The bodybuilding stage has seen many famous rivalries. Sometimes the rivalry ran so deep that even the participants displayed their dislike on stage. While the moments are often just embedded in the participant’s memory, sometimes they get captured in the lens. One moment that surprised everyone was during the 2004 Mr. Olympia competition when Jay Cutler did something unexpected to Ronnie Coleman.
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There’s no hiding the professional rivalry that Jay and Ronnie shared. Two of the best competitors hyped the audience’s adrenal every time they came on stage. While Ronnie was the reigning champion, Jay’s inspiration to clench the first spot grew with every competition. Not once but four times in a row, Jay saw defeat at the hands of ‘the King.’
Jay made his way
For Jay, Ronnie had always been the idol, but his perspective changed when he realized he would be competing with him. He then let out his competitive side to speak for him. 2004 was a crucial year for both Jay and Ronnie; while Jay wanted to break through his chain of defeat, Ronnie wanted to secure his seventh win and tie with Arnold.
The competition was tough, and the air was intense. Taking back the lanes of memory in the archived video, Ronnie, alongside his fellow competitor, is seen posing for the panel. As the two were engrossed in their own’ posing,’ Jay made an unexpected entry. The moment that followed is undeniably one of the ‘Coldest Bodybuilding moments’ in bodybuilding history.
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In the shared video clip, it can be seen that Jay Cutler pushes Ronnie away to make himself some space. Ronnie, though for a brief second, looks at his fellow competitor but soon resumes with his drill. Eventually, Ronnie wins the title.
For Jay, “second place is still second best to the best guy in the world,” thus for him, winning the title became a need. He acknowledged that he looked at Ronnie as his biggest competitor and was desperate to defeat him.
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Defeating Ronnie Coleman became Cutler’s only objective
When Jay retired from the sport, he devoted his time to replaying his “career over and over.” His fans repeatedly reminded him of the bygone days, but soon enough, he realized that his fans don’t talk about his other accomplishments. For them, he is “the guy who beat Ronnie Coleman.”
Jay eventually realized that his “whole career was about beating the one guy.” Jay observed Ronnie was progressively receding as his career began to pick up speed. Ronnie’s presence inspired Cutler on stage to outperform him. As a result, Ronnie wasn’t as “motivated as previously” when he decided to quit.
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