“This Is How Much It Has Gone Down”: 4x Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler Weighed In on 2023 Arnold Classic Stripping Women’s Physique and Other Divisions From Competition

The name Jay Cutler is synonymous with the era of modern bodybuilding. This 4 time Mr. Olympia winner was the person who dethroned Ronnie “The King” Coleman. In the physique competition world, Cutler’s quad stomp quickly became a hit.

Truly, very few athletes were as capable as Cutler in achieving such great on-stage conditions. Other than his chiseled quads and lower body, Cutler was also infamous for his humongous traps and massive chest development, a point where he and Ronnie rivaled strongly.

So, when the prestigious competition ‘Arnold Classic’ decided to do away with the competitive divisions, he was one of the first ones to speak up. Participants like Sarah Villegas had resorted to social channels to speak about their problems. And Jay’s opinions added a greater value to the whole dialogue. In an episode of his podcast, Cutler voiced his opinions regarding the fiasco.

Jay Cutler weighs in on removing the competition divisions

In the podcast, Cutler took to the topic of stripping away the categories, saying that it was an unwise decision. He opined that directly doing away with these divisions would not be a prudent business policy. Jay explained the various costs that go into hosting a stage like the ‘Arnold Classic.’

He also commented that without understanding which category has brought the greatest sales, it’d be hard to understand the business. Cutler also put out that some divisions pull more audience than others, a good thing for the enterprise.

Cutler further emphasized the downsides of this decision to strip off the divisions. Hosting the Arnold Classic demands roughly $1.8 Million.

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To bolden his point, Cutler said, “there’s no real, ‘hey, this is how much it has gone down, or how much we’ve lost,’ there’s a cap, it’s a break, even to host this event, meaning with production, live streaming, staffing, prize money, sponsors,”. 

The traditional history of division in bodybuilding

When speaking about the divisions in bodybuilding, there is a rich history hidden in the classic division. The “classic” was meant for greek-god bodies ideally, with a chiseled physique and balanced mass.

But, this soon was overthrown in the 90s as mass monsters like Coleman and Dorian Yates took to the stage. But, when coming to women’s stage, there are multiple variations like bikini, physique, bodybuilding, etc each having its patrons and techniques.

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The followers of each sect have a particular eye for aesthetics and not every division has an equal amount of patrons. With that being said, how the decision to abolish these divisions fares out will be a question for the future.