Throughout the history of the sport of professional bodybuilding fans are often posed with this question , "Who is the greatest of all time". This question can be debated endlessly.
How does one compare legends of different eras ? Has the idea of "what looks good" really changed that much throughout the years?

That all being said, an athlete is only as good as the competition they best. So rather than the same old who is the singular greatest of all. I pose this . What is the greatest first callout of a bodybuilding contest ever?

In my mind , all things being considered. I truly believe the greatest first callout of all time is the 1998 Mr. Olympia contest from NYC. With Yates recently retired the field was completely packed with prime , top shape, all time legends of the sport. Of which the first callout was as follows. 1) Ronnie Coleman 2) Flex Wheeler 3) Nasser El Sonbaty

Ronnie was arguably in his all time best form onstage coupled with the legend Flex Wheeler besides arguably '97's uncrowned champ in Nasser El Sonbaty. Below is footage of the prejudging to see for yourself.

https://youtu.be/EoTN1NhlmtE

That being said. Below I have also provided a link to arguably the best classic first callout / contest . The N.A.B.B.A. 1971 Mr. Universe Contest.
Tall Class - 1) Bill Pearl 2) Sergio Oliva 3) Reg Park.
Bill Pearl wins his 4th professional Mr. Universe contest besting former multi Universe winner Reg Park, Mr. Olympia and legend in Sergio Oliva and future Olympia champion Frank Zane.

Not to mention Frank Zane winning the Short Class.
The link also shows some bonus footage from the 1970 Universe as well.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-OBnayVYPLs