John Brzenk

Biography and accomplishments John Brzenk's father, John Brzenk Sr., was an arm wrestler, and Brzenk says he gained some of his forearm size through genetics.

Brzenk started his amateur career in the classroom, where he arm wrestled students across tables for five years. When he was in eighth grade, he broke his arm while armwrestling his father's friend, and has stated that this breakage increased his tendon strength significantly. Over the years, Brzenk has often been called "The Giant Crusher", "The Golden Boy", "G.O.A.T.", and the "Perfect Storm" for his ability to pin opponents twice his size.

Brzenk started his professional career in 1982, at the age of 18, where he won his first world title on ABC's 1983 Wide World of Sports. From 1982 to 2015, he only lost a single supermatch, and only a handful of people had beaten him in tournaments. Most of these losses occurred later during that time, when he was older. Two of his most prominent losses were to Alexey Voyevoda in 2004 and Devon Larratt in 2008, both of whom are considered legendary arm wrestlers.

Aside from arm wrestling, Brzenk works as a mechanic at Delta Air Lines. He says the job is non-physical so his arms get plenty of rest.

During his career he has competed for upwards of US$80,000.

Brzenk won championships in a number of different weight classes, including four world championships in the heavyweight division, and the middleweight world championship.

He also had an uncredited cameo in the 1987 Sylvester Stallone film Over the Top, and was the subject of the feature documentary Pulling John, directed by Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian. The documentary chronicles Brzenk's legendary arm wrestling career by following him intimately for four years, during which he competes in global tournaments and ponders retiring from the sport he loves.

After defeating Marcio Barboza in the 2015 WAL Heavyweight Right-Handed Championship, Brzenk took an extended period of time off from armwrestling due to injuries.

Arm wrestling comeback

In 2018, Brzenk lost an attempted comeback match against Travis Bagent in Moldova. On July 31, 2021, Brzenk returned to arm wrestling full time by defeating Chance Shaw in a supermatch. On December 11 of the same year, Brzenk faced right-handed heavyweight title holder Devon Larratt at King of the Table 2 (KOTT 2). Despite Brzenk defeating Larratt in one of his most recent matches before his layoff from armwrestling, a bigger, stronger Larratt proved to be too much for Brzenk, who lost by a score of 4–0.

On February 10, 2022, Brzenk made his debut at the international arm wrestling tournament East vs West 2 by defeating Khadzimurat Zoloev. This win allowed him to reclaim, at the age of 57, the world's top ranking in the 225 pound division. On May 21, at East vs West 3, Brzenk had a match against Zurab Tavberidze. Brzenk won this match by a score of 3–2.

On August 6, 2022, at East vs West 4, Brzenk was defeated in a right-handed supermatch with Kazakhstan armwrestler Kydyrgali Ongarbaev. On November 19 of the same year, in the next installment of East vs West, Brzenk defeated Oleg Petrenko in a right-handed supermatch in dominant fashion, 3–0.

On January 21, 2023, Brzenk participated in a fifth consecutive installment of East vs West, losing a hard-fought supermatch to Irakli Zirakashvili by a score of 3–2. The next month, on February 25, Brzenk had his toughest test to date, a match at KOTT 6 against Super Heavyweight Denis Cyplenkov, the former world #1 who had not had a match in four years due to health issues. Despite the long layoff, Cyplenkov did not look like he had lost any of his physical or table ability, defeating Brzenk by an almost effortless 6–0 score. On August 12, 2023, Brzenk lost 0–4 to Todd Hutchings at the AWC Reloaded event.

On September 23, 2023, Brzenk went against Alexey Voyevoda at King of the Table 8. This was a rematch of their historic first match in 2004, which Voyevoda won. Circumstances were different this time, as Voyevoda had not competed in years and was not as dominant as he had been. Brzenk won the match 4–2.

Brzenk announced his retirement after his match against Yoshinobu Kanai.

Physical statistics Height: 5'11" Style: Varies Biceps: 18.25in Forearm: Right: 16.5in Left: 13.5in

AAA Stand-Up National 1984 – R200 lbs 1985 – R185 lbs 1986 – R220 lbs 1990 – R220 lbs

Arnold Classic 2006 – R199+ 2007 – R199+

AWI World 1986 – Pro Super Heavyweight 1987 – Pro Light Heavyweight 1988 – Pro Light Heavyweight 1995 – Pro Light Heavyweight 2001 – Pro Super Heavyweight

Carling O’Keefe International 1989 – R 200 lbs, R 231+ lbs

Forsa Tropical International 1998 – R198 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs

GNC Pro Performance 2002 – R198 lbs

GOLDEN BEAR SUPERMATCH (Absolut Champion) R1994 Pro tournament R90+ kg: 1990, 1994, 1998 R90 kg: 1990

Harley Pull 2000 – R220 lbs + Harley Winner 2001 – R220 lbs 2002 – R198 lbs, L198 lbs 2009 – R225 lbs, L225 lbs + Harley Winner

Main Event 1998 – R220 lbs

Mike Gould Classic 2006 – R220 lbs, L220 lbs 2010 – R220 lbs

Mohegan Sun PAC World 2005 – R198 lbs, L198 lbs 2006 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 2007 – R198 lbs, L198 lbs

Over the Top 1986 – Winner of Truckers Division in Heavyweight class

Reno Reunion 1999 – R200 lbs, R230 lbs, R231+ lbs, L200 lbs 2000 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs, L242 lbs 2001 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs 2002 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs, L242 lbs 2003 – R233+ lbs 2006 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 2006 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs

ROTN 2007 – R215 lbs, L215 lbs 2008 – R242 lbs, L242 lbs 2009 – R199+ lbs

Sands International Wrist Wrestling/Armwrestling 1988 – R190 lbs 1989 – R190 lbs, R215 lbs

Sherkston Beaches International 1987 – R200 lbs, R201+ lbs

SuperStar Showdown 2004 – R199+ lbs 2005 – R198 lbs

Ultimate Armwrestling (Las Vegas) 2004 – R242 lbs 2005 – R198 lbs, L198 lbs 2006 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs

Ultimate Armwrestling League 2011 – R200 lbs

USAA National Pro-Am 1996 – R200 lbs, R201+ lbs 1997 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs 1998 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 1999 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs, L242 lbs 2000 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L242 lbs, L243+ lbs 2001 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L242 lbs, L243+ lbs 2002 – R198 lbs, R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L198 lbs, L242 lbs 2003 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 2004 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L242 lbs 2005 – R242 lbs 2006 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 2007 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs 2009 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs, L242 lbs, L243+ lbs 2010 – R242 lbs, R243+ lbs

USAF Unified National 2005 – R220 lbs

WAF World Armwrestling Championship 1999 – L100 kg, R: Supermatch Winner

WAL 2015 – R: Heavyweight Champion

World Wristwrestling Championship (Petaluma) Heavyweight Division R: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2001 Light Heavyweight Division R: 1998, 2001 L: 1998, 2001 Middleweight Division R – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2001 L – 1996, 1998, 2001 Lightweight Division R – 1984

WPAA World 1985 – Middleweight

Yukon Jack National/World Heavyweight Division R: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, Middleweight Division R: 1995, 1996.

Zloty Tur/Nemiroff World Cup Category – Open R: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Category – 95 kg R: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 L: 2007, 2009