Weider during the later 1970s was brought up
Randy also took issue with Arnold’s statements regarding Bill Pearl telling Arnold after the pre-judging that Arnold was in third place trailing by two points
Randy discussed the oddity of these statements as Arnold was never trailing in the contest and that Bill Pearl had stepped down as head judge
Arnold had kept his entry secret right up to contest time
Bill recused himself when he learned of Arnold’s entry into the contest
Charles Gaines also declined to go to Australia when he learned of Arnold’s plans earlier that summer
Randy shares from Volume III, Book 1 how judges were swapped last minute
Arnold did not return to bodybuilding to lose
Similar thoughts surrounded the 1975 Mr. Olympia
Arnold was enticed out of retirement in 1974 by a big money offer from George Butler and Jerome Gary
Randy gave his opinion on Arnold in 1980
The cover of Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding depicts Arnold’s condition at the 1980 Mr. Olympia
Randy conceded that the shot of Arnold on the cover of his first book, The Education of a Bodybuilder is still iconic as is the 1972 victory pose of Sergio Oliva
Tamas speculated on what that 2007 interview may have looked like had Volume III, Book 1 of Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors been out at that time
Randy shared how many had asked him if he would have liked an interview with Arnold
Randy stated that his book is different because he was able to get important figures from Australia to speak for the first time publicly
Bodybuilders such as Danny Padilla, Tom Platz and Casey Viator felt Arnold still had enough to win
Vince Basile stated that Arnold looked better live due to his charisma, but the photos and slides did not show him as the winner
Tamas asked if anyone knew what had happened to the film footage shot by CBS television
Randy added how CBS had filmed an entire day in the lives of Boyer Coe, Mike Mentzer, Dennis Tinerino and Frank Zane
More was discussed on the judging discrepancies and the judges’ dilemma
Randy brought up how the mass equation had changed since Arnold had last competed…Mike Mentzer possibly weighing more than Arnold while standing almost six inches shorter
Randy’s Post Podcast Comments:
In a late 2014 interview, Frank Zane told me that he had not heard Arnold Schwarzenegger speak negatively about anyone in the previous 10 years. Frank was most likely correct as Arnold had become quite a seasoned politician through that span of time. Arnold was in fact far more diplomatic in his February 2007 interview with Pro Bodybuilding Weekly about his rturn to bodybuilding in 1980 when compared to what he told Charles Gaines in 1981:
“I wanted to have a good time with the whole thing. To go there, see them all be surprised, see them all freak out and have diarrhea, you know? And be confused and be upset about it, and have a career that they had planned for themselves go down the tube in two seconds.” (“Pumping Iron: Revised”, 1981)
Updates:
Randy updated listeners on his upcoming article for Joe Pietaro’s MuscleSport magazine, “The American Muscle Monopoly”. Randy and Tamas will do a show on this article when it is published later in April of 2016
