Although Brian Shaw’s Strongman days are behind him, he continues to pursue his goal in arm wrestling, which is a new passion he found just a couple of years ago. Despite still being relatively new to arm wrestling, he is quickly climbing the ranks and is ready to take on some world-class athletes. So, on January 19th, Brian Shaw officially revealed that his next test on the table will be against Leonidas Arkona.
Brian Shaw has already gathered some experience in arm wrestling, making his debut with a win against Eddie Hall and beating Brandon Allen in a spectacular match. A couple of months have passed since his last appearance on the table, but Brian has now revealed what his next challenge will be.
Brian Shaw’s Next Arm Wrestling Opponent
Before revealing who he will go up against, Brian Shaw touched on his matchup against Brandon Allen and what went into arranging the match. Mainly, Shaw did not want to go into a match where he was absolutely certain that he would win but was rather looking for a challenge, something that would allow him to continue making progress.
“I wanted a challenge. I wanted something that was going to force me out of my comfort zone. Coming into the Shaw Classic in August of 2025, I obviously had a lot going on, a lot of things happening with that event, a lot of planning, a lot of stress. So it made it incredibly challenging to train for Brandon Allen and feel like I was in a good spot going against him. I’m not one to back down from a challenge… I learned a lot from that match and was able to get the win against Brandon Allen.”
Brian Shaw maintained the same approach when picking his new opponent, wanting to put on a match where the end result would be harder to predict. So, wanting to put himself to the limits, he looked for someone that is approximately the same level as him.
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“I don’t want to take matches where I’m going to walk through my opponent. I don’t want things set up where it’s easy and it’s kind of a foregone conclusion about what is going to happen on the arm wrestling table.”
Brian Shaw looked into multiple potential matches, including one against one of the greatest arm wrestlers in history, John Brzenk. However, while he would love to get some table time with John, Brian also looked for other options for his next match. Another name that popped up is Leonidas Arkona, a former powerlifter and bodybuilder, who turned to professional arm wrestling. Arkona has faced the likes of Devon Larratt, John Brzenk, Larry Wheels, and others, which goes to show that he is definitely one of the most prominent figures in the community.
“Leonidas, an exciting arm wrestler, a big strength pedigree over a 2,000-pound powerlifting total. The German strict curl record holder right now. Obviously very strong. If you’ve seen any of his stuff, he’s done powerlifting, he’s done bodybuilding, obviously doing arm wrestling. So, a really, really strong guy.
And then you look at his matches, the matches that he has had against Larry Wheels. He beat Larry Wheels and then he had a very notable win against Schoolboy, which I think surprised a lot of people but also really put his name on the map in the arm wrestling world. You know that was a match that went back and forth, 3 to 2 win for Leonidas.”
Finally, Brian Shaw officially confirmed that he will go up against Leonidas Arkona in his next match. Specifically, he will travel to Germany, Arkona’s home country, where the two will face off as a part of the East vs. West 23 on April 18th. Shaw recognizes that Leonidas is a formidable opponent and is already preparing for the exciting match that awaits.
“My next match is going to be against Leonidas Arkona. It is going to be in Germany, April 18th, at East vs. West 23… With it being in Germany, I’m literally walking into Leonidas’ backyard. I’m going to have to travel there, which is a challenge that I’m excited about, and I know that the hype around this is going to be incredible…
The challenge in front of me is real. I don’t think anybody is going to sit here and say, ‘Oh yeah, Brian, you’re going to walk through that.’ Some people are going to back me, some people are going to back Leonidas, but when it comes to an arm wrestling match, I think that’s what you want to have happen. I don’t think you want a match announced and everybody’s just like, ‘Yep, I already know exactly what’s going to happen.’”
Watch the video here:
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Being one of the strongest men in history, Brian Shaw made a very quick and efficient transition to arm wrestling. Many have already praised his power, and his grip strength in particular, but also his technique which has been improving at an impressive pace. So, Brian’s future in arm wrestling is definitely very bright and he has an opportunity to make a huge step forward with a win against Leonidas Arkona.
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