Strongman fans got more chaos than they bargained for this week as Eddie Hall and Brian Shaw — two of the sport’s biggest legends — found themselves in a very different kind of showdown while filming Battle of the Beasts in Malta.
After wrapping up filming for one of the competition’s events, Hall, who is hosting the show, and Shaw, who’s appearing as a guest judge, decided to turn downtime into a contest of their own — a rowboat race across the Maltese shoreline. The rules were simple: first to get back to shore wins.
It started as friendly banter, but seconds into the race, the challenge turned into slapstick mayhem.
According to footage captured on set, Hall had barely begun rowing when he slipped off his seat, slammed the back of his head against the bench behind him, and knocked himself out cold.
Shaw quickly realised something was wrong and grabbed hold of Hall’s drifting boat to stop it from floating further out. Members of the Battle of the Beasts production crew then rushed into the water to retrieve both Hall and vessel, pulling the dazed Brit back to land.
And that’s when the laughter began.
Still woozy but grinning, Hall triumphantly proclaimed: “Hey, I won! […] I’ll take that as a win. F*** Brian!”
Shaw, laughing but incredulous, shot back: “Bro, you can’t claim the win when you’re helped in! I stopped as a good friend would — I could have just kept rowing.”
Hall refused to back down. “So you lost?” he asked.
Shaw replied: “I lost because I’m a good friend?”
“Yeah,” Hall deadpanned. “Shame on you. If you’d have fallen back and cracked your head, I’d have belly-laughed my way to the finish line!”
“Of course you would,” Shaw said, shaking his head. “Because I’m actually a good person.”
“I won, Brian,” Hall insisted. “The objective was to get back to shore. […] It was a fair game.”
The video then cuts to the two strongmen continuing their debate in the car all the way back to the hotel, with neither man willing to concede defeat.
The playful rivalry is all part of the larger madness surrounding Battle of the Beasts, Hall’s new reality competition series filmed on location in Malta.
The 2017 World’s Strongest Man and first man to deadlift 500kg, Hall says the upcoming show will deliver “chaos, muscle, and more than a few unexpected twists.” Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hall teased: “It’s going to be on a big streaming platform very soon. The competition is looking pretty good. We’ve got 12 athletes — mainly from strongman — and we’ve got a surprise contestant. You’ll have to wait till you see it on the big streaming platform.”
Filmed against Malta’s dramatic Roman ruins and ancient Gladiator sets, Battle of the Beasts aims to reinvent the strongman format with a mix of traditional events and wild curveballs — from log lifts and stone carries to sumo wrestling, belly flop contests, and even eating showdowns.
“The production is massive — we’re talking over seven figures,” Hall said. “This could be the next big thing for strongman, it could really transform it. Take it to the masses. So keep your eyes peeled.”
Alongside Hall, Leah Shutkever — a 40-time Guinness World Record holder and elite competitive eater — will co-host the show, overseeing the eating challenges. Meanwhile, Shaw will serve as a co-host and guest judge for several strength events, joining celebrity judges Tommy Fury, Olivier Richters, Denise Kim Gafa, Neil Agius, and Matt Hookings.
TikTok sensation Big John Fisher — best known for his booming “Bosh!” catchphrase — will feature as the celebrity judge of the belly flop contest. In a recent behind-the-scenes clip, Hall, Shaw, and Fisher faced off in a Maltese pastizzi-eating challenge, ending in a dead heat between the two strongmen at 10 pastries each.
The athlete roster itself is a who’s who of global strength: reigning World’s Strongest Man Rayno Nel, three-time champ Tom Stoltman, Mitchell Hooper, Gavin Bilton, Evan Singleton, Trey Mitchell, Terry Hollands, Mark Felix, Paddy Haynes, and Flex Lewis all feature in the lineup.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Hall called the island “the perfect setting” for the show. “It’s very Roman Empire and the Gladiator film set is here, so it’s just the perfect backdrop for anything to do with beasts,” he said.
If the chaos of the rowboat “race” is any preview, Battle of the Beasts will deliver exactly what Hall promised: muscle, mayhem, and laughs — sometimes even at his own expense.
Featured image credit: YouTube/@ShawStrength
