| Theodore "Ted" Arcidi | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Theodore "Ted" Arcidi "The World's Strongest Man" "Mr. 705" "The Boss of the Bench Press" |
| Billed height | 5'11"[1] |
| Billed weight | 285 lbs[1] |
| Born | 6 June 1958 Buffalo, New York |
| Billed from | Boston, Massachusetts[1] |
Theodore "Ted" Arcidi (born June 6, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler, actor and powerlifter.
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The son of a nurse and doctor and one of seven children, Ted was born in Buffalo, New York, and took a different route from the family's academia tradition. He left Tufts University dental school to pursue the sport of powerlifting.
Arcidi lifted for several years and eventually was sought by and debuted in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1985.[1] Arcidi faced other "strongmen" such as Big John Studd and Hercules Hernandez during his stint and made a single appearance at WrestleMania 2 in the WWF/NFL Battle Royal.[1] He was released upon the return of Ken Patera (who incidentally was instrumental in his signing with Titan Sports-WWF) 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, long after Arcidi was gone from the company.
After his WWF run, he went to Calgary and briefly worked for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. After that, Arcidi moved on the World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, Texas, where he was known as "Mr. 705" (referring to his world record bench press). He was managed by Percival Pringle III and was part of a stable of wrestlers including Rick Rude, the Dingo Warrior and Cactus Jack Manson. Arcidi captured that organization's Texas Heavyweight Championship on August 31, 1987 and held it until he lost to Matt Borne on November 10 that same year. 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 heavily involved in real estate. He is also focusing on an acting career with parts in such shows as Law & Order and has appeared in several commercials. In the early 1980s, he was a part time Physical Education teacher in a Massachusetts middle school. 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.[2][3]
In 1985, Arcidi was the first man to bench press 700 pounds in an officially recognized competition.[1][4] His lifetime best in a contest came on September 14, 1991, when he bench pressed 725 pounds. That attempt was later disqualified after it was revealed that Arcidi had failed to lock out his arms.[5] His lift of 705 pounds in 1985 (319.8 kg) would stand as a world record for eight years until Anthony Clark pressed 725 lbs (329.55 kg) in May 1993.[6]