Im a bit confused by the hierarchy/prestige of bodybuilding competitions. My impression is that Mr Olympia is the highest or most prestigious, but is that always the case? What about the others? Are they all in preparation for the big dance?
Ive wondered this for a good while. Thanks!
I don’t know if you can rank them from best to worst completely, but the Olympia is top for sure with the Arnold Classic after that.
Some shows used to be a bigger deal like the Night of Champions(now NY pro) but now are just considered a regular pro show. I would say after the Olympia Arnold and maybe Europa all the shows done in the states are pretty much of equal prestige.
That all makes sense to me. I figured there wasnt an established hierarchy. I was just curious about the presumptive or common thoughts on the competitions.
What about Mr Universe?
To be honest I had to look it up to see if it still existed, that sort of gives an idea of how important it is to a casual fan lol. From what I saw it is put on by NABBA which is not a big organization and mostly has participants in Europe if memory serves me correctly.
The main shows are all either IFBB pro shows or NPC pro qualifying level shows like USAs, Nationals, and North American.
Great. Thanks for the info!
The Mr. Universe is now known as the IFBB Amateur World Championships and it is the top amateur show in the world.
And yeah NABBA shows are rife in the UK - all of our main shows (Mr North-East, Mr Midlands, Mr and Mrs GB etc…)
JJ