All language subtitles for Ripleys.Believe.It.or.Not.2019.S01E04.Forces.of.Nature.480p.x264-mSD[eztv]_Subtitles01

MAN: I do a lot of things
that most people can't.

MAN #2: It's
an out-of-body experience.

WOMAN:
Being different is good.

You kinda wanna
stick out sometimes.

[ Whistling chirp ]

WOMAN #2: It might only happen
once in his life.

MAN #3: I'm a genetic freak.
[ Buzzing ]

MAN #4: The moment you think
that you can control nature,

you're wrong.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: 100 years ago,
Robert Ripley went on a quest

to the farthest
reaches of the globe,

in search of the
extraordinary and unusual.

Today, the adventure continues,

searching for the world's most
bizarre, astonishing secrets.

♪♪

On "Ripley's Believe It or Not!"

♪♪

Some say there's a natural
order to the living world.

But look closer and you'll see
strange quirks

and unbelievable truths
hiding in plain sight.

I'm Bruce Campbell,
and these are the stories

that break the rules of
everything we thought possible.

♪♪

I am known throughout
the world as the Hammerhead.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: John Ferraro should
have a headache 24/7.

-Aah!
-But he doesn't take the pain...

-[ Groaning ]
-He doles it out.

♪♪

♪♪

True to his nickname,
John "The Hammerhead" Ferraro

is as hardheaded as they come.

Hit. Aah!

CAMPBELL: But today,
he's testing his skull

like never before,
battling fire,

a cinder block,
and a bowling ball strike,

all in one.

Believe it...or not.

[ Men vocalizing ]

♪♪

THOMAS:
A lot of people ask me,

"Is he a little
crazy in real life?"

And I say, "No, he's not
a little crazy."

-Strike two!
-"He's a lot crazy."

[ Grunting ]

I love to see people cringe.

[ Whirring ]

I just like to excite people.

♪♪

DOUGLAS: The Hammerhead,
I'll tell ya, that name --

it suits him,
It suits him real well.

♪♪

FERRARO:
I earned that name by having

one of the hardest and
strongest skulls in the world.

I'm a performing strongman
and a genetic freak.

♪♪

I'm a cranium-crashin',
brain-bashin',

skull-smashin' son of a bitch
from Boston.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: John first discovered
his ability

by accident when he was a kid.

FERRARO: I didn't realize
how hard my skull was

until I actually got
in a confrontation

with my younger brother,
and he slammed the door on me.

I went head-first
through the door,

ripped it off its hinges
and cracked it in half.

And then I realized, "Wow, I do
have a super-tough skull."

CAMPBELL: Turns out Hammerhead
isn't just a nickname.

John really does have
a thick skull.

I've been MRI'd at the Harvard
Medical School in Boston,

and I have one of the thickest
skulls on the planet.

CAMPBELL:
The average skull thickness

for men is 6.5 millimeters,
about a quarter of an inch.

Women's skulls are slightly
thicker, 7.1 millimeters.

The MRI scan revealed that
John's skull is 16 millimeters,

more than twice the average.

No wonder he found his way

onto the independent
wrestling circuit.

♪♪

DOUGLAS:
Get low, get low!

Oh, it's Hammerhead!

-What's up, what's up!
-What's going on?

Beau Douglas has been a friend
of mine for many years.

He owns a professional
wrestling school.

Ah! Ah!

He's a great professional
wrestler, a great trainer.

I have felt that
head against mine,

and it's probably
the hardest thing

that I've ever taken
to the head.

I'm gonna bend this, but --
Just watch this.

What would you say,
about 5/8ths? Alright.

I don't know, I don't know
if you can do that one.

[ Laughter ]
What are you -- what are you --

[ Excited chatter ]
Oh, what are --

[ Crunching ]
[ Gasping ]

[ Grunting ]

What the...

[ Groaning ]

[ Cheering ]

-Oh, yeah!
-Yeah!

You know what?
I give it to him.

The man that can bend that
steel over his head is awesome.

♪♪

-[ Laughs ]
-There we go! There we go!

All of you, all of you,
go behind him!

Don't kill the ref.

I'm disgusted and horrified
and impressed at the same time.

CAMPBELL:
After a hard-fought career,

Hammerhead decided it was
time for a new challenge,

and went looking to the past
for inspiration.

♪♪

FERRARO: This right here
is Billy Wells.

He had over 40 blocks and rocks

broken over his skull
in one day.

Then also there's Andrew Hull,
the man with the iron skull.

He's another one
of my favorites.

This guy actually had
a 300-pound boulder

smashed over his head
with a sledgehammer.

CAMPBELL: And then there was
Siegmund Breitbart,

a blacksmith from Poland
who rose to fame

in the early 1900s,
bending iron bars,

biting through chains,

even letting horses
walk all over him.

♪♪

But John set out
to best them all.

Ah!

FERRARO: A lot of the things
that I do

are extremely,
extremely dangerous,

and I wouldn't recommend
them for anybody.

I concentrated
on bending spikes,

having cement broken over
my skull, breaking 2x4s.

And it was good,
but then I started doing

more extreme feats of strength.

[ Drill grinding ]
[ Screams ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Though John has built
a successful career

on the strength of his skull,

he could soon end up
shattering both.

Attempting his most dangerous
feat yet,

John will support two
flaming concrete patio stones

on his head, weighing 30 pounds,

while enduring a direct strike
with a bowling ball.

If he misses the mark,
I could be permanently damaged.

♪♪

Not a lot people can have
a 12-pound bowling ball

dropped 10 feet in the air
on top of their skull

and walk away from that.

Okay, go!

[ Grunts ]

♪♪

I personally don't know
how he's still walking today.

♪♪

FERRARO: I love to perform,

and I always get the job done.

♪♪

That's what makes me happy.

That's what makes me feel good.

That's what relieves stress.

That, my friend --
that's gold.

♪♪

John Ferraro is known
for his hard-hitting skull,

but this next man
uses a gentler touch

to face an airborne army that
could kill him in minutes.

Now, that's an army of darkness.

And I didn't write that.

[ Buzzing ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL: This man is on
a constant quest

for his perfect queen.

I'm Luis Slayton.
I'm from Donna, Texas,

and I rescue bees.

CAMPBELL: Some would say his
method is madness.

SLAYTON:
I'm able to go into a beehive

and just take 'em out, relocate
'em without a bee suit.

CAMPBELL: Now Luis is taking
us inside the hive,

where he'll wear the bees
all over his face.

Believe it...or not.

♪♪

SLAYTON:
It's an out-of-body experience.

There's really no words, but...

Zen? Nirvana?

I'm going to my happy place.

I'm like the Pied Piper.
I play my flute,

and they go into the box.

I respect them,
they respect me.

They don't sting me to death

because they know that
I'm helping them out.

♪♪

[ Cow moos ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
A fascination with bees
runs deep in Luis's blood.

SLAYTON: Beekeeping is
a generational trade

that has been passed down

from our great-grandfather,
to my grandfather, to us now.

My great grandfather
was from a small town,

in Doctor Arroyo,
located in Mexico,

where he kept bees,

and he used to
manufacture wax candles

out of the beeswax to
light the township.

My grandfather passed
this knowledge onto me,

and I'm gonna pass
this knowledge

onto my kids, and their kids.

Grab it with both hands.
Good job.

See, the queen's right there.

The best piece of advice my
grandfather had given to me

was just when you think you know

everything about bees,
you don't.

CAMPBELL: Bees and humans have
a long shared history,

dating back to ancient Egypt,

where jars of honey were
found in the pharaohs' tombs.

Since then, many cultures
have kept bee colonies,

harvesting honey, pollen,

and royal jelly
from their hives.

But bees give us
far more than that.

As the world's most essential
pollinator of food crops,

they are critical
to human survival.

♪♪

But that doesn't mean
you want them in your house.

Time to call Luis.

CAMPBELL: Luis is on a mission
to collect and domesticate

as many feral bees as he can,

in an effort to
preserve the species,

and our fragile food supply,
one hive at a time.

SLAYTON: What makes me different
from other beekeepers is

the bare hand approach
that I take

to removing these
nuisance beehives.

The more humanistic approach
that I have

where you're one with the hive,

where you're actually
not wearing gloves.

You smoke 'em a little bit.

The smoke pacifies the bees
and lets me work with them.

[ Whirring ]

I start by cutting the comb out,
putting that comb into a box,

rubber banding that comb --
the comb are the babies.

For the most part, the bees
are gonna follow the babies,

they're gonna follow
the queen bee.

So if I got both of them,
the babies and the queen bee,

I'm setting myself up
for success.

Here we go, there we go,
there we go...

Once the queen bee
is in the box,

I put her in the cage, I kiss
her, put her in the box,

and then we wait for
the magic to happen.

All the bees go to the box.

CAMPBELL: Luis has spent years
perfecting this technique.

Now, he's taking
it a step further,

wearing his bees on his face.

SLAYTON: Beware,
it's very dangerous.

You can die of multiple stings

and certain complications
that can arise along the way.

He's gonna put
I don't know how many

bees on top of his body.

That makes me nervous.

I'm sorry, I'm nervous
right now.

SLAYTON:
You're playing with nature,

and nature has its own way
of being.

And the moment you think
that you can control nature,

you're wrong.

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
In an effort to bring attention

to the plight of
his beloved insects,

Luis is training to
break the world record

for most bees worn on the body.

But with 250,000 stingers
within firing range,

one wrong move could
cost Luis his life.

♪♪

It's a head-to-head
sexy combat.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Most of us will swat one bee
if it gets too close.

What happens if you're
surrounded by 250,000?

For Texan named Luis Slayton,
the answer is,

take off all your clothes
and kiss the queen.

♪♪

[ Buzzing ]

When I put them on my body,
in essence what I'm doing is,

I'm doing an artificial swarm.

I'm making them swarm
into my face.

♪♪

[ Buzzing ]

I take the queen
out of the box,

I put her on my face or
I put her

on the designated
part of my body

that I want them to follow,

and just let the magic happen.

And you stand there and you
just let them fly.

[ Whooshes ]

[ Buzzing ]

There's a little crawling
noise that they make.

[ Imitates crawl ]

They're gnawing at your skin.

♪♪

When I'm doing the bee-wear,

I'm dealing with a wild animal.

And I'm not just dealing
with one wild animal.

Once you start, you can't stop.

♪♪

I think they understand me
and I understand them,

and I know that the moment
that I take them

for granted,
they'll remind me, and it's

a humbling experience
to get stung by them.

They keep you humble.

CAMPBELL: Luis gets stung
a lot, and it is toxic.

For a man his size,
anything up to

around 1,500 stings
is survivable.

Beyond that,
he could go into shock.

And without immediate medical
treatment, Luis could die.

But as long as Luis treats
the queen with respect,

and as long his assistant
keeps the smoke flowing

to keep the bees calm,
he should get away

with just a few hundred stings.

But if one wrong move
sets the bees off,

the swarm will
quickly end his life.

SLAYTON:
I'm becoming one with the bees.

♪♪

Just knowing that you have
all them beings around you,

it's -- it's nirvana.

♪♪

It's an out-of-body
experience.

I no longer feel the stings,
then I'm just --

it's like I'm somebody else,

and I'm looking
from the outside in.

[ Buzzing ]

♪♪

[ Buzzing ]

♪♪

What started off as
being a hobby/passion

ended up just
taking over my life.

I'm living the American dream.

♪♪

Luis has an uncanny
way with bees.

But the fact remains,
nature can be unpredictable.

Sometimes,
it throws a curve ball

and produces
something, or someone,

truly extraordinary.

♪♪

My name is Chuy.

They call me the Wolf Man.

♪♪

[ Speaking Spanish ]

CAMPBELL: Chuy Fajardo
and his family

are in for their
monthly haircuts.

But there is only so much
a barber can do for them.

That's because they grow
hair on almost every surface.

Believe it...or not.

♪♪

Jesús Chuy Fajardo Aceves
was born

with thick hair
covering the face.

It's an inherited genetic
disorder called hypertrichosis,

and it is so rare that there are

only 50 documented
cases in the world.

Most of them, close relatives.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

CAMPBELL: The Aceves family
can trace

the condition back
almost 400 years.

It's believed they're
related to Petrus Gonsalvus,

a 16th century Spaniard
said to have inspired

the famous tale
"Beauty and the Beast."

♪♪

♪♪

MAN:
The Wolf Boy will now attempt

to walk all five swords,

for the walk of death!

♪♪

I think they're sexy,
I think they're sensual.

♪♪

[ Quacking ]
The male duck penis

is actually corkscrew shaped.

♪♪

♪♪

Mother Nature
always seems to have

some tricks up her sleeve --

genetic anomalies that have
to be seen to be believed.

Or...not.

♪♪

[ Applause ]
MAN: Ladies and gentlemen,

the Wolf Boy will now attempt
to walk all five swords.

♪♪

[ Audience gasping ]

♪♪

[ Audience gasping ]

[ Murmuring ]

[ Audience gasps ]

Ladies and gentlemen,
please howl like the wolf

for the Wolf Boy!
[ Applause ]

CAMPBELL:
Aceves family patriarch, Chuy,

has found a way to
turn his difference

into an advantage.

[ Slides click ]

CAMPBELL: Not every member of
the family is as hairy as Chuy,

and not all of them accepted
their hairiness at first.

[ Conversation in Spanish ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL: The family still
battles prejudice,

but following Chuy's example,
they refuse to hide.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

While Chuy has
traveled the world

trying to support the family,

his sister Lilia runs a grocery
store in Aguascalientes.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

[ Speaking Spanish ]

[ Conversation in Spanish ]

♪♪

♪♪

Even with so many researchers

digging into the secrets
of the natural world,

there's so much we don't know,

and so much you can't
believe is real.

Case in point, what goes on
behind the scenes

when it's time for animals to...

reproduce.

[ Groaning ]

[ Quacking ]

Evolution has graced
the animal kingdom

with some downright
baffling adaptations

in the mating department.

♪♪

[ Grunting ]

[ Romantic music plays ]

[ Music stops ]

♪♪

Wild animal sex can be
like a house of horrors.

Body parts you've
never imagined...

tangled mates trying to punch
through each other's guts...

an eager male dissolved
into a brainless sex organ.

Just some of the
five most bizarre

sex strategies in
the animal kingdom.

Believe it...

or not.
[ Barking ]

♪♪

I'm a biology professor

at the University
of Texas in Austin,

and I focus on
behavior, evolution

of animal communication,
and the brain.

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
Every species on the planet
is driven to reproduce.

But males and females come
at it from different angles.

CUMMINGS: Sperm,
it's a small little cell.

You can make millions at a time.

Eggs are much bigger.

Females have to shunt
a lot of resources

into producing big, juicy eggs.

So, males wanna mate often,

females wanna mate less.

CAMPBELL:
This means males usually have

the wildest behaviors
and weirdest body parts.

[ Sniffs ]

♪♪

Males are trying to get
the attention of females.

[ Clucking ]

They're really showy,
they spin around,

and they flash
and they do a dance.

[ Chirping ]

CAMPBELL:
But of all these mating rituals,

there are a handful that top
the list of most bizarre.

[ Calling ]

♪♪

The lyrebird sings
and flashes his feathers

to attract females.

But it serenades desired mates
in a very unusual way.

♪♪

CUMMINGS:
The lyrebird male.

He can mimic not only the
sounds of other lyrebirds,

or other bird species...

[ Cawing ]

...but manmade noises.

Car alarms...
[ Wailing ]

...and chain saws.
[ Mimics chain saw ]

So this little syrinx in
his little bird throat

is capable of mimicking things

that are not natural,
almost perfectly.

[ Whistling chirp ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL: And then there's
your everyday duck...

[ Quacking ]
...and a battle of the sexes

playing out
just under the surface.

Number four,

duck anatomy.

The male duck penis is
actually corkscrew shaped.

And interestingly,
the female vaginal tract,

it goes the opposite way.

She actually can
impede the progress

of unwanted sexual attempts.

[ Quacks ]

CAMPBELL:
Male sage-grouse have evolved

their own strange anatomy
for wooing the ladies.

Number three,

bulbous chest sacs.

♪♪

CUMMINGS: The sage-grouse,
they have these air sacs

that are actually just
extensions of their esophagus.

[ Whooshes, pops ]

They'll bounce them around,

and they make all
bizarre types of sounds,

from clicks and whistles
and pops and coos.

[ Pops ]
And some sounds that
we can't even hear

because they're subsonic.

Really intense
male-male competition.

It's a head-to-head,
sexy combat.

[ Gobbling sound ]

CAMPBELL:
All flatworms have male
and female sexual parts.

Any individual flatworm can act

as either a male or a female.

But, they fight about it.

Number two,

the dagger battle.

♪♪

All of these flatworms have
both male and female parts.

These white areas, right here,

they're called daggers.

They actually
punch a slight hole

through the body cavity
of the other flatworm,

and transfer sperm.

♪♪

Each one's trying to play
the role of the male.

Whoever is successful first
and got to play the male role,

you get a bigger bang for your
buck when you use your sperm.

CAMPBELL:
Suitors vying for the same mate

can battle in
spectacular fashion.

But believe me, this next fella

has a much more
shocking conflict,

and a sexual
strategy so strange,

it could become the stuff
of your nightmares.

♪♪

♪♪

The natural world can be
just plain weird,

as biologist Dr. Molly Cummings
knows well.

She's counting down some of
the oddest mating rituals

of the animal kingdom.

Someone's got to.

We've already seen some
pretty bizarre hook-ups,

from fencing flatworms
and curly duck penises

to masterful mimics
and puffy chest sacs.

Now for our number one.

♪♪

Angler fish live very
deep in the ocean,

maybe a thousand meters deep.

And down there it's
incredibly dark.

It's huge, very spacious.

There's no way you can
predict where you might

run into a member
of the opposite sex.

What looks like an appendage

is actually a male
of the same species.

There's angler fish
who never encounter

another one of their own kind
for their entire lives.

He is completely wired to
maximize that opportunity.

It might only happen
once in his life.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: The male bites into
the female's flesh

and the two animals
fuse together,

his bloodstream
connecting to hers.

His organs all dissolve,
except for his testes.

He'll get all his nutrients
and oxygen from her blood.

That blood also delivers
hormones that signal

when she releases her eggs.

This triggers what
is left of, quote, "him,"

to release sperm into
the water at the same time.

CUMMINGS: And he becomes this
testicle appendage to the female

for the rest of his life.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Even in the alien
world of the deep ocean,

it is super strange.

♪♪

[ Grunting ]

[ Chuckles dryly ]
Okay, is it over?

Ah.

Some things in life
you just can't un-see.

Other things, you can't
take your eyes off of.

Like this woman.

She wins, hands down.

♪♪

Ayanna Williams considers
herself an artist.

But her work is so unusual,

it draws stares
wherever she goes.

♪♪

What do you do
in the bathroom?

Same thing you do.

You just take it
and go like this.
[ Laughs ]

♪♪

My name's Ayanna Williams.

I have the world's record
for the longest nails

on a pair of hands for a female.

[ Laughter ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Retired manicurist
Ayanna Williams

has been growing out
her nails for 26 years.

Her babies require
more attention

than a lot of real children.

♪♪

And not only do they
dominate her lifestyle,

they could be reshaping
her body itself.

Believe it...or not.

♪♪

[ Whirring ]
[ Opera music playing ]

Ayanna's nails range from
27 to 36 inches long -- each.

[ Blows air ]

For a sum total
in excess of 20 feet,

the height of an adult giraffe.

They are her crowning glory.

♪♪

Growing my nails,
it's a passion.

♪♪

My nails are still growing.

As a matter of fact, they
seem to be growing faster

now that they're longer.

♪ Can you dig it? ♪

CAMPBELL: Ayanna's fascination
with long nails

began at an early age.

♪ Can -- can -- can --
can -- can ♪

♪♪

WILLIAMS: As a child, I saw
my mother grow her nails.

Of course, they were
nothing extreme like this.

It was a challenge to
myself to grow my nails.

One day I woke up,
and here they are!

♪♪

I think they're sexy,
I think they're sensual,

and they make you different.

♪♪

When I paint my nails,
usually it takes me

about -- maybe about a week.

If I painted my nails
with nail polish,

I would need at
least two bottles

and that's gonna
only do one coat.

So I probably need about four.

But I use acrylic paint now,

it's much faster.

CAMPBELL: Ayanna has captured
the record for

longest nails on a female,

but the overall record
remains out of reach.

♪♪

I know of a man who grew
his nails for 66 years.

I have to give him his props
for being brave enough

to even grow his nails
to those lengths.

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
Shridhar Chillal from India

won the record for
longest nails on one hand.

Five nails reaching 30 feet.

In 2018 he made a special trip
to the U.S.

To cut the nails off
in a Ripley's ceremony.

Nearly seven decades of growth
gone, in a matter of minutes.

It had to feel liberating.

Still...

the damage was done.

♪♪

If you grow your nails too long,

they make your hand deformed
because of the weight

pulling down on the nails.

CAMPBELL: Just one of the
challenges Ayanna faces.

There are so many limitations
to having these nails.

♪♪

I have to have someone
to help me all the time.

Sometimes I can't
pull my pants up.

I've had 'em so long,
I wonder if my nails

are a burden to my family.

I'm happy to help my aunt
with anything,

whenever she asks.

I'm right there,
best believe it.

♪♪

WILLIAMS: I've traveled,
I'm in magazines,

people know me
all around the world.

So it's time that I do
something else.

CAMPBELL: Has the time finally
come for Ayanna

to get out the clippers?

♪♪

♪♪

After nearly 30 years
of growing her nails,

Ayanna Williams is
toying with a big change.

♪♪

WILLIAMS:
I'm getting to that point.

Cut 'em off.
[ Laughs ]

♪♪

If someone offered me maybe
$25,000 right now,

I'll take it.

CAMPBELL: Until then,
she's holding onto her title

with both hands.

♪♪

WILLIAMS: They're the longest
in the world,

and I like the attention I get.

I like that.
[ Laughs ]

I'm with a world record
holder right now.

♪♪

WILLIAMS: Long live
the long-nailed goddess,

the queen of nails,
royal hotness --

I am that and more.
Me, the queen.

Don't get it twisted.

♪♪

Ayanna Williams grew
what nature gave her

to extraordinary lengths.

Nature made this next
guy extraordinary

right outta the gate.

♪♪

My name is Jeff Dabe.

I'm 55 years old, do a lot of
things that most people can't.

CAMPBELL:
Jeff Dabe was born different.

People are usually
afraid of him...

until they start
talking to him,

and then they realize he's
just a big, gentle giant.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

CAMPBELL:
Daily chores come easy to Jeff.

He picks up hay bales
and throws 'em

just like they're
little candy bars.

I grew up on a farm
with beef cows and pigs.

So I can do all the chores,
I could pull the calves around.

♪♪

I knew I was a little
stronger and bigger

than average kids my size.

I probably noticed, I don't
know, three or four years old.

Goofing around with
the neighborhood kids,

I could pick stuff up
they couldn't.

My parents, they sent me
down to Rochester.

There were like 50, 60
different doctors there

trying to figure out what I had,
or why I had it.

They did a bunch of tests
and studies

and they never did come up
with any conclusions.

It's a gift to me.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Wherever he goes,
Jeff gets a lot of stares.

GINA:
When I first saw Jeff,

I was overwhelmed with
his size and everything.

CAMPBELL:
At five-foot-nine,

Jeff is the height of your
average American male.

So much else is off the charts.

GINA:
His hands are just humongous.

[ Laughs ]

CAMPBELL: The average hand size
measured across the knuckles

is 3.56 inches for males.

Jeff's is 7.4 inches,

more than double the size.

GINA: He just makes everybody
look like a child, you know,

when they compare hands.

CAMPBELL: The average size of
a man's wedding ring?

8.

Jeff dons one
the size of a bracelet.

I did have a custom wedding
ring made, which is a size 30.

A quarter would be like
a normal sized ring.

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
While Jeff makes his living
with heavy machinery,

he does have a sideline that
puts his unique features

to work.

JEFF:
My senior year in high school,

we were doing arm wrestling.
I end up beating all the kids.

I also beat the adults,
and I liked it.

It just kinda kept
growing from there.

CAMPBELL: In the early '90s
Jeff turned pro

and rose to the sport's
top ranks.

[ Groans ]

♪♪

But in the late '90s,

in the midst of a tough matchup,
he felt something pop

in his right elbow.

I don't know what went,

but that's as far as I
can straighten it now.

So I just leave it alone and
keep pulling with the left.

WOMAN:
Come on, Jeff!

He's just been going crazy,
just smokin' everybody.

[ Laughter, cheering ]

Jeff for the win!

CAMPBELL: The average male
forearm circumference

is 24.2 centimeters.

Jeff, who's never
lifted weights,

has forearms that
measure 50.8 centimeters.

That's 19 inches,

almost as big around as
the average human head.

♪♪

Right now I hold the
North American Championship belt

out of Canada.

I just won a four-way
super match out in California

for the UAL.

I just also won
Nationals in Michigan.

So I guess I'm holding
my own right now.

I've had the nickname Popeye
since high school.

It's all right, I don't mind.
it's a good nickname to have.

♪♪

Jeff found a way to turn
his appendages into assets.

The same goes for a natural
born wonder in Florida.

She isn't bowing down to anyone,

'cause she's a tall
drink of water.

♪♪

Jeff Dabe,
the real-life Popeye,

is perfectly suited
to tossing hay bales

and burning up
the arm wrestling circuit.

But when nature
makes you different,

it's not always so easy
to find your niche.

♪♪

This 25-year-old was born
into a family of giants.

My mom is six-foot-one,

my dad's six-foot-two.

But where it gets really tall
is my grandpa

was six-foot-eight.

Now my younger cousin
is taller than I am.

My name is Holly Burt.

I stand at six-foot-five.

CAMPBELL:
It's not her height alone

that makes her so special.

And I'm the female with
the longest legs in America.

My legs are 49.5 inches.

♪♪

There wasn't really
a point in my life

where I wasn't tall.

I mean, even out of the womb
I think I was 25 inches.

♪♪

I grew up in
Jacksonville, Florida.

Was a really small beach town.

When I hit first grade,
I was taller

than my first grade teacher.

I was never picked for
the high school dance,

just because I was
a little bit taller.

[ Laughs ] Sorry, a lot --
a lot taller.

Alright.

♪♪

Kids are mean, and it
really hurt sometimes.

Walking past a teenager
and hearing them whisper,

it sucked.

There would be days where
I would just go home

and just wish I was normal.

CAMPBELL: And then Holly
found the one place

where she could blend in.

♪♪

The turning point from not
really liking my height

to the point where
I really embrace it,

is definitely when I
moved to New York City.

♪♪

Just seeing that there's so many
different walks of life,

and getting out of that
really small town bubble,

it really felt great.

I get asked probably 15 times,
20 times every day

about how tall I am.

CAMPBELL: Holly's legs alone
are over four feet long,

the same height as the
average eight-year-old.

♪♪

It was not just the big city
life that comforted her.

In 2016, she was signed
to a modeling contract.

HOLLY:
Mainly it's just for tall girl
apparel companies.

So anything from athletic wear

to your normal everyday wear.

Okay. Shuffle, kick.

Pow. Good.

Speaking for all
the tall girls out there,

if you're feeling down,
like if you're in

middle school,
elementary school,

it's only gonna get better.

Being different is good.

You kinda wanna
stick out sometimes.

Feels pretty empowering.

There is an order to nature,

but rules are made to be broken.

And those who push past
the boundaries

make the world a weirdly
entertaining place.

♪♪

[ Lights shut off ]