In 1990, Vince McMahon founded the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) as competition to the long established IFBB. McMahon denied he was starting the organization. However, after the Mr. Olympia contest in 1990 press releases were handed out stating the organizations formation and that the WBF would “revamp professional bodybuilding with dramatic new events and the richest prize money in the history of the sport.” After the first competition aired live on pay-per-view in June 1991 it was criticized for the WBF’s attempt to develop characters for each BodyStar. This went against McMahon’s initial promise to keep professional wrestling away from bodybuilding. The owners were called together in July 1002 when McMahon announced the disbandment of the WBF stating, “The situation is very bad.”

The National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA) was founded in 1950 to promote bodybuilding in the United Kingdom. They held their first contest on June 24, 1950 with the NABBA Mr. Universe. The contest is still held today under the name Universe Championships. The NABBA International was formed as competitors from outside the United Kingdom wanted to compete in the contest. A number now have their own NADDA organization including USA, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Australia and Italy.

The National Physique Committee (NPC) is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the United States. The NPC sanctions competitions from local to national levels. One amateur organization per country is recognized by the IFBB and recognizes the NPC as its amateur extension for the United States. There are other amateur athletics with a professional extension, the NPC and IFBB are the largest and well known. In order to become an IFBB professional bodybuilder in the United States, you must first win a class at the NPC Nationals Championship or be the overall winner at the NPC USA Championship. The NPC also sanctions various bodybuilding fitness and figure competitions across the United States.

There is still controversy, abuse and lack of knowledge surrounding the art of bodybuilding. However, most take their sport seriously and train for their competitions as any other athlete would. They have to complete a number of required poses and then get to perform a choreographed posing routing to display their physique as well as aesthetics. These can become very artistic in nature. At the end of an evening show, a posedown, is usually held but does not affect the results. Judges are looking for size, shape and symmetry during a competition. A large part is also the posing techniques. Different dietary and training regimens are also employed for different types of competitions. This sport continues to grow in competitors and followers.