r/armwrestling•
shlellypop

Gear, popularity of the sport and criticque

I believe that there is a solid chance Levan would eventually stop (if he will not retire) after all) by just simply collapsing like Denis because of gear. Now the 2 biggest determinators of success in armwrwstling is "gear genetics" and "frame". I can understand frame, there are countless sports in which your genetic frame dictates your success, like basketball for example. However what i cant get by is this toleration for gear, and the fact that you can become a world champ by taking absurd amounts of gear, being genetically responsive enough for it and collapse 10 years later like Denis. It makes me furious. It strongly correlates with the ethic of this sport. I come from a background of playing chess since a kid age, and saying a single word in a serious game can get you penalized. Perhaps thats why i see the problem with armwrestling, where you scream, trashtalk and behave like a dork, without reprocussions. This is later the breeding ground for accepting these leagues like EVW (and others before) where its more of an exhibision circus, not a battle of two professional atheles! The one who roides more and becomes the bigger idiot gets more recognition, matches and money. We then ask ourselves, when will armwrestling be an olympic sport? The fact is this popularity armwrestling experienced with the boom of Tiktok, tripling in popularity, is the biggest illusion you will see ever. it is a circular thing:

(X)->armwrestling gets more popular->chances get higher of armwrestling becoming an olympic sport or being more popular worldwide

But then you realize what is X, and X is the exact reason why armwrwstling got more popular, but why no serious organization will invest in this sport.

Why would someone of some sort of power in the sports world see armwrestling, in which the biggest representatives are roided 30-50year old men being unethical and unsportsman like, bending the rules and acting like a circus figure, and the owners of said circus (like engin etc..) be even more retarded, be an attractive place to invest time money and effort in?

We have to take one step back to take two forward, penalize PED usage, punish unsportsman like behaviour, and make the organizations change the format from this gladiator type bs to tournaments, much more frequent elite matches and strictness

This sport is not moving anywhere from this peak. The sport will lose some sort of popularity because for the majority the stronger(roids) and controversial(unethical beh.) the athlete the more interesting it is to watch, however, when we get rid of this, the broader world will start to accept this sport as a serious one

Posted Aug 11, 2026, 11:34 AM UTC

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