List of oldest surviving professional wrestlers

Abe Coleman celebrating his 100th birthday in 2005.

This is a list of oldest surviving professional wrestlers. As of 2017, there are 42 living veterans from the "Golden Age of Wrestling" (1950s-1970s) over 75 years old. The last surviving wrestler from the "Pioneer Era" (1900s-1940s) was American wrestler Angelo Savoldi (born April 21, 1914, aged 7004363050000000000♠99 years, 145 days). The title of the oldest verified wrestler of all time belongs to Polish-born American wrestler Abe Coleman (1905–2007), who lived 7004370790000000000♠101 years, 189 days. The oldest female wrestler was Cora Combs (1923-2015), aged 7004336990000000000♠92 years, 96 days.

The oldest wrestler to have a match is Mae Young, who defeated LayCool in a WWE Raw handicap match on November 15, 2010, at the age of 87.

List

Oldest wrestlers ever

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Death	Notes
1	Abe Coleman	M	7004370790000000000♠101 years, 189 days	September 20, 1905	March 28, 2007	Oldest wrestler ever verified. Born in Poland.[1]
2	Angelo Savoldi	M	7004363120000000000♠99 years, 152 days	April 21, 1914	September 20, 2013	Last surviving veteran of the "Pioneer Era".
3	Betty Wagner	F	98 years	1912–1913	June 3, 2011	First wife and valet of Gorgeous George.
4	Dan McLeod	M	98 years, 6 days	June 14, 1860	June 20, 1958	Last surviving American Heavyweight Champion and veteran of the "Farmer" Burns-Frank Gotch era.[1]
5	Ivan the Terrible	M	97 years	1899	February 1996	[1]
6	Jack LaLanne	M	7004351830000000000♠96 years, 119 days	September 26, 1914	January 23, 2011	World-famous fitness guru had a brief pro wrestling career in 1938.
7	Joe D'orazio	M	7004347240000000000♠95 years, 25 days	July 27, 1922	Living	Oldest British Wrestler and referee still living.
8	Milo Steinborn	M	7004346610000000000♠94 years, 328 days	March 18, 1894	February 9, 1989	Promoted wrestling in Florida[1]
9	Andrew Tsimpides	M	7004343670000000000♠94 years, 34 days	August 16, 1916	September 19, 2011	Former manager of Gorgeous George
10	James Dudley	M	7004343560000000000♠94 years, 22 days	May 10, 1910	June 1, 2004	First African-American promoter & manager working under Vincent J. McMahon
11	Clarence Eklund	M	7004341830000000000♠93 years, 215 days	June 3, 1887	January 4, 1981	[1]
12	Speedy Hatfield	M	7004341800000000000♠93 years, 212 days	November 30, 1908	June 30, 2002	[1][2]
13	Mick McManus	M	7004341000000000000♠93 years, 131 days	January 11, 1920	May 22, 2013	British and European Middleweight Champion, one of the most famous heels in the history of British wrestling. Watched by 20 million people in a famous televised match in 1963 [1]
14	Sam Muchnick	M	7004340980000000000♠93 years, 130 days	August 22, 1905	December 30, 1998	St. Louis wrestling promoter[1]
15	Dean Rockwell	M	7004340400000000000♠93 years, 72 days	May 25, 1912	August 5, 2005	[1]
16	Brutus Malumba	M	93 years	September 11, 1921 [3]	January 2015	Wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1970s.
17	Ray Villmer	M	7004338650000000000♠92 years, 262 days	April 22, 1912	January 9, 2005	[1]
18	Charles Baillargeon	M	7004338200000000000♠92 years, 217 days	July 8, 1917	February 10, 2010	Born in Canada.[1]
19	Lord James Blears	M	7004338060000000000♠92 years, 203 days	August 13, 1923	March 3, 2016	wrestler and actor.[1]
20	Abe Zvonkin	M	7004337720000000000♠92 years, 169 days	March 6, 1910	August 22, 2002	Born in the United States.[1]
21	Tony Cosenza	M	7004337280000000000♠92 years, 125 days	April 14, 1919	August 17, 2011	Once known as the "famous wrestling pianist".
22	Jackie Nichols	M	7004337150000000000♠92 years, 112 days	December 31, 1910	April 22, 2003	[1][4]
23	Cora Combs	F	7004336990000000000♠92 years, 96 days	March 17, 1923	June 21, 2015
24	Paddy Casey	M	7004336180000000000♠92 years, 15 days	February 1910	February 16, 2002	Last surviving brother of the Casey sporting family.[1][2]
25	Bob "Legs" Langevin	M	7004335950000000000♠91 years, 357 days	October 13, 1913	October 8, 2005	[1]

Oldest wrestlers currently living

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Joe D'orazio	M	7004347240000000000♠95 years, 25 days	July 27, 1922	Oldest British Wrestler and referee still living.
2	Bill Mercer	M	7004334270000000000♠91 years, 189 days	February 13, 1926	Voice of World Class Championship Wrestling.
3	Lance Russell	M	7004333940000000000♠91 years, 156 days	March 18, 1926	Voice of Memphis wrestling.
4	Stan Kowalski	M	7004333380000000000♠91 years, 100 days	May 13, 1926	Known for his run in AWA in the 1960s to the 1980s when he was a color commentator known as Big K.
5	Carlos Rocha	M	7004330730000000000♠90 years, 200 days	February 2, 1927	First Portuguese wrestler to wrestle in WWWF.
6	Karl Karlsson	M	7004330240000000000♠90 years, 151 days	March 23, 1927	Known as Krusher Karlsson
7	"Cowboy" Bob Ellis	M	7004323010000000000♠88 years, 159 days	March 15, 1929	Known as the inventor of the bulldog.[5]
9	Pampero Firpo	M	7004319140000000000♠87 years, 137 days	April 6, 1930	Lives in the United States.
10	Jacques Rougeau Sr.	M	7004318630000000000♠87 years, 86 days	May 27, 1930	Oldest Canadian Wrestler. Wrestled mainly in Montreal, Quebec as well as Japan and the NWA
11	Len Rossi	M	86 years	1930	Tennessee legend
12	Don Leo Jonathan	M	7004315260000000000♠86 years, 114 days	April 29, 1931	Lives in Canada.
13	Dick Beyer	M	7004314530000000000♠86 years, 41 days	July 11, 1931	Best known for portraying the masked wrestlers The Destroyer and Doctor X. Father of Kurt Beyer. Oldest living World Heavyweight Champion (AWA)
14	Dave Kidney	M	85 years	1931	Oldest British wrestler still working.[6]
15	Dominic DeNucci	M	7004312570000000000♠85 years, 210 days	January 23, 1932	Former WWWF Tag Team Champion
16	Danny Hodge	M	7004311460000000000♠85 years, 100 days	May 13, 1932	Wrestled in AWA, NWA, and UWF.
17	Rene Goulet	M	7004310860000000000♠85 years, 40 days	July 12, 1932	[7] Wrestled in the WWWF(WWF) from 1971-1987 and later worked as a road agent for WWF until 1997.
18	Gene LeBell	M	7004309970000000000♠84 years, 316 days	October 9, 1932	Los Angeles promoter and announcer
19	Caswell Martin	M	84 years	1932	Wrestled in the UK, Germany and Japan.
20	Stan Holek	M	7004308200000000000♠84 years, 139 days	April 4, 1933	Lives in the United States.
21	Dick Steinborn	M	7004306430000000000♠83 years, 327 days	September 28, 1933	Wrestled in NWA Georgia in the 1960's and 1970's
21	Les Thornton	M	7004304500000000000♠83 years, 134 days	April 9, 1934	Former WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion. Resides in Calgary, Canada.
22	Mr. Wrestling II	M	7004302960000000000♠82 years, 345 days	September 10, 1934	Former NWA Florida Champion.
23	Jose Lothario	M	7004302030000000000♠82 years, 252 days	December 12, 1934	Trainer of Shawn Michaels.
24	Guillotine Gordon	M	7004301700000000000♠82 years, 219 days	January 14, 1935	Wrestled in the WWWF from 1964-1969
25	Dory Dixon	M	7004301520000000000♠82 years, 201 days	February 1, 1935	First Jamaican wrestler in the WWWF
26	Bruno Sammartino	M	7004299050000000000♠81 years, 319 days	October 6, 1935	The longest-reigning WWWF Champion and oldest living holder of the title.
27	Jack Lanza	M	7004298970000000000♠81 years, 311 days	October 14, 1935	Long-standing WWF road agent. Member of The Blackjacks.
28	Ricky Hunter	M	7004297580000000000♠81 years, 173 days	March 1, 1936	Known as the Gladiator in Florida and a jobber in WWF
29	Beauregarde	M	7004297010000000000♠81 years, 116 days	April 27, 1936	Known in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling and is a musician.
30	Larry Hennig	M	7004296490000000000♠81 years, 64 days	June 18, 1936	"The Axe". Father of Curt Hennig. AWA legend.
31	Mark Lewin	M	7004293780000000000♠80 years, 158 days	March 16, 1937	Multi-time regional champion, member of Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness.
32	Kenny Jay	M	7004293670000000000♠80 years, 147 days	March 27, 1937	Known as a jobber in the American Wrestling Association
33	Erich Froelich	M	7004293300000000000♠80 years, 110 days	May 3, 1937	Lives in Canada. Spent most of his career in NWA: All-Star Wrestling
33	Jerry Brown	M	7004293230000000000♠80 years, 103 days	May 10, 1937	One half of the famous 70's tag team known as The Hollywood Blondes.
34	Zivko Kovacic	M	7004291800000000000♠79 years, 325 days	September 30, 1937	First Yugoslavian wrestler to wrestle in the WWWF.
35	Angelo Mosca	M	7004290160000000000♠79 years, 161 days	March 13, 1938	Dual-sport star with CFL in Canada.
36	Omar Atlas	M	7004289760000000000♠79 years, 121 days	April 22, 1938	Former NWA Central States Champion.
37	Paul Vachon	M	7004289540000000000♠79 years, 99 days	May 14, 1938	Former AWA Tag Team Champion.
38	Johnny Rodz	M	7004289520000000000♠79 years, 97 days	May 16, 1938	WWE Hall of Famer and notable jobber in WWE (WWWF) from 1965-1985.

Oldest wrestlers to ever compete

Rank	Name	Sex	Age in last match	Birth	Death	Date of last match	Notes
1	Mae Young	F	7004320250000000000♠87 years, 248 days	March 12, 1923	January 14, 2014	November 15, 2010	Wrestled a 16-Diva tag match on November 3, 2008. She also took part in what was called a "match" at the age of 87, when outside the ring on November 15, 2010 when she put her foot over WWE's LayCool tag team for a pin.
2	Dominic DeNucci	M	7004293020000000000♠80 years, 82 days	January 23, 1932	Living	April 14, 2012	DeNucci wrestled his last match at a PWS card in Toronto, Canada.
3	Ox Baker	M	7004292510000000000♠80 years, 31 days	March 19, 1934	October 20, 2014	April 19, 2014	Wrestled his last match at a CCW card in Marion, Ohio.[8]
4	The Fabulous Moolah	F	7004292750000000000♠80 years, 55 days	July 22, 1923	November 2, 2007	September 15, 2003	Defeated Victoria on WWE "Raw" September 15, 2003.
5	Dave Kidney	M	79 years	1931	Living	January 28, 2011	Last known match took place at SSW in Scotland on January 28, 2011.
6	Bob Armstrong	M	7004284080000000000♠77 years, 283 days	October 3, 1939	Living	July 13, 2017	Armstrong's last match was on July 13, 2017 on a Sunbelt Wrestling Entertainment card that took place in Lakeland, Georgia.[9]
7	Gypsy Joe	M	7004281600000000000♠77 years, 36 days	December 12, 1933	June 14, 2016	January 7, 2011	Joe wrestled his last match at the Gypsy Joe retirement show on January 7, 2011. Held in Tullahoma, Tennessee by the Southern Wrestling Federation.
8	Dory Funk Jr.	M	7004278170000000000♠76 years, 58 days	February 3, 1941	Living	Still active	In his most recent match took place in a All Japan Pro Wrestling card at Big Palette Fukushima in April 2017. Also still wresltes in his own promotion.
9	Great Kojika	M	7004275090000000000♠75 years, 115 days	April 28, 1942	Living	Still active	Wrestles for BJW in Japan. Debuted in 1963, retired full-time in 1988 but returned sporadically since 1995.
10	Mil Máscaras	M	7004274310000000000♠75 years, 37 days	July 15, 1942	Living	Still active	Mil Máscaras last wrestled on November 28, 2016, defending the IWA World Heavyweight Championship he has held since 1975.[10]
11	Jimmy Valiant	M	7004274060000000000♠75 years, 12 days	August 9, 1942	Living	Still active	Valiant last wrestled on May 13, 2017, at an All Star Wrestling event in Pearisburg, Virginia.[11]
12	Lou Thesz	M	74 years, 243 days	April 24, 1916	April 28, 2002	December 26, 1990	The former undisputed World Heavyweight Champion last wrestled Masahiro Chono in Japan.
13	Jackie Fargo	M	7004271550000000000♠74 years, 126 days	June 26, 1930	June 24, 2013	October 30, 2004	Wrestled against Jerry Lawler and The Rock 'n' Roll Express at the Memphis Wrestling Throwback Night.
14	Johnny Saint	M	7004270120000000000♠73 years, 349 days	June 29, 1941	Living	June 6, 2015	Wrestled for Italian Championship Wrestling.
15	Bill Dundee	M	7004269410000000000♠73 years, 277 days	October 24, 1943	Living	July 28, 2017	Last wrestled on July 28, 2017 for SGWA Wrestling in Southaven, Mississippi.[12] Still considered active.
16	The Sheik	M	72 years	June 9, 1926	January 18, 2003	1998	Wrestled his last match in Japan in 1998.
17	Warren Bockwinkel	M	72 years (unverified)	May 21, 1911	March 25, 1986	1983?	It is said that Warren Bockwinkel, father of Nick Bockwinkel, wrestled until the age of 72.
18	Jimmy Snuka	M	7004262950000000000♠71 years, 362 days	May 18, 1943	January 15, 2017	May 15, 2015	His last match was at a ECPW event.
19	Claude Roca	M	7004264540000000000♠72 years, 156 days	March 18, 1945	Living	Still active	Roca is still active in various promotions in Asia, his most recent match took place in France on July 2, 2017.
20	Terry Funk	M	7004260480000000000♠71 years, 116 days	June 30, 1944	Living	October 24, 2015	Wrestled his last match against Jerry Lawler at USA Championship Wrestling in Jackson, Tennessee.
21	Kenny Jay	M	7004260260000000000♠71 years, 93 days	March 27, 1937	Living	June 28, 2008	Teamed up with Buck Zumhofe at Pro Wrestling America in South St. Paul, Minnesota
22	Stu Hart	M	7004260160000000000♠71 years, 83 days	May 3, 1915	October 10, 2003	July 25, 1986	Teamed up with his son Keith as they defeated The Honky Tonk Man and JR Foley at Stampede Wrestling, the promotion in which Hart owned.
23	Bushwhacker Luke	M	7004257930000000000♠70 years, 225 days	January 8, 1947	Living	Still active	As of April 2017, Luke still wrestles in various independent promotions.
24	Adrian Street	M	7004255510000000000♠69 years, 349 days	December 5, 1940	Living	November 19, 2010	Retired at NWA Birmingham's "Big Bang" event on November 19, 2010, where he defeated Aeon Flexx.
25	Robbie Ellis	M	7004255310000000000♠69 years, 328 days	April 8, 1943	Living	March 22, 2013	Retired in March 2013.
26	Nikolai Volkoff	M	7004255140000000000♠69 years, 311 days	October 14, 1947	Living	Still active	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in 2017.
27	Abdullah the Butcher	M	7004254730000000000♠69 years, 271 days	January 11, 1941	Living	October 9 2010	Wrestled Bull Buchanan at the GCW Southern Legends Fan Fest in Pell City, Alabama which ended in a no contest.
28	George Julio	M	7004254440000000000♠69 years, 242 days	March 10, 1946	Living	November 7, 2015	Wrestled against Mad Dog McCrea in a tag team match in Australia's New Age Wrestling card. [13]
29	Demolition Ax	M	7004254100000000000♠69 years, 207 days	December 27, 1947	Living	July 22, 2017	Wrestled his last match at KSWA in Homestead, Pennsylvania
30	Ronnie Garvin	M	7004253760000000000♠69 years, 174 days	March 30, 1945	Living	September 20, 2014	Wrestled in a tag team match for Bruiser Wrestling Federation in Farmville, Virginia

Oldest wrestlers still wrestling

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Dory Funk Jr.	M	7004279580000000000♠76 years, 199 days	February 3, 1941	Still wrestles in his own promotion Funking Conservatory and various independent promotions in Japan.
2	Great Kojika	M	7004275090000000000♠75 years, 115 days	April 28, 1942	Still wrestles for Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
3	Mil Mascaras	M	7004274310000000000♠75 years, 37 days	July 15, 1942	Still wrestles in Mexico
4	Jimmy Valiant	M	7004274090000000000♠75 years, 15 days	August 6, 1942	Wrestles on independent shows in the US
5	Claude Roca	M	7004264540000000000♠72 years, 156 days	March 18, 1945	Wrestled recently in France on July 2, 2017, also wrestles in Asia.
6	Bushwhacker Luke	M	7004257930000000000♠70 years, 225 days	January 8, 1947	Wrestles independent shows as of 2017
7	Nikolai Volkoff	M	7004255140000000000♠69 years, 311 days	October 14, 1947	Wrestled independent shows in the US and Canada as of June 2017.
8	Great Kabuki	M	7004251840000000000♠68 years, 347 days	September 8, 1948	Most recent match took place on May 21, 2017, in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
9	Mitsuo Momota	M	7004251710000000000♠68 years, 334 days	September 21, 1948	Most recent match took place at the Wrestle-1 card on May 14, 2017, in Japan.
10	Yoshiaki Fujiwara	M	7004249530000000000♠68 years, 116 days	April 27, 1949	Makes occasional appearances in Japan as of 2017.

See also

• List of premature professional wrestling deaths

References

External links

• Dead Wrestlers