World Class Enterprises Founder and President Ulf Bengtsson told IronMind® that his group, which organize the World's Strongest Man Super Series (WSMSS), is delighted to be returning to the Arnold Strongman this year, and that his group is "looking forward to a great tour this year," which culminates in the sport's numero-uno event, the World's Strongest Man contest.


Former professional bodybuilder and WCE President Ulf Bengtsson, commenting on the Arnold Strongman, said "We're back!" IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, PhD. photo.

The return of WSMSS to the Arnold Strongman contest is significant because the Arnold contest is widely regarded as the top grand prix event in strongman, despite - or because of - its choice to focus more on function and less on flash.

Former IFSA spokesman Jussi Laurimaa, in his quest to create the impression of a sports-entertainment giant, liked to compare IFSA to WWE and F1, and Edmunds, who talks extensively about what he sees as IFSA's "spectacular TV," likens the Arnold to "circus demonstration events," but he's a big supporter of the Arnold nonetheless, saying that it's a way to "weed out the pretenders, as we call them."

Arnold strongman founder Dr. Terry Todd said that the Arnold was designed in response to the traditional approach taken in made-for-TV strongman contests, and that his goal was to "create a contest equally interesting to watch, but that would more clearly reveal who was the strongest man."

Probably understating the general feeling in the strongman community, Todd said that he thinks that the Arnold Strongman contest has been "fairly effective at determining who has the most overall bodily strength in ways that one associates with a strong man," and he points to the contest winners - Mark Henry and Zydrunas Savickas - as examples demonstrating his point.