You forgot an important detail: WAL win pads are lowe (I think 1 inch), which also helped MMT

Best one - "Where'r you going buddy?" 🤣✌

Legends say he is still under the table

"...left Michael vulnerable to people with long arms climbing over it, or people with normal arms asking him where he was going." Nice. Probably one of the best jokes about this I've ever heard :)

The only way forward for Michael is to start the matches lying down completely and pulling with a series of pullies and counterweights, called the Construction Site Move.

Because he was allowed to get away with a bullshit move

Without His shoulders dipping under the table (elbow/Humerus rule) he hasn't been very successful. The under the table king's move that made a joke out of arm wrestling is what made him beat stronger guys and without it he isn't going to be beating the top guys. The new king's move (open top roll) still requires a lot of strength to hold unlike Todd's under the table kings move

The line "people with normal length arms asking him where he was going" had me in stitches 🤣.

I just love watching him cry and lose nonstop. Makes me feel better about myself cuz life sucks

John making fun of Michael and essentially nonverbally letting him know that he would break his arm always makes me smile.

"Michael was clearly very strong in this position, but there were also clearly som problems with the technique that left Michael voulnerable to people with long arms climbing over it and people with normal length arms asking him where he was going." is the arm wrestling quote of the century

Ok these long videos are actually so good. Keep them up!

Look at his arm angle in that first clip and it tells you all you need to know about Todd. He was able to get away with it in the WAL because of the ruleset, and as soon as that got taken away from him, he hasn't been the same. Hopefully his recovery goes well and he's able to do more on the table than he's done with the last few years. I don't like him, but i sincerely hope he comes back and does some good.

"Normal length arms asking where he was going? " 😂😂😂Lmao

Devon broke him so bad that it damaged more than just he body it destroyed his spirit irreparably.

WAL was the WWE of armwrestling

Thanks, as someone fairly new to arm wrestling I always wondered what's the controversy / history of Michael. Great summary!

Seriously loving these longer videos man! Super interesting and well done. Keep it up!

kings move to my eyes is not arm wrestling

while the opponent is giving his all, Todd is just chilling under the table like a true sportsman

Great video. The funny thing is that Michael himself doesn't seem to understand this

Your content is great. You say a lot of the things that have been on the minds of long time arm wrestling fans. Your longer videos are just as good as your shorts as well..keep it up!

You nailed it with this analysis. Michael visited my team last year and we saw his worst shape after COVID. He def was not what he used to be.

Unfortunately for MT, fewer people even care because of his behavior on the way down. He’s lost a lot of fans and he’s not really the champ that most people want. Tough road ahead….

His match against Neil Pickup from waaay back is awesome. The one where they're on a beach, or whatever.

There's one thing though, his doctor said they removed all the extra bone that has kept his arms limited range of motion at the elbow so if he has more range of motion than he ever has in the last 10 or 20 years that sounds bad for his kings move

As my 8 yr old said, he got figureded out.

Amazing breakdown , for a casual fan of arm wrestling like me , you did a great job at making it all easy to understand.

I think the future is actually much brighter than people think. If he truly has the range of motion back in his arm like the Dr. says... he can access more back pressure and he is a strong human so that's nothing but good news. We might just see a newer, stronger, and better version of the Monster coming to a table near you.

I was wondering what happened to lead to such a decline. Great video!

4 sets, 15 reps of crawling under the table did him good.

The abuse he put that arm through....it's a wonder that it lasted as long as it did. RIP Michael Todd's right arm.

i love those long informative vodeos it realley heps me get into the sport. Thank you!!

Amazing video ! I've been watching your videos for a while now to realize I am not subbed to your channel and that you only have 15k subs. I think you deserve way more ! At least you get plus 1 😄

Legend has it that Micheal took up shoe shining since he spent so much time under the table next to his opponents boots.

Ive never exactly been an MMT fan but I hope to see him heal up and come back stronger than ever, that would shake things up a bit wouldnt it?

Loving these long form videos keep it up!

He didn't drop, the competition got better and figured him out, not to mention he NEVER changes the way he trains, he needs to think outside the box but his stubbornness is his downfall

I think Mike has beaten himself down. After Devon crushed him he then went right out on a North American tour and pulled way way too much and seriously injured his thumb and wrist. His pronation and riser were completely shot from the nerve damage. I think he is still working his way back to gaining his pronation and riser back to peak form and has not gotten back there. Now with more injuries piling up it looks like he will never get back to that level. The kings move without superior rise and pronation is completely useless

ok finally i subscribed after months of just watching a few random ones here and there. subbed cause you didnt give bias against him while everyone else is bashing. you just looked at it as it is. I loved hearing history before you got into the rest of the video, I didn't know the first fact about his 'ugly' hook positions.

Very unbiased and in-depth analysis, thank you!

I am not a fan of his style and not a fan of him as a person (based on how he presents himself in videos or in tournaments). But the transformation he made recently is pretty impressive and I respect the hard work that went into that

Always wanted long form videos regarding the arm wrestling world. There’s not enough of them.

very high quality arm wrestling vids! keep it up, I can see your views getting on the pancakes soon if you continue sir

The years of elbow damage caught up to him. It had some bad timing in that it was after WAL, but it would have happened during WAL too had they continued events. That buildup of bone in the elbow helped cause nerve damage in his thumb, which also caused muscle loss. Thumb size is huge for what he does. He got Covid, which I think still messes with his cardio a bit to this day (can't confirm that, but its not unheard of in elite athletes). Finally, the bone buildup as the doctor described it, sawed at his tendon when he used his bicep. That's why it got injured faster and faster until a full tear. Honestly a little surprised he didn't get a MRI done on the partial tear and find the elbow buildup earlier, but he's not known for waiting around to recover. Given how competitive he's been despite losing those recent matches, a full recovery from his surgery and he could come back just as good if not better then he was. Doctor said he should gain more motion in his elbow from removing the extra bone, as well as the bicep tendon reattachment.

Great breakdown. The sport evolved and adapted against him, rules and athletes alike. That plus his injuries have catched up to him. The first part doesnt bother me, it should have been expected, "the meta is always changing". The second part makes me sad, injuries and wear and tear is natural but unfortunate. I hope he recovers and can at least be a high ranking puller, this is his livelyhood after all, i cant root against a man that wants to put food on the table, obnoxious as he may be.

Pedantic nitpick: the primary elbow flexor of the upper arm (humerus) is the biceps brachii (with two lobes, hence "bi", not to be confused with the biceps femoris of the "hamstrings"), so one would refer to even the singular muscle perhaps with the truncation of "biceps" rather than "biceps brachii," not "bicep."

I'm glad you made that distinction. There's the King's move, and then there's Michael's "seesaw" technique.

That's a beginning of new Version . 💀

I wish Michael the best and quickest recovery. Even if he's given me shade in comments and misinterpreted me; I want him to get back and better.

You are the best youtuber for armwrestling by far, no one gets even close. Please give us more content!!!

Now days the desperation move can be properly called the desperation move.

This is Arm Historian with less background and surrounding narrative, but more technical analysis, so it dovetails well with AH. PEP + AH ❤

that kings move in the wal is fucking horrific. Michael has his arm straight up in the air and he is sitting on the floor 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think cause Michael started doing different training and not directly focused on armwrestling like he was, he started really getting into full body workouts so it gave him less time to train for armwrestling, also in wal the kingsmove was waayyy overpowered

Relying on his elbow for years did incredible damage that basically will never be repaired. The bicep tear is just the end result of no longer being able to pull like a normal healthy person and the fact that a no name regional arm wrestler did it to him to just highlights the point.

It all vanished once they actually started standing them up.

What happens if they both pull a kings move like Michael? They’d just be holding hands supporting each other’s body weight

The most obvious reasons for his decline have to do with injuries and health. The damage to his biceps was enormous. I had no idea he was put on a ventilator. That is extremely stressful on the body. A ventilator is like a death sentence for 80% of Covid patients. Does he have diminished lung 🫁 capacity now? Not having those ridiculous WAF rules are a factor but a minor one.

Wish him the best in his future endeavors. Hope he finds a niche in the sport when he isn't able to compete.

Michael ' under the table ' todd 💀

In the NBA they say the game isn't as physical as it used to be. In Arm Wrestling there is Michael Todd. Not all evolutions are beloved.

YES. This is what I've been saying. Glad someone made a more in depth video about this

Every time I sit down for dinner I check to make sure Todd isn’t under the table

This sums it all up..great explanation

5:00 Todd is literally sitting here...

Sir you are a true armwrestling fan, what a great analysis!! 👍

Excellent review!

Love your analysis here. Super objective, clearly outlining all the relevant evidence. Really dig this type of content from you

I think the background story should include the information that Michael broke his arm against Wagner Bortolato and just after that, he changed his style. So he did it because he had to, not because he wanted to.

Feeling so sad for Michael Todd

Love this long videos bro :D

He was allowed to get his shoulder below the table and get his humorous angled upwards. When they stopped allowing that he was done .

Judging by the thumbnail, his elbow is now in his forearm🤣🤣🤣

It would be good to see the development of a table that served as a kind of jig for the upper body/shoulder as so to isolate the arm and equalise position making it solely about arm power.

Could probably make a 10 minute video of him in the same position every match

The way forward for MMT is for WAL to allow the left peg to be mounted underneath the table

Great analysis

2:39 John: where u going Mike😂

“Where you goin buddy”😁 He can’t get under the table anymore! Seeing those WAL high/low lights makes me want to throw my phone🤬

What happened to Todd?!! He never appeared from under the table again 😅🤣

Please do a video explaining why there isn't a rule to keep both shoulders above the table

Like a butterfly he has evolved into his next stage of life

Very sad to hear,even thoe I don't really like Michael,I hope he recovers and comes back stronger than before...

He never even has his elbow on the pad 😂

Just imagine being MT and all the images on the internet of you competing look like you're trying to find a lone Dorito you dropped on the floor.

Dude sounds like a chilled out Travis bagent 😂

The fact that he has his opposite shoulder not like only below the table, but around the corner is ridiculous.

I really hope he heals well

2:37 "Where you goin' buddy?" Never gets old :)

...trouble with ppl with normal length arms saying "Where are you goin?" 🤣🤣

>Michael >high ground I can't stop laughing.

Perfect analysis.

In short: without WAL rules, Michael lost his best technique and, because of that, he started to lose a lot and is far from top10 right now (maybe top30).

that kings move though

Great video!!

Michael wrestling the GOAT and then the GOAT asking him where he's going and then still winning is the greatest moment in arm wrestling.

He only did well below the table, with his arm straight and his elbow is off the pad as well... DMT

hes hiding under the table

todd's kings move makes me LOL with the rules of the WAL