The owner of WWE since buying it from his father in 1982 and helping birth an impressive industry boom in the 1980s, Vince McMahon will forever be associated with the pro wrestling business — but not for lack of trying. Over the years, McMahon has embarked on numerous other sports-related endeavors, with one of the highest profile being his two attempts to launch his own football league, the XFL. But fans shouldn’t forget about his early ‘90s effort, the World Bodybuilding Federation.
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Lasting from 1990 to 1992, McMahon tried to take over bodybuilding the same way he took over pro wrestling, but the WBF fell incredibly short of expectations. Let’s take a look at the history of the World Bodybuilding Federation and what fans should know about it.
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10/10 Followed Other Forays Into Bodybuilding
The first shots fired in the rise of the World Bodybuilding Federation wasn’t a promotion or a TV show, but rather smaller endeavors. For one, McMahon’s company Titan Sports launched a magazine called Bodybuilding Lifestyles, working with bodybuilder and WBF figure Tom Platz.
Then there’s the Integrated Conditioning Program — better known as ICOPRO — an infamously complicated array of supplements meant for bodybuilders, which nostalgic WWE fans of the early 1990s certainly remember being advertised by wrestlers like Bret Hart.
9/10 Announced At The Mr. Olympia Competition
Amid rumors of Vince McMahon starting his own bodybuilding company, Bodybuilding Lifestyles had a presence at the 1990 Mr. Olympia competition, held by the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness, buying booth space and serving as a sponsor.
This led to the announcement of the World Bodybuilding Federation in the most pro wrestling way possible — Tom Platz gave a speech at the competition on behalf of the magazine, only to announce the creation of the WBF to directly compete with the IFBB. On top of that, various IFBB bodybuilders were offered contracts with the new company during the competition.
8/10 Lex Luger Was Involved
During the…