Ted Arcidi

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Ted Arcidi
Ted Arcidi Head Shot.jpg
Arcidi in 2022
Birth nameTheodore Arcidi
Born (1958-06-16) June 16, 1958 (age 66)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.A
Alma mater
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Ted Arcidi
Billed height5 ft 11 in (180 cm) [1]
Billed weight285 lb (129 kg) [1]
Billed from Boston, Massachusetts [1]
Trained by Tony Altomare
Debut1985
Retired1990

Theodore Arcidi [2] (born June 16, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler, actor and powerlifter. He is known to be the first man in history to bench press over 700 pounds in competition, establishing an official world record. [3]

Contents

Powerlifting/Bench press world record

Ted Arcidi bench pressed 705.5 pounds (320 kg) on March 3, 1985 at Gus Rethwisch's Budweiser World Record Breakers in Honolulu, Hawaii for an APF & USPF world record, to become the first man to bench 700 pounds in an officially recognized powerlifting competition. [1] [2] [4] Then, after being 5 1/2 years away from competition due to his wrestling career, he made a comeback. Weighing 291 pounds, Arcidi set another world record with a 718.1 lbs bench press at the APF Bench Press Invitational on September 30, 1990, in Keene, New Hampshire. [5] On September 14, 1991, at a Mr. Olympia contest, he squared off face to face with his greatest rival Anthony Clark to determine who the greatest bench presser of the world was. Arcidi defeated the much bigger Clark (5'8", 375 lbs) by pressing 725 pounds off his chest to establish yet a new, but controversial, world record. [6] The attempt was later disqualified after it was revealed that Arcidi had failed to lock out his arms due to bone spurs in his elbows which he had corrected with surgery. [5]

Arcidi's 705 pound all-time world record bench press was performed in one of the earliest bench shirts - an original prototype supportive bench press shirt, which was 50% polyester and 50% cotton and only one layer thick. [7] [8] It was thus later categorized as "equipped", although it did not improve his bench by much, if anything. [7] In 1984 Arcidi had benched an official 666.9 pounds (302.5 kg) at 286.0 pounds bodyweight completely raw, without a bench shirt in Honolulu, Hawaii as well. [9] He is considered to be one of the greatest bench pressers of all time. [6]

Personal records

Done in official powerlifting full meets:

→ current all-time raw (unequipped) bench press world records in the 308lb and 275lb classref [11] (have never been surpassed since the 1980s)

Done in official bench-only invitational meet:

→ former all-time bench press world record regardless of weight class and equipment

Professional wrestling career

Arcidi lifted for several years and eventually was sought by and debuted in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1985. [1] Arcidi faced other "strongmen" such as Tony Atlas, Big John Studd, and Hercules Hernandez during his stint and made a single appearance at WrestleMania 2 in the WWF/NFL Battle Royal. [1] [12] In 1986, he wrestled Big John Studd at the Boston Garden. He was the first WWF wrestler to hold the moniker of "The World’s Strongest Man". [13]

Arcidi was released by the WWF upon the return of former Olympic "strongman" Ken Patera (who was returning after a 2-year stint in prison) as Vince McMahon did not want to have issues with having two men billed as the "World's Strongest Man". Although his tenure was brief, Arcidi did have an action figure produced by LJN for their Wrestling Superstars toy line. Patera had been instrumental in Arcidi's signing with Titan Sports-WWF. His final match was against Jake Roberts on February 14, 1987 in Calgary, Alberta. [14]

After his WWF run, he went to Calgary and briefly worked for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. [13] After that, Arcidi moved on the World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, Texas, where he was known as "Mr. 705" (referring to his world record bench press). He was managed by Percival Pringle III and was part of a stable of wrestlers including Rick Rude, the Dingo Warrior and Cactus Jack Manson. Arcidi captured that organization's Texas Heavyweight Championship on August 31, 1987 and held it until he lost to Matt Borne on November 10 that same year. [15] Arcidi left the organization in 1990 to pursue other endeavors. He made several appearances in the Caribbean but never came back to national stature.

Business ventures

Arcidi has several ventures outside of his wrestling and bench press careers. Among these are his ownership of New England's largest women's gym in Manchester, New Hampshire, a supplement company called Arcidi Strength Systems, and a gym equipment company called Weightlifters Warehouse. He is also focusing on an acting career with parts in films and shows such as Law & Order and in several commercials. In the early 1980s, he was a part-time physical education teacher at Concord Middle School in Concord, MA and ran a weightlifting class in the town in the mid-1980s. He was instrumental in the initial strength coaching of both Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Joanie "Chyna" Laurer and assisted them in contacting Killer Kowalski, who trained them for wrestling. [16] [17]

Championships and accomplishments

Filmography

The table below comes from IMDb. [20]

YearTitleRoleType
2020 Defending Jacob (miniseries) KingstonTV mini series
2020 Ray Donovan Ricky RonsenTV series
2019 Blue Bloods (TV series) [21] Robbie GoldTV series
2018 The Equalizer 2 [22] Big ErnieMovie
2018 The Path The SuperTV series
2017 Born Guilty LarryMovie
2016 Donald Cried [23] CoreyMovie
2014 The Leftovers Tow Truck DriverTV series
2013 The Family Tommy (Mobster)Movie
2013 Standing Up Mr. FalcoShort
2011 The A Plate ChuckMovie
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Prison Guard #1TV series
2011 Nurse Jackie DriverMovie
2011 30 Rock TonyTV series
2010 Smark Eddie RocketMovie
2010 The Fighter Lou GoldMovie
2010 The Town Cedar Junction C.O.Movie
2010 The Imperialists Are Still Alive! DonMovie
2009 Don McKay [24] Officer RandallMovie
2008 Lipstick Jungle CopTV series
2005 Commitment SullyShort
2005 Losers of the Year Larry the CopVideo
2004 Heart of Spider JimmyShort
2000 Prince of Central Park Construction WorkerMovie
2000 H&G Cooking show cookShort
1999 The Good Man's Sin GeorgeShort
1998 Law & Order LandlordTV series
1998 Bobby Loves Mangos Mr. CoineShort
1987 Jake the Snake Roberts Ted ArcidiVideo

See also

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References

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  4. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2004). Tributes II: Remembering More of the World's Greatest Professional Wrestlers . Sports Publishing LLC. p.  102. ISBN   1-58261-817-8.
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  6. 1 2 "World's Strongest Man of... Wrestling". PYGOD. strengthfighter.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Ted Arcidi concerning Bench Press Shirts". Ted Arcidi. chrislift.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
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  10. 1 2 ALL TIME HISTORICAL MEN AND WOMEN’S POWERLIFTING WORLD RECORDS Archived 2013-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
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  20. ↑ "From IMDb". IMDb . Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Frank tries to reinstate an officer he previously fired after he questions the circumstances surrounding her firing, on a rebroadcast of "Blue Bloods", Friday, Oct. 23". Paramount Press Express. October 1, 2020.
  22. ↑ admin (August 24, 2018). "The Equalizer 2. Film Review". Liverpool Sound and Vision. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  23. ↑ "High school past comes back to haunt in 'Donald Cried'". The Providence Journal. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
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