FIBO is currently the world’s leading trade show for fitness, wellness, and health, and this year it was held in the Exhibition Center Cologne in Cologne, Germany. Many prominent figures from the bodybuilding realm, like current Arnold Classic Champion Wesley Vissers, the four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler, and many more, were there to make the show special. 

However, two prominent athletes from the bodybuilding industry met after a long time: the eight-time Mr. Olympia Champion, mass-monster bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman, and his German rival and friend Markus Rhul. They both met at the FIBO 2024, and expressed their joy in an Instagram post.

The King of Bodybuilding posted a picture of him and his on-stage German rival. The post had two slides, one from the early days of their bodybuilding when they both shared the stage in the early 2000s. The second image is from FIBO 2024 at the Panatta Machines corner. Both greeted each other warmly, reminiscing about their on-stage rivalry and off-stage friendship. The eight-time Mr. Olympia captioned the post, “Always good catching up with my good friend @markusruehl at the FIBO in Germany!!“

Not only Coleman posted the picture, but Rhul also posted some of his moments from FIBO 2024 and wrote a heartwarming caption. The German Nightmare called Coleman his idol and captioned the post, “Met great friends and living legends and the greatest of all time Ronnie Coleman. My absolute idol in bodybuilding.“

The German mass monster not only met the King, but he also met one more on-stage competitor. He ran into the four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler and posed down with him, showcasing their enormous biceps. The 280-pound mass monster praised Cutler and wrote, “Jay Cutler is a fantastic athlete and a great guy.” Despite the trio being such good friends off-stage, they were each other’s rivals on the stage. 

The intense rivalry of the trio on stage while posing

A resurfaced YouTube video of the trio’s prime era took the internet by storm and left everyone nostalgic. The video began with both the mass monster Coleman and Ruhl posing for the crowd on the stage. The four-time Mr. Olympia suddenly felt energetic and came onto the stage and joined the King and the German mass monster in the posing routine.

Witnessing this, the eight-time Mr. Olympia and the German Nightmare removed their shirts and suits to showcase their gigantic and behemoth physique to the crowd. Coleman’s dominance on the stage is the reason why Ruhl couldn’t land his hands on any Sandow trophies. But Cutler broke the King’s eight-year streak and lifted the trophy in 2006 for the first time.

Despite sharing an intense rivalry on Mr. Olympia’s stage, the trio were good friends off-stage. What do you think of the eight-time Mr. Olympia’s meetup with his German rival? Let us know in the comments.