The epic rivalry between Flex Wheeler and Dorian Yates was one of the biggest tea for the bodybuilding community back in the day. While Wheeler always placed well in the rankings, he missed out on his chances of lifting the Sandow Trophy during his prime. 1997 Mr. Olympia came along. Nasser El-Sonbatty was seen as a serious threat to Yates that year. Amidst Yates-Nasser debate, Wheeler’s absence at the Olympia somewhat went unnoticed. In fact, Wheeler then had his own battles to fight. 

Ahead of the 1997 Mr. Olympia, Wheeler revealed unexpected news to the bodybuilding community. Just days before the competition, Wheeler announced that he will not be taking part in the competition as he went through a car-jacking incident during which he fought two men. Wheeler reasoned this as he suffered a few injuries in the confrontation. Over the years, the story got twisted by many and a few started referring to it as ‘Wheeler fighting ninjas.’ 25 years later, bodybuilding veterans Samir Bannout, John Hansen, and Nick Trigili discussed this on the 41st episode of The Muscle Maturity Podcast.

Real Reason for Wheeler calling it quits

Nick Trigili started the discussion by jokingly saying, “Flex Wheeler might have been under the influence of something when he said that he got attacked by ninjas.” The trio discussed what could have been the real reason for him not competing. Hansen gave his two cents about the incident and revealed that he heard Wheeler was not in shape and that is why he decided to not compete that year. 

Hansen continued by saying that according to a tape that he saw of that year, Wheeler was not quite ready for the Olympia. “So there’s one from 97 [tape] and they show Flex training in the gym, and they show him…I think they show him posing, but you could see he wasn’t in shape,” told Hansen.

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Wheeler talks about the whole incident

Flex Wheeler revealed the exact incident once while talking about how he got car-jacked. He told that one of them had a gun while the other one had martial arts sticks. He also added that he refused to go to the hospital and took some painkillers instead. The video describes the horrific incident in Wheeler’s own words. 

Wheeler, as a result of this incident, decided not to compete due to the injuries sustained. He continued by explaining that his wife had to rush him to the hospital the next afternoon due to the resulting pain. 

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Nobody knows what the actual truth behind Wheeler’s absence at 1997 Olympia was. While Wheeler himself had a completely different story to tell, the majority of the bodybuilding community had otherwise to say. Whatever the actual truth might be, there’s no denying that Flex Wheeler was one of the best bodybuilders that the community has ever witnessed.