By: Andrew Hatfield
With Unleash The Beast preparing to invade Toyota Center Jan. 26-27 for two nights of non-stop thrills, we’re breaking down last weekend’s historic championship round, taking a look at JRV’s big win and beyond as Houston, Texas, welcomes the best bull riders in the world!
SOMETHING IN THE WATER: Already the home of three of the best rides in PBR history, Tulsa was once again a must-watch weekend of bull riding. Heading into BOK Center, riders had posted 10 90-point rides throughout the season. Last weekend, the world’s best bull riders put up nine 90-pointers, including seven in the championship round. Those seven 90-point rides were the most in a short round since Worcester, Massachusetts, in 2008. Overall, the forty cowboys on the top tour have been on fire the past two weeks. Since riding below 30 percent as a pack for the first time at an event this season in Madison Square Garden during the first weekend of January, the world’s best bull riders have bounced back in a big way. In Chicago, riders went 39-for-96 (40.63%), the second-highest riding percentage of the season, and followed that up by going 35-for-91 (38.46%) in Tulsa last weekend, the third-best performance during the 2024 campaign. So far this season, four events have had riding percentages better than 35% after only six events surpassed that mark in 2023
ON THE RISE: Several riders made massive leaps in the standings following the action in Tulsa, highlighted by Wingson Henrique da Silva and John Crimber. Silva, the 2023 PBR Rookie of the Year runner-up, surged from No. 34 to No. 19 after his bronze finish in Tulsa. Dias’s teammate on the Kansas City Outlaws, Silva went a perfect 3-for-3 at BOK Center, highlighted by a 90-point ride on Ricky Vaughn in the championship round. He takes on Bison in Round 1 on Friday. Crimber, who also went 3-for-3, catapulted from No. 32 to No. 13 in the standings
VETERAN VIEIRA’S VICTORY: At the age of 39, Joao Ricardo Vieira went a perfect 3-for-3 to win in Tulsa last weekend, tying Gary Richards as the oldest man to win a PBR premier series event. The grizzled veteran began his perfect weekend by topping Whiplash for 86.75 points to tie for fourth place in Round 1. Now in a groove, the Brazilian rode Bamboozle for 87.75 points in Round 2, earning the pick of the pen in the championship round. Choosing Flyin Wired as his final animal athlete opponent, Vieira stormed out of the chutes in the final out and secured the walk-off victory with a monstrous, round-winning, 91.75-point masterpiece. The ride tied for the highest-marked ride of the 2024 season to net Vieira his first Unleash The Beast event win since March of 2022 and put a stamp on the remarkable final round in Tulsa that featured an incredible seven 90-point rides
Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media
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