Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Best wrestlers/performances after 40?


Ramsey

Recommended Posts

So, the names Bockwinkel, Flair, and Terry Funk came up recently (DEAN!) and that, along with Sting heading to the WWE and Angle hinting he'd like to come back got me thinking about old guys. Who are the guys that could still TRULY go after the age of 40 and what were the matches where they proved it?

 

For me, Bockwinkel's broadway with Hennig in 86 is damn near untouchable. Bock was 51 years old and absolutely killed it in possibly the best 60 minute draw I've ever seen.

 

Thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finlay made his WWE television debut at 48. Hadn't lost a step and was consistently one of the best workers they had.

 

His matches with Benoit were phenomenal. Notably, they had one at Judgement Day 2006 worth checking out. I've got to go back and watch some SmackDown from this period. There's got to be some great stuff with Rey in there that's slipped my mind.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HHH just had the second best match of his career with DB at age 44.

Coincidentally, he had the best match of his career with Ric Flair who was in his 50's.

Also have to mention Lawler for dude who frequently had awesome matches well past his physical prime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terry Funk should get mentioned first here just because I was watching some old ass match on the Network and the announcer called him middle aged in crazy in the 80s.  I thought that was some shit J.R. made up when he came back as Chainsaw Charlie, I didn't realize that he was called that at least a full decade beforehand.

 

I think DDP should be high on the list because almost all of his best years were after 40.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A better question would be guys over 50, since there are a lot of guys in their 40s who can still go, especially in Puro.

 

I'm surprised noone has mentioned darling of the board and one of the favorites of the DVDVR March Madness 2014 tournament, Goldust, yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think 45/50 is a better threshold for this question. Also singles matches only, because the list would be a mile long if you included tags. Flair, Foley, Taker, Michaels, Savage, HHH, Misawa, and probably more all had MOTYC level singles matches after hitting 40. However, if you move the limit to 46, that eliminates 95% of those matches.

 

For best after-46 singles performances, I'd say Flair (vs. HHH at Taboo Tuesday 05, vs. Foley at Summer Slam 06), and Finlay (vs. Benoit at Judgment Day 06).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can we post matches here?

 

Here's a pretty great Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Nishimura match from 2006. Fujinami was 53 at the time:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpLmprhmfc0

 

And here's one of a million Terry Funk vs. Jerry Lawler matches. This one is from 3PW in 2003. They've probably had matches against each other since then, but I remember this one as being really good. I didn't do the math for this one, but they both were ancient.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20qq8b_terry-funk-vs-jerry-lawler_sport

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't rememberhow many to-notch matches he had before he was diagnosed with Hepatitis, but Jumbo Tsuruta was consistently great near the end of his full-time career.  I think his Misawa feud was just at the edge of his 30s, but he ended up MAKING Misawa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since Odessa already mentioned Negro Casas, I'm going to go with the other old man lucha favorite from around these parts: Black Terry. 

 

I think he gets bonus points because it seems like most people discovered and appreciated his work once he was past 40, as opposed to a guy like Misawa who is loved for matches in his athletic prime but ended up having a couple good ones once he was past it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mexico is the right place if you're looking for old dudes being awesome. Negro Casas, Negro Navarro and Black Terry were amongst best in the world at some point in their fifties. Porky had great series with Rey Escorpion last year - and he's not only over 50 but also morbidly obese. Gran Apache is the best worker in AAA. Solar is still fantastic on the mat. Satanico looks great every time he shows up. And there are many others who pop up with cool showings every now and then, like Pirata Morgan or Villanos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm camping here, but someone introduce my theory about how you really only learn how good someone after their physical skills have diminished please.

I can totally see this theory in action. When you HAVE TO rely on solid psychology and the selling/timing/etc. over just pure athletic prowess, that's when real artisan wrestling happens.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rippa is going to start banning people if Blue Panther's name is not mentioned here.  And yes, most Luchadores can still go into their 40's.  

 

Plus Tenryu, Hansen and Pete's mention of Hamada is a great one.  

 

Rippa and I are discussing this because so many guys can still go in their 40's easily enough, we really should be looking at 50+ for a real challenge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...