Best of the NPC Nationals

A Brief Look at the Stars of the USA's Top Amateur Event

1982 Lee Haney

Until 1982, the top amateur title in the USA was the AAU Mr. America. In 1982, Jim Manion formed a new organization called the NPC, or National Physique Committee. That year, the first NPC National Championships was won by a 22-year-old from Spartanburg, South Carolina named Lee Haney. At the premier edition and for two more, the Nationals featured just 4 weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight, and heavyweight. Lee won the heavyweight class en route to the Overall, beating out excellent stars of the era such as Matt Mendenhall, Tim Belknap, Bob Paris, and Mike Christian. All but Mendenhall would go on to become Pros also. Another curious fact about the first three years of the NPC Nationals is that it was not a Pro qualifier. Class winners were eligible to go on to the IFBB World Amateur Championships, where they could earn Pro status by winning their weight division up against representatives from all other IFBB-affiliated nations. Lee Haney did just that, and would go on to set the all-time-record of 8 Mr. Olympia wins, jointly held with Ronnie Coleman.

1983 Bob Paris

The next NPC National champion was Bob Paris, known then and now for his structure, shape, symmetry, and artistic posing presentation. Paris never won a Pro show, but was in the top 3 on 8 separate occasions. Moreover, he is often referenced as having one of the most classical and aesthetically pleasing physiques of all time, and was compared many times to the legendary Steve Reeves. Second place that year went to Rory Leidelmyer, another classic bodybuilder who most assumed would eventually turn pro along with perennial 80’s threat Matt Mendenhall, yet neither did.

1984 Mike Christian

After coming close at the first two NPC Nationals, California’s Mike Christian finally took it all home in 1984. With his enormous upper body that rivaled Haney’s in many ways, Mike would go on to win five Pro shows and place top 5 at the Mr. Olympia 5 times, with his best outing being third place in 1986. This was the final year that Nationals champions were required to proceed to the IFBB World Championships to turn Pro, and Mike did that, along with light-heavyweight winner Rich Gaspari and middleweight John Hnatyschak.

1986 Gary Strydom

Back then, just as it is today, only US citizens are eligible to compete in the NPC Nationals. Gary Strydom had emigrated to the USA earlier in the decade from his native South Africa, and began competing in his adopted homeland shortly after. He’d won the heavyweight class at the USA, but lost the Overall to Phil Williams, who went on to become the 1985 NPC Nationals champ. Gary was known for his tremendous deltoid and quadriceps development, and would go on to win 4 IFBB Pro shows, including his debut at the 1987 Night of Champions (now New York Pro). In late 1990, Gary was recruited by Vince McMahon to headline his new World Bodybuilding Federation, or WBF, which attempted to blend the theatrics of pro wrestling with pro bodybuilding. Strydom won both annual championship events that the WBF held before it was dissolved after the 1992 edition. Gary resurfaced just twice more, competing in IFBB events in 1996 and 2006.

1987 Shawn Ray

This was the year 22-year-old Shawn Ray swept the show in Atlantic City before embarking on a stellar Pro career. Though he only won two Pro shows in 13 seasons as a Pro (one was the 1991 Arnold Classic, he had won the 90 Arnold, but was disqualified), his Mr. Olympia track record is impressive. For twelve years in a row from 1990 until his final season competing in 2001, Shawn never placed lower than fifth at the O. In 1994 and again in 1996, Ray placed second to Dorian Yates at the big show, with many fans of aesthetics and symmetry feeling he was the rightful victor. Shawn followed up his competitive career by switching to the media side of the sport, becoming a contest promoter, emcee, writer, and commentator.

1988 Vince Taylor

Like Shawn, Vince Taylor was a protégé of Mr. Universe John Brown, and he followed Ray’s Nationals win a year later with one of his own. Though he started competing later than most and turned pro at 32, a full 10 years old than Shawn had been, he soon made up for lost time. Vince won his first Pro show in 1989, and took third at the Mr. Olympia as a rookie that same year. Vince held the record for most Pro wins at 22, until first Ronnie Coleman and then Dexter Jackson broke the record. Still, Vince was known as one of the most entertaining posers the sport ever saw, pioneering ‘The Terminator’ routine at the 1991 Mr. Olympia that has been imitated countless times since. Taylor could also be arguably the greatest Masters competitor ever, with 5 Masters Mr. Olympia titles.

1991 Kevin Levrone

Outside of the Baltimore area, no one had heard of Kevin Levrone until 1991. That all changed when he won the Junior Nationals and then what was possibly the greatest Heavyweight class of all time. Keep in mind that there still was no Super Heavyweight, and would not be one until 1998. That meant that until then, every man over 198 ¼ pounds was a heavyweight. The top five in 1991 was Kevin Levrone, Flex Wheeler, Paul DeMayo, Ronnie Coleman, and Matt Mendenhall. Levrone, who became known as The Maryland Muscle Machine, would go on to place second at the Mr. Olympia in his rookie year, a feat he would repeat three more times. Kevin racked up an impressive 20 Pro wins, and returned to competition at the 2016 Mr. Olympia after 13 years away. He now owns Kevin Levrone Signature Series supplements, hosts ‘How I See It’ right here on MD, and will soon begin preparations for the 2018 Arnold Classic Australia.

1993 Mike Francois

Ohio’s Mike Francois burst on the national scene in the early 1990’s, and 1993 would be the year he graduated to the IFBB Pro League ranks. After taking second place at the USA to Dennis Newman, Mike dominated the NPC Nationals that fall. He competed in 2 shows in 1994 and again in 1995, and won all 4. His most notable victory was the 1995 Arnold Classic, which took place in his hometown of Columbus, on his birthday! Not only that, but he beat the phenomenal Flex Wheeler to earn that win. Mike was thick and dense, with a herculean physique many compared to reigning Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Much of that mass had been built training with world-class powerlifters under the supervision of Louis Simmons at Westside Barbell. Unfortunately, Mike’s career was cut short by ulcerative colitis that forced the removal of his large intestine, and he retired in 1997.

1994 Paul DeMayo

Although Tom Platz is universally revered as having built the greatest legs of all time, Boston’s Paul “Quadzilla” DeMayo certainly deserves his share of recognition as well. Paul may have been known mainly for his freaky legs, but his arms were also outstanding, and he fit right into the mold of the new mass monsters that emerged in the 90’s, like Dorian, Dillett, Nasser, and Ruhl. Sadly, Paul’s Pro career was over in the blink of an eye. He competed at the 1995 Mr. Olympia on a special invite, three grand prix events that immediately followed, then never again. His life post-bodybuilding was troubled, including a year in prison on weapons charges. Paul died of a heroin overdose is 2005 at the age of 37. Along with Matt Duvall, the 2003 winner, Paul is the only NPC Nationals Overall Champion who is no longer with us.

2000 Victor Martinez

The Dominican Dominator didn’t have to travel far to earn his Pro card, as it was held this year in his native New York City. Victor’s formidable package of structure, size, and shape would carry him to 6 Pro wins, including an Arnold Classic title in 2007. It was the Mr. Olympia that same year when many felt he should have rightfully beaten reigning champ Jay Cutler (who won the heavyweight class at the 1996 NPC Nationals). Now 44 years old, Martinez continues to compete successfully, most recently winning the Muscle Mayhem Kansas Pro earlier this season.

2001 Johnnie Jackson

What were the odds? Two training partners from the same little hardcore gym in Arlington, Texas that happened to be the same place Ronnie Coleman trained, would both earn their Pro cards the same night. Johnnie Jackson won the light-heavyweight and Overall titles, while his friend Branch Warren won the heavyweight class. Though Branch ultimately fared better as a Pro, winning two Arnold Classic titles and being runner-up at the 2009 Mr. Olympia, Johnnie scored 5 Pro wins of his own before retiring a few weeks ago after a full 16 seasons in the pro ranks. The 2001 NPC Nationals was also notable for its Super Heavyweight winner, the late Atwood, and lightweight winner Jose Raymond, who would finally accept his Pro card after winning his division at the Nationals for the third time in 2007, the third and final time, as a middleweight.

2007 Evan Centopani

With some of the absolute best shoulders and arms in the game, Connecticut’s Evan Centopani swept the NPC Nationals at 25 years old. Evan has only won 2 Pro shows thus far, but has become one of the sport’s most popular and respected athletes due to his vast knowledge of nutrition and supplementation that he shares with fans.

2009 Cedric McMillan

Despite having been working in the industry and attending dozens of Pro and national events since 1991, I didn’t watch my first NPC Nationals until the 2009 show in Fort Lauderdale. I sure picked a good year, because this was the first glimpse the world got of a big old country boy and US Army instructor from South Carolina named Cedric McMillian. Cedric was a throwback to the classic era of men like Arnold and Robby, with jaw-dropping shape and proportions along with a waist that seemed impossibly small for a man of 6-1, 265 pounds. No less than Lee Haney predicted that Cedric would become Mr. Olympia. That hasn’t happened yet, but Cedric has tallied up 6 Pro wins, including this year’s Arnold Classic. He continues to inspire those who seek to build the perfect physique, not just the biggest one.

2015 Sergio Oliva, Jr.

48 years after The Myth, Sergio Oliva, began his three-year reign as Mr. Olympia, his son Sergio Jr. earned his own IFBB Pro League card after nine years as an NPC amateur. Though his road was longer, Sergio Jr. is showing all the signs of future greatness. In May of this year, he won his debut show at the New York Pro, then promptly resumed work on his physique for the 2018 season. The improvements he had made since the 2015 NPC Nationals were astounding, and he will no doubt continue to impress at each successive outing.

Who will take all the glory at this year’s NPC Nationals in Miami this weekend? We will find out soon enough. Be sure to check out all the coverage right here on MD!

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