Rodney Mullen 1990 ProAm Freestyle Contest

[@Dave.S.Cramer]

I remember this contest. I traveled 5 hours to get there. I was 18 at the time. I didn't tell my parents where I was going. I just took off. I just wanted to see Rodney in person. I was so lucky. I got to meet him and get his autograph that day. It was one of the best days of my life. He is and always will be a god to me. To this day I ONLY wear Converse shoes because of him. I'm so glad your mom filmed this so I could see it again. I brought a video camera that day but the battery was dead when it was time for him to compete (I wasted it all filming him warm up!). I also got to see Ray Meyer again (who I met about a year earlier and was lucky enough to be able to skate with him (another one of the best days of my life)). This video brings back so many wonderful memories for me.

[@3DEditor]

Do you still have the footage of him warming up during practice? I'd like to see it, since I only got to see him compete. I was busy practicing for my own routines and competing that day. That was the first time I met and spoke with him in person. He congratulated me on my high placing in the factory sponsored division.

[@3DEditor]

this contest was held long before T.H. Pro skater came out too. Rodney's choice of music probably helped inspire some of the songs played on that game as well. He was always ahead of his time in more than one way.

[@DylanInSpace]

he truly has mastered everything he does on his board..during that whole run he messed up once? ..he is the best

[@3DEditor]

@kiddisney1 Those songs were around long before Tony hawk games were invented. They're from "Bad Religion"

[@TriFF51]

yea, everytime I see one of his videos I'm in awe...those tricks are just incredible

[@fatpenguin69urmum]

that was so cool. crowd didnt get into it. the tricks were intense. pushes it to the limits

[@vilane421]

The crowd cheered like he was the 100th Rodney Mullen they've run into. I would have been laughing in disbelief the whole time if I attended the contest.

[@28russ]

The height of those ollies were crazy. Especially considering his skating not much more than a tiny flat piece of wood that looks to have very little tail and no concave. Freestyle board were so basic back then. 😲😲

[@3DEditor]

Yep, I skated both Freestyle and Street back then, and popping ollies with not as steep of a tail with very little nose was a lot tougher.

[@vegasskating]

Very impressive! The dude deserves the fame he has plus more...

[@devidia]

too bad for that one mistake. too awesome for words

[@xSaecredChaotixx]

The God father of Street himself... I don't think I've ever seen him in a competition.

[@dons77]

i agree with what he's saying. the crowd don't realise they're watching the best skateboarder who has ever lived.

[@FunctionStore]

u can see hes enjoying it. and Bad Religion was the best skatepunk!

[@abcmaya]

This video was uploaded 18 years ago!!!

[@3DEditor]

Glad you like the video my mom filmed at this 1990 contest. It was a fun contest to compete in. One of the last big Freestyle contests before it died off for nearly 20 years.

[@Nominay]

You know, I look back now and can't understand why people were so into those handplants, but they really were seen as the holy grail then. go figure

[@bulletmagnet25]

i like how he always ends his crazy spins with a impossible

[@Mike_England]

They were playing Bad Religion in the background? God, they're such an old band! They've got, what, like 400 albums? They're a good band though, and Rodney is amazing, nice vid.

[@proffasee]

rodney re-invents skateboarding everytime he rides repsect

[@Communitis]

@kiddisney1 Also, this video's older than the whole THPS franchise, so it would be more apt to say they came from his competitive routine. Evidently Mullen's a Bad Religion fan, since freestyle skaters rarely failed to synchronize their routines with music, or have some type of atmospheric theme. I thought it was just the music the producers/editors picked for his video parts in THPS2, but I guess he really likes 'em.

[@3DEditor]

Bad Religion was pretty popular during the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. I started listening to them around 1990 as well

[@felixgv]

Thanks for the upload! Who won that contest in the end?

[@3DEditor]

Rodney, Pierre got 2nd, Kevin Harris got 3rd, Darryl Grogan got 4th, Bill Robertson got 5th, Tim Waldusky got 6th I don't know who got what after that. You can see more of this contest and contest results in my skateboarding documentary titled DETERMINATION 1 SKATEBOARDING DOCUMENTARY

[@cheeseshop]

rodney invented almost every trcik you can possibly name... he is THE BEST!

[@3DEditor]

Rodney won the contest of course. The surface was super slippery on a hot day so it was difficult for most people to land tricks perfect

[@rgt2020]

Hahahaha at 2:05 you can hear some guy shouting at Rodney "HO-HO!" like that time during the Swatch watch tour.

[@3DEditor]

it's called "Anxiety" by Bad Religion. "against the grain" album.

[@mackblack01]

that's a gift man!

[@briancameronlee]

NOW THIS GUY CAN SKATE!

[@akkillees]

pretty much, he's insane

[@3DEditor]

World Industries

[@3DEditor]

I highly doubt that. It could have been his first time pulling it in a contest where everyone was watching. I'm sure this was one of his latest new tricks he practiced in private until he got it down pat. That's just how Rodney was his entire career. He never wanted anyone to see any of his newest tricks until contest time, just to be sure no one else was going to be doing that in the contest as well. He knew he was king and special, so he held it close until time to share.

[@rgt2020]

Yeah, I prefer the more tech tricks.

[@MrT23434]

That was a crazy spin at the end

[@rickh3714]

Agreed. Trying to ' contain' Rodney with ' 30 seconds to go' or whatever it was threw him off on a trick he would have probably made otherwise. 360's are a good ending manouver and Rodney seems to always show a variation on a theme with them- although many do more spins. Less so now but back in the late 70's early 80's 20+ was a competition norm.

[@3DEditor]

@Y0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0ow Talkin bout the kid with the bright yellow vintage team Rollerblade hat? Thats my younger bro taking pics of the contest while my mom was filming. He was the first youngest Rollerblader to turn pro in his early teens. He also ended up doing his own stunts in different movies and commercials. I never cared much for rollerblading myself, but I'm proud of my bros accomplishments.

[@3DEditor]

Wrong, It's "Anxiety" Bad Religion

[@azoof]

I can't believe people liked his ollies more than the groundbreaking tricks -_-

[@faguettenicholas7834]

Wasn't his ollies one of his groundbreaking tricks??

[@CpmPanda]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RODNEY MULLEN!!! hehe

[@otakuturtle]

maybe so, I forget. Maybe a gingersnap is the same trick, but done hangten instead of fakie ollie.

[@putinpower]

Rodney the greatest even on his rise He's as complexed as always. But best of THE BEST. He win?

[@3DEditor]

of course, he always won except for once. That was a fun contest. I have more video footage and pictures in some of my skate video documentaries from that contest. search my channel library for "DETERMINATION" Full skateboarding documentary. I have video footage of Pierre Andre and Kevin Harris in that contest as well as Darryl Grogan, Bill Robertson, Tim Waldusky, Andre Camacho, Fabian Kravitz and many more great skaters, including myself from that pro/am contest. Thanks for watching.

[@putinpower]

3D Editor that's why I have to ask, he's an artist Otherwise everybody just try to be alike . Copycats

[@3DEditor]

@@putinpower Everybody is an artist in their own right. There are some direct copycats out there, so let them be if they're not hurting anyone but themselves. As long as they are enjoying it while learning, that's fine; eventually they'll have to evolve into their own style and some variety of different tricks. Everyone starts out with someone they are inspired by, that's how we learn.

[@vilane421]

Yeah, no joke. I just laugh and smile usually thinking "No way, gtfo." followed by more laughs and smiles.

[@Fleppo]

@3Deditor but his other run at this comp is better? hmm or maybe not.. idk

[@skateNdestroy23]

he looks old in this video and the song you-bad religion that song was like in the 90's

[@gerardoG10]

nice n smooth

[@RodneyHalo3]

actualy he is he invented the basis tricks

[@raganboy95]

whooo u rock rodney!!!

[@3DEditor]

actually, the exact opposite is true. There were an awful lot of great freestyle skaters back then, and to see someone do an ollie impossible or any kind of ollie trick or flip trick had been well overused in demonstrations and contests. So it was nothing new or exciting. There were a few new tricks that Rodney had done in this contest that no one has ever seen. Although a lot of Rodneys routines were very similar each contest. he usually had something new up his sleeve, which made it worth it.

[@3DEditor]

most people could do impossibles back then. it was a pretty common trick. most people couldn't ollie that high back then.

[@Smijti0815]

uhm,he fell off his board just once in the entire time? oO rodney is a living legend,i love his street style,too bad that the rails are missin' here...my favourite trick is the darkslide,but it stays absolutely awesome

[@3DEditor]

yep, some announcers are notorious for that. one contest I was in, this different announcer spoke half way through most peoples runs, including mine. pretty rude, if I must say. Oh well, I just looked at it as another demonstration where the announcer needs to speak while I skate. Haha!

[@Nominay]

Do you have a date on this event? I'm guessing early '89 since Rodney's board doesn't appear to have an upturned nose yet.

[@3DEditor]

This contest was held in 1990

[@martym1975]

I hated that surface in Anaheim (like a garage floor) and had to take all my 50/50's out of my routine...

[@3DEditor]

You could have kept those trick varieties in your routine, if you included a rubber flap or shoe goo on the tip of the nose and tail like a few other skaters did who competed there. It was a slippery surface, but was fun. I never had any problems doing 50/50 Casper and various pogo tricks there, it just took extra precision and timing.

[@thprosk8ertony]

he rocks

[@Y0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0ow]

24 people rollerblader

[@3DEditor]

laughing's your way of showing shock and awe?

[@3DEditor]

hmmm, that's cool.

[@thisisenttacobel]

wtf why did they go crazy when he ollie but when he impossibled they were quite -_-....

[@Redxill]

rodney powns

[@kiddisney1]

@3Deditor oh

[@heshinator1]

i think this is the era where everyone was getting into street skating and freestyle was dying, people looked weird at rodney for staying true to what he started on(stated in his book, The Mutt, go check it out)

[@3DEditor]

I competed a lot in Freestyle back then and was there competing that day too. This was the very last pro freestyle contest. There after all am contests were called flatland for the next few years, to try and keep those contests going with more interest from street skaters. To say the least, very few freestylers competed in those flatland contests, while most quit and went on to other things.

[@3DEditor]

@Morais479 of course. haha!

[@hazardiz101]

i wander how many times rodney got carded before he got this good lol

[@megapengproductions]

im like that too haha

[@Prezaul]

duh rodney dont u kno that the reason freestyle isnt around is cause he won all the time?jkjk but seriously its tru

[@stuntsk8er]

your funny

[@hazardiz101]

@3Deditor lol