007. Mr. America – Rebooted

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The Mr. America title is still much more well known in the general public than the Mr. Olympia title.

Established in 1939 by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), it had a 60-year run.

Listen to this episode to find out its colorful history and the trials and tribulations it went through before it hung up its posing trunks.

00:42 Tamas gives an introduction to the podcast topic which is AAU, Mr. America, and its history.

01:19 Randy provides a rundown about the AAU Mr. America, its format, when and how did it originate.

01:39 Randy mentioned that Mr. America was previously named as America’s Finest Physique.

08:10 Randy discussed the big clash between IFBB and AAU regarding the Mr. America The politics and shenanigans involving different organizations.

08:38 Mr. America for the IFBB gained a little more prestige because some of the biggest names in bodybuilding such as Larry Scott, Dave Draper, Don Howorth, Frank Zane were included on the IFBB Mr. America.

08:58 Randy discussed that the United States Olympic Committee is going to be infused with a lot more power and so the AAU Weightlifting Committee that was controlling bodybuilding and powerlifting is forced to create three separate national governing bodies, one for weightlifting, one for and bodybuilding and one for powerlifting.

11:14 Randy mentioned that by 1983 they changed the American Amature Bodybuilding Championships to the NPC Nationals.

13:20 Tamas mentioned that the last prestigious AAU Mr. America was Tim Belknap in 1981.

13:43 Randy mentioned that Vince Mcmahon of WWE took ownership of the title that is why the Hulk Hogan was allowed to wrestle under the mask of Mr. America for a brief time.

14:18 Bruce Ebel of Gold’s Gym purchased the trademark and gave it to Pete Gronkowski and they are going to reboot Mr. America August 8th this summer in Rochester New York.

18:03 Tamas mentioned that people who are competing have the opportunity to become stars.

18:33 Randy mentioned that he would like to attend the Mr. America. He would like to go down and meet other bodybuilding personalities.

2015 is the year you’ll see the reemergence of Mr. America.  August 8th is the date, Rochester, New York is the place.  Get your tickets at the link below.

Mentioned in the show:

Mr. America 2015 – The Mr. America title is once again up for grabs!