I believe the worlds strongest man has a pretty good system for determining “the worlds strongest man”. There really is no other good way to determine it than to take a good number of different tests of strength, including different types of strenth, and see who is the best overall when all are looked at with equal weight. Powerlifters are very strong but it is so specialized that they cannot effectively train for any other type of strength without thier 3 big lifts suffereing.
Mariusz on the other hand can put up insane numbers on the big 3, probably more than 99.99% of t-nationers, and still excel in every WSM type event. All I know is that if I was in the woods and a 500lb tree fell on top of me and crushed my legs, I would rather have mariusz come by to lift it off than any powerlifter.
For another definition of strength that I think applies here is “the lack of a weakness.” This clearly applies to Mariusz more than any human being to this point.
V