How Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson rivalry rocked World's Strongest Man and saw icons come to blows

The Irish Sun

13-05-2025

EDDIE HALL and Hafthor 'Thor' Bjornsson are two of the biggest names in the history of strongman - and they have a huge rivalry between them too.
Together they have a combined 10 top three finishes and two victories at the World's Strongest Man.
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Eddie Hall and Hafthor Bjornsson have a rivalry that rocked World's Strongest Man
Credit: Probellum
Neither star will be competing in Sacramento this year, but there will still be plenty of talk around their long-standing feud, as there always is.
The pair have had a public war-of-words, a battle of breaking records and a full-on punch up over the years.
Here SunSport breaks down why the two man-mountains have so much vitriol towards one and other...
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Hall and Thor had long been friends before everything went wrong at the 2017 edition of World's Strongest Man.
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It was the 2017 show that saw Brit Hall pip Bjornsson to the title - becoming the UK's first winner since 1993.
However, his Icelandic counterpart didn't take kindly to falling short.
Hall, nicknamed 'The Beast', told the BBC: "I was friends with Hafthor for many years, but he lost to me and he just couldn't take it.
"He was willing to throw a friendship away."
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Bjornsson immediately took to Instagram to tell his millions of followers that he felt Hall had cheated - robbing him of the title.
He wrote: "This weekend I was robbed. The integrity of my beloved sport is in question."
Bjornsson refused to shake Hall's hand after all was said and done, claiming he had incorrectly been penalised for bending his knees during the Viking Press event.
The Viking Press sees competitors try to do as many presses in one minute, with each rep only allowed to be one push with the legs locked straight.
But referee Colin Bryce, a Brit like Hall, deemed Bjornsson to have used incorrect form for his final lift - handing Hall the title by one point.
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Eddie Hall won World's Strongest Man by one point in 2017
Credit: Instagram eddiehallwsm
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Hafthor Bjornsson was convinced he had been 'robbed' of victory
Credit: Instagram/thorbjornsson
THE STORM RAGES ON
From there, things began to worsen.
Bjornsson did not want to let go of his "robbery", regularly "smearing" Hall's victory and letting it be known that he felt he deserved to win in 2017.
In fact, Hall was so sick of Thor's constant arguments against his WSM title that he tried to prove that he had bent his knees during the Viking Press.
The 6ft 2in Englishman shared a video of the event which he claimed was proof that he didn't cheat and Bjornsson was right to have not won.
That video sparked even more fury between the pair, with Thor later admitting he doesn't even like Hall.
He said: "The whole world knows Eddie and I don't get along. Some people just don't get along in life and that's okay.
"I don't need to get along with him. And that's fine, but I don't necessarily hate the guy, I wouldn't go that far. I mean, I do dislike him."
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Bjornsson claimed he didn't like Hall
Credit: Instagram @thorbjornsson
WORTH THE WEIGHT
Determined to get one over on his new rival, Bjornsson decided he would have to look away from strongman to get under Hall's skin.
Hall had previously set the world record for the heaviest deadlift in history, managing to pick up
500KG
in 2016.
Hall had committed himself to earning that title, suffering from a brain bleed and temporary blindness as a result, but Bjornsson was still determined to break it.
The 6ft 9in Icelandic giant, who played The Mountain on Game of Thrones, trained for several months to give it a crack.
If they're going to say that's 501kg on the bar, I do not trust them
Eddie Hall
And after working on his lifting, he successfully managed to lift a typically petty 501kg to snatch the record away in his own gym.
Hall was understandably miffed by Bjornsson's determination to one-up him and claimed that the strongman turned TV star's attempt shouldn't stand.
In a YouTube Q&A video, he said: "I do not trust the Icelandics. I do not trust them.
"At World's Strongest Man 2017 they were the ones that cried and stomped their feet and said that the referee cheated them and that's the only reason I won World's Strongest Man."
Adding: "I don't trust the Icelandics, they would pull anything out of their pockets to try and beat me and to do anything to top anybody.
"So I don't trust them. I do not trust them. If they're going to say that's 501kg on the bar, I do not trust them".
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Eddie Hall set the world record for a 500kg deadlift, suffering from a brain bleed at the time
Credit: YouTube / Eddie Hall The Beast
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Bjornsson topped the record with 501kg and seemed to do so with relative ease
Credit: YouTube / Rogue Fitness
THE GLOVES ARE...ON
Bjornsson wanted to take things up a notch after breaking Hall's record, calling him out for a fight.
After being offered a seven-figure boxing deal, Thor took aim at Hall.
He said: "I just knocked out your record, and now I'm ready to knock you out'.
After three years of a high-profile hatred, the two strongman were
A fight was arranged and labelled as 'The Heaviest Boxing Match in History' with the fighters coming in at a combined 294kg.
It ended in a unanimous decision victory for Bjornsson after he knocked Hall to the canvas twice and won all-but the second round.
Following defeat Hall
And it looked like it was the end of their rivalry with Hall saying: "The aftermath of the fight has made me think very hard.
"I think it's time for me and Thor to move on from our differences in 2017 at the World's Strongest Man.
'I understand why Thor did what he did and why he said what he said. I understand in his head what the outcome was.
'Nothing will change that and he will always have this perception that he was robbed in 2017. Him winning the fight is not going to change that.
'I've wanted to punch him in the face for a long time and I got the chance to. It's resolved a lot for me and helped to push a lot aside."
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Hall and Bjornsson boxed each other
Credit: Probellum
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Hall was knocked to the floor twice
Credit: Probellum
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Bjornsson won the bout by unanimous decision
Credit: Probellum
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Hall got a tattoo calling Thor the World's Strogest Man after his defeat
Credit: Instagram