The mouth-watering East vs. West 3 arm wrestling event saw a heavily stacked fight card, featuring some of the best arm wrestlers from the Eastern and Western countries locking horns on the table and the event, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey ended with the legendary John Brzenk producing an adrenaline-rusing 3-2 triumph over Georgia’s Zurab Tavberidze in the main event.
The first match of the event took place between Kazakhstan’s Artyom Morozov vs Derek Smith of the USA. Morozov showcased a dominating performance, pinning Smith thrice in successive order to secure a 3-0 victory.
Up next was veteran puller Marcio Barboza from Brazil taking on Turkey’s Sahip Caglar in the first left hand match of the night. All three rounds went to the strap after slips, with Barboza dominating in all three and finishing with a 3-0 scoreline.
Ukrainian arm wrestler Evgeny Prudnyk was up next against Tobias Sporrong of Sweden. After an elbow foul from Prudnyk in the first round, after which the match went to referee’s grip and Sporrong took the lead and made it 2-0 with an explosive pull in the second. Sporrong made an elbow foul in the third but pulled Prudnyk down to the pad once again to win the match 3-0.
Artyom Morozov took on Canadian puller Matt Mask in his second match of the night, which went straight to the straps in the first round and Morozov took the lead, with another blistering pull in the second. The third round saw another clean pull from Morozov to seal the 3-0 victory.
Georgia’s Zurab Tavberidze and Turkish puller Efe Kömek went straight into straps at the start, with Tavberidze taking the first round. Both athletes committed an elbow foul each in the second, followed by the Tavberidze pinning Kömek on his side to make it 2-0. The third round saw another elbow foul from Tavberidze before it went to the straps and the Georgian powered the Turk down to the pad to win by 3-0.
American arm wrestler Paul Linn took on Georgia’s Davit Samushia and started off with the straps coming on. Linn scored the first pin, and Samushia made it even in the second. Linn committed an elbow foul in round three, with Samushia scoring the pin to make it 2-1. Linn equaled the scores to 2-all in the fourth and committed another elbow foul in the final round. The decider went into the straps and Linn finished the match 3-2.
Up next were world champions Arif Ertem from Turkey and Bulgaria’s Krasimir Kostadinov facing off. Ertem took the lead in round one, and with the straps coming on, pinned Kostadinov again to make the lead 2-0. The Turk continued his domination into the third round to win the match 3-0.
Barboza and Sporrong locked horns in both their second match of the night, switching to the right. Barboza powered into the lead with a deep hook, and Sporrong retaliated with a top roll in the second. The third round went back and forth before Sporrong took made it 2-1. Barboza pulled the Swede down in fourth but made an elbow foul, followed by the straps coming on. The Brazilian made it even in the fourth, before winning the thrilling match 3-2.
Mask and Prudnyk were up against each other for their right hand encounter of the night. Round one saw a false start from Prudnyk before the straps came on but the Ukrainian took the lead and made it 2-0 after the second. Mask, who went heavily verbal during the rounds, secured his first round up next but Prudnyk sealed the win with a 3-1 scoreline.
The superstar “Monster” Michael Todd from the USA faced Georgia’s Revaz Lutidze in the next match. The first round saw an elbow foul from Lutidze, before the straps came on. Todd powered into winning the first round and into the next one, Lutidze committed another elbow foul but kept pulling to even the scoreline. The straps came on again in the third, and the Georgian was able to take the lead this time, making it 2-1. Lutidze made one more elbow foul in round four, followed by one false start from Todd. Lutidze committed another elbow foul and the round went to Todd with the scoreline becoming 2-2. The exciting decider round went into the straps as well, and it was Lutidze who emerged victorious with a grinding 3-2m scorecard.
The next match saw the veteran US puller Todd Hutchings taking on rising Georgian star İrakli Ziraqashvili. The straps came on in round one before Hutchings took the lead and pinned the young Georgian once again to make it 2-0. The third round saw Hutchings’ domination continuing as he pinned down Ziraqashvili with pure power to finish the match 3-0.
Super Heavyweight pullers Dave Chaffee and Genadi Kvikvinia were up next in the 12th super match of the night. Straps were expected and they came on right away and Chaffee took the lead. The King of the Table 3 winner pinned Kvikvinia again to make the scoreline 2-0, before making an elbow foul in round three. Kvikvinia committed one elbow foul as well but took the round after a second elbow foul from Chaffee. The Georgian powered into his second pinning of Chaffee, evening the scores 2-2. Kvikvinia had the final pull of the match in round five, defeating Chaffee 3-2.
The final match of East vs. West featured the legendary John Brzenk up against Tavberidze on the Georgian’s second match of the night. Tavberidze took the first round after a controversial verdict from the referees, with Brzenk becoming upset. The veteran American powered into the pin in the second with the scores tieing at 1-1. Tavberidze took the lead once again in round three, with Brzenk evening things out once again in the penultimate round. The fifth and final round of the night went into the straps, and Brezenk showed why is the “Greatest of All Time”, pulling Tavberidze down to the pad to finish off the main event 3-2.
East vs. West 3 full fight card results:
Right hand [Main event]: John Brzenk (USA) defeated Zurab Tavberidze (GEO) 3-2
Right hand: Genadi Kvikvinia (GEO) defeated Dave Chaffee (USA) 3-2
Right hand: Todd Hutchings (USA) defeated İrakli Ziraqashvili (GEO) 3-0
Right hand: Revaz Lutidze (GEO) defeated Michael Todd (USA) 3-2
Right hand: Evgeny Prudnyk (UKR) defeated Matt Mask (CAN) 3-1
Right hand: Marcio Barboza (BRA) defeated Tobias Sporrong (SWE) 3-2
Right hand: Arif Ertem (TUR) defeated Krasimir Kostadinov (BGR) 3-0
Right hand: Paul Linn (USA) defeated Davit Samushia (GEO) 3-2
Left hand: Zurab Tavberidze (GEO) defeated Efe Kömek (TUR) 3-0
Left hand: Artyom Morozov (KAZ) defeated Matt Mask (CAN) 3-0
Left hand: Tobias Sporrong (SWE) defeated Evgeny Prudnyk (UKR) 3-0
Left hand: Marcio Barboza (BRA) defeated Sahip Caglar (TUR) 3-0
Right hand: Artyom Morozov (KAZ) defeated Derek Smith (USA) 3-0
