Тэд Арсиди: Күштің шегі мен рекордтар тарихы

American professional wrestler, actor, powerlifter

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. 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. 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. It was thus later categorized as "equipped", although it did not improve his bench by much, if anything. He is considered to be one of the greatest bench pressers of all time.

Arcidi lifted for several years and eventually was sought by and debuted in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1985. 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". 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. After his WWF run, he went to Calgary and briefly worked for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. Arcidi left the organization in 1990 to pursue other endeavors. He made several appearances in the Caribbean but never came back to national stature.

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.