Jay Cutler believes modern bodybuilders is resembling the 90s era of the sport.
Four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler believes the modern era of bodybuilding is very reminiscent of the 90s era of well conditioned mass monsters. The veteran bodybuilding champion views many of the top athletes of today as the new era of the sport.
For everything there is a season, no denying that. Whether it’s politics, movies and television, or sports, eras come and go. With those eras we see very distinct points of comparison. In film it could be a certain method of creating new narratives or executing a particular shot that impossible to capture in the past. But specifically in bodybuilding we have seen a few different eras in the game.
There’s the first vestiges of the modern game where bodybuilders were all natural and well built if not massive. Then we entered the “Golden Era” of the sport introducing modern legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva, and Lou Ferrigno to name a few. Then we entered the modern era of the sport where Mass Monsters like Dorian Yates changed the game forever. Since that precedent was set bodybuilders have followed a similar formula to what was established by Yates.
State of the Modern Era
Fast forward to 2023 and a certain four-time Mr. Olympia believes that bodybuilding has returned to the days where Dorian Yates, Flex Wheeler, and Kevin Levrone ruled the day. Jay Cutler recently touched on who he believes are top threats to 2022 Mr. Olympia champion Hadi Choopan.
“Hadi is going to be very difficult to beat. People forget quick man, you know,” said Jay Cutler. “You guys got to remember, he’s knocked at that door and he kicked that thing in. Not even – you know a better overall look, but not what he is capable of. Yeah, I think so too [he’ll be better]. I think Derek is going to be tremendously better and Samson peaked once already this year… it’s tough. And Nick Walker is even more hungry now.”
The Men’s Open division is currently top heavy with a host of competitors who could win the Olympia title on any given day. Jay Cutler acknowledges that even two-time Olympia champion Big Ramy could have a resurgence. After all, Cutler had to battle back to reclaim the title himself in the past.
“Listen, I think Ramy can still come back and win this thing, you know. I mean, we forget about – where’s Brandon Curry fall in this? What if Brandon has time down and comes in. Remember, he was beating down the door for a couple of years straight.
“Dude, Derek is very dangerous in that spot too. I mean, who’s going to beat him in the rear poses? Who’s going to be him in front double biceps. You think Samson can beat him in a front double? Derek has the lats and the small waist and that front double that’s just bananas.”
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Like The 90s
Jay Cutler would go on to compare the current standing of the Men’s Open division to the 90s era of the sport. Like the 90s, the current era of bodybuilding has a ton of great talent that could all potentially be the best in the world at any given time.
“We’re falling back into that 90s era of competitive [bodybuilding] – ‘oh this guy could be here,’ we’re still not talking about Hunter Labrada who I feel could be in the mix. I mean, these are people that we just – there’s a lot of excluded people that we’re still excited about. Is Sergio going to come back? Yeah. I mean, there’s so many guys.”
To hear everything Jay Cutler had to say on his podcast click here.
What do you think of the current standing of the Men’s Open division?
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News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
