Legendary Armwrestler John Brezenk stepped away from professional Armwrestling due to his lower back surgery in early 2025.
In what would be his penultimate professional supermatch he faced the German internet star, powerlifter, and strength athlete: Leonidas Arkona.
The GOAT unleashed every weapon in his arsenal, starting with a toproll, switching to a hook, and finishing with a press…
He gave everything he had before sealing a 3–0 victory.
But soon after his victory.
The American hero faced the legendary Japanese Armwrestler Yoshinobu “The Samurai” Kanai in his last supermatch.
The warlord of Japan cracked John’s hand and completely negated his side pressure move with his phenomenal open-arm toproll.
In this match John showed incredible patience to get around Kanai’s defence but there wasn’t a single hole large enough for even the greatest Armwrestler to get through.
John ended up losing that match 3-0.
As fans we thought this was the last spectacle of his greatness on the Armwrestling table we are ever going to witness.
But turns out it was just the beginning of a new chapter…
John “the perfect storm” Brzenk faces Zhao “the king” Zi Rui in EvW 26 (China).
A couple of days ago East vs West announced a match nobody had expected.
The duel between John Brezenk and Zhao Zi Rui.
The announcement of this match was no less than a festival for the Armwrestling world…
…Witnessing the greatness of John Brezenk in a supermatch felt like a distant dream.
As he had not shown any signs of interest in showing up in a supermatch— at least not any time soon after his lower back fusion surgery.
But now the real question is: has John Brezenk still got what it takes to Armwrestle at the top level?
Who is Zhao Zi Rui?
To most of the newer Armwrestling fans he might seem like a stranger.
But this guy has 20 years of Armwrestling experience fighting guys from Korea, Thailand and most of South East and East Asia.
According to reports surrounding the matchup, Zhao has remained undefeated in China for more than a decade…while weighing 80-90 kilos.
Just two years ago Zhao toprolled Daniel Ustinov (3x world and East vs West absolute champion at 70 kg) beating him with utmost dominance (5-1).
For a guy who hasn’t been actively armwrestling this is a real testament to his elite level of performance.
Conclusion:
Would John Brzenk’s versatility be enough to beat Zhao Zi Rui’s side-pressure based ruthless top-roll and hook?
Find out on September 12, 2026 at 12 p.m EST in Jiaxing, China. The match streams on EVW Sports
