Pulling John (2009)

Directed by Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian
Starring John Brzenk, Travis Bagent and Alexey Voevoda
Runtime 73min. - Not Rated
3.5 Stars (out of 4)

"Pulling John" is part of my Quirky Documentary series and is available on Netflix Instant.

Arm wrestling? I'm no good at it. By the time I was a high-school senior I was 6'2 and weighed in around 280lbs. Still, most guys (and some girls) could beat me at arm wrestling. I got some exercise playing basketball and drumming in marching band, but I never trained for strength. I have some natural strength, but apparently not in my arms. I may have had the physical attributes of a brute, but I never wanted to be brutish. Losing an arm wrestling match didn't knock down my self-esteem at all.


If it weren't for the Sylvester Stallone star vehicle known as "Over The Top", I would have never known about competitive arm-wrestling. If you're not familiar, "Over The Top" follows the formula of every other underdog sports movie you've ever seen, except with arm wrestling. Even after seeing the film I didn't care about the sport. My imagination told me it was full of dirty truck-drivers and bodybuilders who got caught doping. My imagination was betraying me.

"Pulling John" is named after John Brzenk (pronounced something like a sneeze) who appeared in the aforementioned Stallone movie, but the film follows 2 other competitors with equal investment; Alexey Voevoda, a chiseled Ukrainian, and Travis Bagent, a brash redneck from the mountains of West Virginia. Both of these men contrast with Brzenk, who is your basic jeans and T-shirt guy from Utah. He's mild mannered and humble. Widely considered the best arm wrestler in the world for nearly 20 years, Bagent and Voevoda speak of him with reverence. He's a class act in both victory and defeat. Honestly, he's the kind of guy you'd like to be friends with.

The movie joins John at a career crossroads. He's considering retirement. Like most athletes, it's a tough decision. After all, he's still beating everybody so why retire? On the other hand, there's some part of him that would like to go out on top. Other than some minor elbow issues he's as healthy as ever, and so he soldiers on.

There are some new faces on the scene that are driving John's contemplation of retirement. One of them is Alexey Voevoda. John is obviously a strong man, but he looks average next to Voevoda. Alexey stands well over 6 feet tall and has gargantuan arms. In addition to standard weight-lifting, he trains by arm wrestling against 4 other men who pull against a rope tied around his hand, and wins. Alexey takes the sport more seriously than I thought possible. He regularly quotes ancient philosophers and provides historical prospective on the sport. Did you know that arm wrestling was a way for leaders to pick the strongest soldiers for their army? If you are like me, you didn't and still don't care about such facts. Alexey Voevoda puts the history into use by training as if he's going to war.

Travis Bagent is another quickly rising star of the sport. Travis doesn't share Voevoda's warrior-spirit or Brzenk's humility. He likes to embarrass people. He starts by telling them how bad he's going to beat them, then he badly beats them. Travis is exactly what I thought all arm wrestlers were; an asshole. I call him that hesitantly because I know he could pull my arms off and beat me up with them. He's big and tall, but he doesn't seem athletic. His father is a bar owner who also arm wrestled, though not at a national level. It's the same bar where Travis honed his craft. He became a local legend by beating everyone in town. Then he expanded his dominance by beating everyone in the surrounding counties. It wasn't long before that "big redneck down at the bar" was a national champion. With seemingly limitless confidence and potential, he sets his sights on world championships. More importantly, he sets his sights on Brzenk.

Arm wrestling tournaments follow an odd format. There's a heavyweight tournament and a super-heavyweight tournament. The winner of each tournament competes for an overall prize. John is a heavyweight and our other two subjects are super-heavyweights. For good reason too, Bagent and Voevoda both tower over Brzenk. It's almost comical seeing the healthy fear they have for John's ability, until you see him in action.

The film would be pointless if we didn't get to see these three men compete with each other. That moment comes in Warsaw, Poland at the 2004 Nemiroff World Cup. The whole movie winds you up for this tournament. I have to admit, I was excited. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I was totally invested in the outcome of the matches. I never thought that's something I could say about arm wrestling. It's assumed that John Brzenk will win the heavyweight tournament easily. He does, until the finals. That match against a mostly unknown competitor proves to be a battle. John is overpowered initially but holds on until his opponent loses steam. He makes a dramatic comeback win. The long engagement leaves him with some soreness in his elbow. He watches with a calm concern as Voevoda and Bagent duke it out in the super-heavyweight finals. The victory clearly belongs to........ME! No more spoilers here folks.

Like most documentaries of this nature, it seems like it would be a total bore. But like the good ones, it works on multiple levels. Arm-wrestling is really just a stage for drama and comedy, both of which stem from the competitors' tendency to attribute life-or-death importance to the sport. It probably leads to a lot of unnecessary stress and heartbreak in their lives, but it also creates some entertaining cinema. With a short runtime and wide availability, this is a film you should watch.