My thoughts at the moment:
Levrone: Nowhere near where he used to be, and I’m thinking that this is possibly a publicity stunt because Kai’s not going to be there and Phil doesn’t usually have a positive fan reception. If Kev were to suddenly “injure” himself and only end up guest posing I wouldn’t be shocked.
Wolf: I hadn’t heard about an injury, but despite having some of the best conditioning of the entire line up in past shows, his height will continue to work against him with his high lats (better recently though) and weak (relatively) calves.
Kai: While he may be completely done with the Olympia stage (he’s never going to beat Phil, and I think we all know it), I lost so much respect for him with that nonsense last year and pretending he was barred from competing. The guy just disrespects his fans so much with his BullSh-t that I’m sure plenty of people won’t care that he’s absent. Let him tend to his ESPN deal, or his supplement company, or those silly videos where he says absolutely nothing for 5-10 minutes but sounds so emotional and serious.
Rammy: Looked crazy small at the recent Pittsburgh guest posing IMO. Maybe it was just the other Pros being “offseason” (cough, out of shape, cough), but he just didn’t appear as dominating in terms of sheer size. Still, there’s plenty of time before the Olympia to work some magic as folks who follow the sport should know.
Phil: has looked worse and worse at each of his successive “wins”, BUT, as no one else comes to mind as being even close to him, it really does seem a done thing at this point. I’d honestly love to see Rhoden step up his game. I’ve been saying that for a couple of years now, but I guess that window is ever closing.
S