First time i ever saw Michael pulling was a video from mid 90s, he and Cobra Rhodes had some tough battles.

At those years Michael was mostly pulling with a dead wrist and because of his strong joints he was able to pull that way very succesfully. Years later i met him in Pull fort he Hungry event in Missouri. I and he had very tough battles with right hand and he ended up winning while i won with left hand comfortabily.

But he was just returning armwrestling after some years of absence then but i was about 65kg and much lighter then him. After that day he started to become better and stronger but never reached the very best armwrestlers level. Then after some more years he started to use the strategy that Crazy George uses and suddenly he became one of the best heavyweights. He vs Denis Cyplenkov at Arnold Classic made his presence to be taken very seriously.

Then he vs Devon in England was an unforgetable event. People who knows me also knows that i hate that move but i always mention that if the organisation allows that move and if his opponents agree to pull him then there is not much that i can say about it. Michael then continued to beat top pullers such as Dave Chaffee, Jerry Cadorette, Richard Lupkes, Tokarev and many others but the most important win that he had was against multiple times WAF, EAF, A1 and Nemiroff Champion Andrey Pushkar. Michael beat him 6-0 by catching him in his trap right from the first round.

Andrey is a powerful guy but his power was not enough to beat Michael. Michael then lost against Brzenk at UAL but it was right after he and Jerry had near 2 minutes long tough fight. Pulling against someone like Jerry for 2 minutes would easily take 20-30% away from anyone but Michael still gave John a very tough hook battle on that day. I now hear that Michael may pull Andrey Pushkar again.

Pushkar that Michael has faced and Pushkar that pulls today are two different Pushkar. Of course that Pushkar that lost against Michael 6-0 was still strong enough to beat Michael without Michael lowering himself at the table. So what i try to say is that the reason that Michael was able to beat Pushkar was not so much about the horse strength but was about a technical detail.

Not sure if Pushkar’s strength will be able to just destroy Michael no matter what Michael does, but if i were Pushkar i would not depend on strength alone. If he comes there without having a good trained B plan then he may go home with the same disappointment that he had last time.

I see the chances 55-45 for Pushkar even if he comes there by depending on his strength alone. But if he comes there with a good B plan then his chance will be up to 80-90% against Michael Todd. Lately i see Pushkar’ wrist strength much beter than before and it is possible him to control Michael’s pronator this time. And if he can not have this control then plan B should be used. Pushkar needs to watch the way that John beat Michael in their first meeting at UAL.

If Pushkar trains for such move and can apply it as fast as John did then Pushkar will be the one who wins the fight. Just because i hate that move i want Pushkar to win. Nothing personal with Michael as he is a very good guy and i consider him as a friend. On the day that Michael will pull Pushkar he will not pull against only Pushkar but also against the people who hates the way he armwrestles. That block that he has and the strength that Pushkar has kind of scares me about a possible injury.

When the ref will say GO there will be an unbelievably strong hit by Pushkar and a rock solid blocking move by Michael Todd. I really hope that there will not be any injury but it is very possible esspecially for Michael if Pushkar’s wrist handles his hit. Anyways, i wish the best for both athletes!

Engin Terzi