LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET MONDAYS AT 21.00 FROM 25 NOVEMBER CONTENTS SERIES INFORMATION BIOGRAPHIES INTERVIEWS EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS After years of competing as rivals, the four strongest men in the world are teaming up to find out the truth behind some of history’s greatest tales of strength. In the new HISTORY® series, British strongman Eddie Hall (Deadlift world record holder), Brian Shaw (4-Time World’s Strongest Man Champion), Nick Best (‘Grandfather’ of Strongman, Shield Carry world record holder) and Robert Oberst (World’s Strongest Man Finalist 2013 & 2018) travel the world investigating strongman legends and taking on epic feats of strength in a quest to prove who really is The Strongest Man in History. In each episode, the four strongmen take on three strength challenges from history and try to beat the legend—and each other. They separate fact from fiction–replicating legendary lifts to determine what they actually weighed, while competing to see who among them is the strongest. Their journey takes them across America, England and Scotland. “I remember sitting there one day, and I just decided I want to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, so I got up off my ass and went to the gym. I started lifting weights and I felt better”. – Eddie Hall (pictured) 3 Hometown: Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England Eddie Hall (a.k.a. “The Beast”) hails from the UK. He’s the only man in history to ever deadlift half a ton. (He holds the world record at 1,102 Pounds). The 2017 World’s Strongest Man winner, Eddie has a notable rivalry with fellow strongman Robert Oberst—and will do whatever it takes to show him up. 4 Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada Nick Best hails from Las Vegas, Nevada and has been competing as a Strongman for over ten more than 10 years. He is known as the “grandfather” of Strongman. As one of the sport’s oldest competitors, what he may lack in youth, he makes up for with wisdom and experience. As the elder statesmen of the group, Nick has a very strong passion for history. Nick was the Powerlifting champion of the world in the late 1990s, and he also owns the world’s record in the Shield Carry. 5 Hometown: Fort Lupton, Colorado Brian Shaw is a 4-time World’s Strongest Man champion (!) and the undisputed best in the game. Some even claim that Shaw might be the strongest man to have ever lived. At 6’8” and 445 Pounds, Brian is also massively interested in the history of his sport. TV show or no TV show, he is genuinely fascinated by the stories of strong men who came before him. 6 Hometown: Santa Cruz, California Robert Oberst and his iconic beard began their Strongman careers after trying their hands at a few other things, including a brief flirtation with the NFL and working as a bouncer for a nightclub. It was there that a fellow bouncer encouraged him to train and take part in Strongman events. Robert has “the strongest shoulders in the world” and is the holder of the American record in the Log Lift. He’s also known for his phenomenal appetite! 7 QUESTION TIME WITH THE STRONG MEN WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A STRONGMAN? WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP PUSHING YOURSELF TO GET STRONGER? Nick Best (50 years old, from Las Vegas, Nevada): I went to a contest with my son Eddie: I think the motivation for me was to always be the best. I set the task Dylan in 2003 and he looked up at me and said, “Dad you are strong, you should do to become the world's strongest man at 19 and I suppose it's that inner me this!” So I did. not letting me let myself down, not letting my family down and not letting my kids down. I think my main motivator was knowing that, when my kids Eddie Hall (31 years old, from the United Kingdom): At the age of 13, I fell on hard grow up, they would be able to say that the house, the cars, everything is times. Quite a number of things happened to me in my life, but I ended up in a deep from my dad and it was from his hard work and becoming the world's depression, and seeing a psychiatrist for a couple of years. I ended up with a poster strongest man. of Arnold Schwarzenegger on my wall in my bedroom. I remember sitting there one day, and I just decided I want to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, so I got up off my ass Robert: It's got to come from within. I have a three-year-old son who, at and went to the gym. I started lifting weights and I felt better. I got a sense of this point, is 99% of my motivation for everything. Every time I'm doing euphoria, and I just carried it on. I kept getting better and better and better. At age anything, I'm thinking, "He's going to see this when he gets older. I want 19, I ended up entering a strongman contest because I became quite obsessed with him to know that daddy could put it down if he needed to." lifting weights. On that date, I said publicly on my Facebook and told everybody I was going to win the World's Strongest Man. Brian: My motivation is being the best. Pretty simple and straightforward. Robert Oberst (34 years old, from Santa Cruz, California): I played football for a long time and then football used me up, spit me out and I was done. I was [working as a bouncer] at a pretty rough bar, and a buddy of mine that worked there was just WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ABOUT YOUR obsessed with Strongman. He kept talking about it and talking about it, and then CAREER AS A STRONGMAN? finally he talked me into coming one day. I had to google Strongman. I didn't know what it was. The first time I ever did it, I broke the amateur world record for log press. I threw it down and I looked up at him, and I was like, "Was that any good?" Robert: When I first broke the log press record. I was competing in He was so mad. Within six months, I was competing in England and soon, I was Australia, and Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up. The log press record was held by a friend of mine who had passed away. So, Arnold's standing like competing at my first World’s Strongest Man. I was the only rookie to make the four feet away watching me. Brian goes up, Brian can't claim the log. Eddie finals, too. All within eight months. goes up, Eddie can't claim the log. Three other guys go up, nobody can handle this log. I walked out there... I knew this was my shot, I had to take Brian Shaw: (37 years old, from Colorado, USA): I finished playing college basketball this for my buddy, Mike. I remember that I threw it up, and it felt so easy. I and I needed a competitive outlet, so I wanted to be a strength coach. I always just held it up over my head and I looked around. I made eye contact with loved lifting and training and competing. I watched World's Strongest Man growing Arnold, threw the thing down and just lost it. Just roared as loud as I could. up on TV and I just loved all of that, so I decided to enter a Strongman contest—just It was one of the best moments of my life. for fun. Really. For no other reason than that I just wanted to compete in something 8 and push myself. I ended up loving it from the get-go and also found that I was very gifted. It was just kind of a natural fit for me, and just took off from there. QUESTION TIME WITH THE STRONG MEN WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK THE STRONGMAN PLAYS IN WHAT’S ONE FEAT OF STRENGTH YOU’D LOVE TO TRY HISTORY? BEFORE YOU RETIRE? Nick: Pulling a train engine. Robert: Well, the history of strength in itself is awesome to me. You look back at the Scots, who weren't allowed to have weapons, so they would train with stones and sticks. Clans would just gather around to see who was the strongest, and there was Eddie: I attempted the world record log press at my last-ever competition, but I attempted it with a snapped ankle. I suppose I had set my heart on no way that the British could take that from them—even though they took their that being my last ever lift in the sport. I didn't achieve it, so I think my only weapons, they took their women, they took their land. You can go further back, and regret since retirement is not going back and doing that world-record log there's a bunch of crazy stories about guys lifting rocks and stuff like that and it's press. I was capable, but the circumstances wouldn't let it happen. just... Strength is something that has captivated people since the very beginning. Socrates said that no man should ever grow old not having known the full strength and power of his own body. Robert: I want to win World's Strongest Man. Brian: There are a lot of cultures where tests of strength determined manhood.