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 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 101 years, 189 days. The oldest female wrestler was Cora Combs (1923-2015), aged 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	101 years, 189 days	September 20, 1905	March 28, 2007	Oldest wrestler ever verified. Born in Poland.[1]
2	Angelo Savoldi	M	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.[2]
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	Jack LaLanne	M	96 years, 119 days	September 26, 1914	January 23, 2011	World-famous fitness guru had a brief pro wrestling career in 1938.
6	Joe D'orazio	M	96 years, 85 days	July 27, 1922	Living	Oldest British Wrestler and referee still living.
7	Milo Steinborn	M	95 years, 328 days	March 18, 1893	February 9, 1989	Promoted wrestling in Florida[1]
8	Andrew Tsimpides	M	94 years, 34 days	August 16, 1916	September 19, 2011	Former manager of Gorgeous George
9	James Dudley	M	94 years, 22 days	May 10, 1910	June 1, 2004	First African-American promoter & manager working under Vincent J. McMahon
10	Billy Varga	M	94 years, 1 day	January 10, 1919	January 11, 2013	Former NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Champion and actor
11	Clarence Eklund	M	93 years, 215 days	June 3, 1887	January 4, 1981	[1]
12	Speedy Hatfield	M	93 years, 212 days	November 30, 1908	June 30, 2002	[1][3]
13	Mick McManus	M	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	93 years, 130 days	August 22, 1905	December 30, 1998	St. Louis wrestling promoter[1]
15	Prince Kumali	M	93 years, 122 days	September 11, 1921 [4]	January 11, 2015	Wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1970s.
16	Dean Rockwell	M	93 years, 72 days	May 25, 1912	August 5, 2005	[1]
17	Ray Villmer	M	92 years, 262 days	April 22, 1912	January 9, 2005	[1]
18	Charles Baillargeon	M	92 years, 217 days	July 8, 1917	February 10, 2010	Born in Canada.[1]
19	Lord James Blears	M	92 years, 203 days	August 13, 1923	March 3, 2016	wrestler and actor.[1]
20	Abe Zvonkin	M	92 years, 169 days	March 6, 1910	August 22, 2002	Born in the United States.[1]
21	Bill Mercer	M	92 years, 249 days	February 13, 1926	Living	Voice of World Class Championship Wrestling.
22	Tony Cosenza	M	92 years, 125 days	April 14, 1919	August 17, 2011	Once known as the "famous wrestling pianist".
23	Jackie Nichols	M	92 years, 112 days	December 31, 1910	April 22, 2003	[1][5]
24	Cora Combs	F	92 years, 96 days	March 17, 1923	June 21, 2015
25	William Miller	M	92 years, 85 days	December 16, 1846	March 11, 1939	Was the first ever Australian Heavyweight Champion.

Oldest wrestlers currently living

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Joe D'orazio	M	96 years, 85 days	July 27, 1922	Oldest British Wrestler and referee still living.
2	Bill Mercer	M	92 years, 249 days	February 13, 1926	Voice of World Class Championship Wrestling.
3	Carlos Rocha	M	91 years, 260 days	February 2, 1927	First Portuguese wrestler to wrestle in WWWF.
4	Rene Lasartesse	M	90 years, 182 days	January 21, 1928	Wrestled for Capitol Wrestling (WWWF) as Ludvig Van Krupp in 1957.
5	Joe Cornelius	M	90 years, 172 days	May 1, 1928	Lives in London, UK.
6	Alex Iakovidis	M	90 years, 58 days	August 8, 1928	Born in Greece, living in Melbourne, Australia, GTV9 Australian Heavyweight Champion. Wrestled in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's
7	"Cowboy" Bob Ellis	M	89 years, 219 days	March 15, 1929	Known as the inventor of the bulldog.[6]
8	Samson Burke	M	89 years, 195 days	April 8, 1929	Oldest Canadian Wrestler. Also was a bodybuilder, swimmer, and actor.
9	Pampero Firpo	M	88 years, 197 days	April 6, 1930	Lives in the United States.
10	Jacques Rougeau Sr.	M	88 years, 146 days	May 27, 1930	Wrestled mainly in Montreal, Quebec as well as Japan and the NWA
11	Dick Beyer	M	88 years, 101 days	July 11, 1930	Best known for portraying the masked wrestlers The Destroyer and Doctor X. Father of Kurt Beyer. Oldest and earliest living World Heavyweight Champion (AWA)
12	Len Rossi	M	88 years, 26 days	September 24, 1930	Tennessee legend
13	Johnny DeFazio	M	87 years, 337 days	November 17, 1930	Former four-time WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion. Wrestled in WWWF from 1963-1984
14	John Lees	M	87 years	1930	Wrestled in UK, Germany and Japan. Also was a bodybuilder.
15	Ricky Waldo	M	87 years	1930	African-American wrestler who wrestled for Stampede Wrestling in the 50's and 60's.
16	Tony Marino	M	87 years, 183 days	April 20, 1931	Wrestled in Studio Wrestling as Battman and WWWF from 1963-1971
17	Dave Kidney	M	86 years	1931	Oldest British wrestler to ever wrestle.[7]
18	Dominic DeNucci	M	86 years, 270 days	January 23, 1932	Former WWWF Tag Team Champion
19	Billy Two Rivers	M	86 years, 168 days	May 5, 1932	Wrestled mostly in Canada and the U.S. An actual Mohawk chief.
20	Danny Hodge	M	86 years, 160 days	May 13, 1932	Wrestled in AWA, NWA, and UWF.
21	Rene Goulet	M	86 years, 100 days	July 12, 1932	[8] Wrestled in the WWWF(WWF) from 1971-1987 and later worked as a road agent for WWF until 1997.
22	Gene LeBell	M	86 years, 11 days	October 9, 1932	Los Angeles promoter and announcer
23	Nick Kozak	M	85 years, 351 days	November 3, 1932	Raised in Texas. Wrestled for Pacific Northwest, WCCW and NWA Georgia.
24	Caswell Martin	M	85 years	1932	Wrestled in the UK, Germany and Japan.
25	Dick Steinborn	M	85 years, 22 days	September 28, 1933	Wrestled in NWA Georgia in the 1960s and 1970s
26	Les Thornton	M	84 years, 194 days	April 9, 1934	Former WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion. Resides in Calgary, Canada.
27	Tomas Marin	M	84 years, 105 days	July 7, 1934	Wrestled as a jobber for WWWF from 1963-1974
28	Reggie Parks	M	83 years	August 1934	Wrestled for AWA from 1963-1979
29	Mr. Wrestling II	M	84 years, 40 days	September 10, 1934	Former NWA Florida Champion.
30	Jose Lothario	M	83 years, 312 days	December 12, 1934	Trainer of Shawn Michaels.
31	Guillotine Gordon	M	83 years, 279 days	January 14, 1935	Wrestled in the WWWF from 1964-1969
32	Dory Dixon	M	83 years, 261 days	February 1, 1935	First Jamaican wrestler in the WWWF
33	Blackjack Lanza	M	83 years, 6 days	October 14, 1935	Former WWWF Tag Team champion, WWE Hall of Famer and current WWE road agent
34	Paul Diamond (Paul Lehman)	M	82 years, 361 days	October 24, 1935	Wrestled for NWA Vancouver and AWA from 1960-1972
35	Tony Kontellis	M	82 years	1935	Wrestled in Australia and WWWF
36	Ricky Hunter	M	82 years, 233 days	March 1, 1936	Wrestled mainly in Florida and WWF as the Gladiator
37	Beverly Shade	F	82 years, 213 days	March 21, 1936	Oldest surviving women wrestler.
38	Beauregarde	M	82 years	April 29, 1936	Wrestled for Pacific Northwest and was a musician.
39	Kathy Starr	F	82 years, 134 days	June 8, 1936	Wrestled mainly in Hawaii
40	Larry Hennig	M	82 years, 124 days	June 18, 1936	Wrestled mainly in AWA. Father of Curt Hennig.

Oldest wrestlers to ever perform 70 and over

Rank	Name	Sex	Age in last match	Birth	Death	Date of last match	Notes
1	Mae Young	F	87 years, 248 days	March 12, 1923	January 14, 2014	November 15, 2010	She took part in a Falls Count Anywhere Match on November 15, 2010 at the age of 87, when she put her foot over WWE's LayCool tag team for a pinfall victory outside the ring.
2	Killer Kowalski	M	81 years, 153 days	October 13, 1926	August 30, 2008	March 14, 2008	Kowalski wrestled his last match as he defeated Gino Giovanni with the clawhold at Top Rope Promotions in Fall River, Massachusetts on March 14, 2008. He died a few months later.
3	The Fabulous Moolah	F	81 years, 61 days	July 22, 1923	November 2, 2007	September 21, 2004	Teamed with Mae Young to defeat Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson in a tag team match at the WWE SmackDown taping on September 21, 2004. The match aired on TV two days later.
4	Dominic DeNucci	M	80 years, 82 days	January 23, 1932	Living	April 14, 2012	DeNucci wrestled his last match at a PWS card in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, teaming up with Shane Douglas to defeat the team of Lord Zoltan and Shawn Blanchard.
5	Ox Baker	M	80 years, 0 days	April 19, 1934	October 20, 2014	April 19, 2014	Wrestled his last match on his 80th birthday against Bobo Brazil Jr. at a CCW card in Marion, Ohio. He died a few months later.[9]
6	Dave Kidney	M	79 years	1931	Living	January 28, 2011	Last known match took place at SSW in Scotland on January 28, 2011.
7	Billy Riley	M	79 years	May 17, 1889	August 27, 1977	1968	Last known match took place in 1968.
8	Bob Armstrong	M	77 years, 283 days	October 3, 1939	Living	July 13, 2017	Armstrong's last match was for Sunbelt Wrestling Entertainment in Lakeland, Georgia, where he teamed up with Tommy Rich to defeat the team of Fidel Sierra and Francisco Ciatso.[10]
9	Gypsy Joe	M	77 years, 36 days	December 2, 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.
10	Dory Funk Jr.	M	77 years, 33 days	February 3, 1941	Living	March 8, 2018	His most recent match took place at his own promotion Funking Conservatory for !Bang!TV Wrestling Night charity show in Ocala, Florida on March 8, 2018 in a tag-team match, teaming with Omar Vences as they defeated Dalton Drellich and Daniel Rojo.
11	The Great Gama	M	77 years	May 22, 1878	May 23, 1960	1955	Sources say that Gama remained active as a wrestler until 1955, remaining undefeated.
12	Great Kojika	M	76 years, 175 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.
13	Jackie Fargo	M	76 years, 82 days	June 26, 1930	June 24, 2013	September 16, 2006	Wrestled in a tag team match against Dr. Tom Prichard for Big Time Wrestling in Granite Quarry, North Carolina.
14	Mil Máscaras	M	76 years, 97 days	July 15, 1942	Living	Still active	His most recent match took place in Mexico on September 15, 2018. He has wrestled since 1964.
15	Jimmy Valiant	M	76 years, 75 days	August 6, 1942	Living	Still active	Valiant wrestled on July 27, 2018, for New River Valley Fair in Dublin, Virginia.
16	Lou Thesz	M	74 years, 246 days	April 24, 1916	April 28, 2002	December 26, 1990	The former undisputed World Heavyweight Champion last wrestled Masahiro Chono in Japan.
17	Bill Dundee	M	74 years, 214 days	October 24, 1943	Living	May 26, 2018	Most recently wrestled on May 26, 2018 for World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling in Circleville, Ohio.
18	Johnny Saint	M	73 years, 349 days	June 29, 1941	Living	June 13, 2015	Wrestled for Italian Championship Wrestling.
19	Kendo Nagasaki	M	73 years, 334 days	October 19, 1941	Living	September 18, 2015	Wrestled his last match in tag team match with Takeshi Minamino as they lost to Minoru Tanaka and Último Dragón for RJPW in Tokoyo, Japan.
20	Tinieblas	M	73 years, 179 days	June 8, 1939	Living	December 4, 2012	Last wrestled in a tag team for an independent show in Champoton, Mexico.
21	Claude Roca	M	73 years, 110 days	March 18, 1945	Living	July 6, 2018	Most recently wrestled for ABC Wrestling losing to Jody Fleisch in Beziers, France on July 6, 2018.
22	Estrella Blanca	M	73 years, 92 days	January 15, 1938	Living	April 17, 2011	Last wrestled on April 17, 2011 in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico for a AAA show.
23	Terry Funk	M	73 years, 85 days	June 30, 1944	Living	September 23, 2017	Last wrestled on September 23, 2017 for Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, South Carolina where he teamed with The Rock N' Roll Express as they defeated Doug Gilbert, Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher.
24	Mr. Wrestling II	M	73 years, 33 days	September 10, 1934	Living	October 13, 2007	Last wrestled on October 13, 2007 for Hawai'i Championship Wrestling as he teamed up with Steve Corino and won the HCW Kekaulike Heritage Tag Team Championship title.
25	George Julio	M	72 years, 189 days	March 10, 1946	Living	September 15, 2018	Most recently wrestled for New Age Wrestling in Australia on September 15, 2018 in a tag team match with Gabriel Wolfe as they defeated Corey Peirson and Zaccy Boi .
26	John Cena Sr.	M	72 years, 155 days	June 16, 1944	Living	November 18, 2016	The real father of John Cena. He wrestled his last match defeating Chad Epik at House of Bricks Pro Wrestling in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
27	Adrian Street	M	72 years	December 5, 1940	Living	2013	Wrestled his last matches in Alabama in 2013.
28	The Sheik	M	72 years	June 9, 1926	January 18, 2003	1998	Wrestled his last match in Japan.
29	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.
30	Jimmy Snuka	M	71 years, 362 days	May 18, 1943	January 15, 2017	May 15, 2015	His last match was at an ECPW event. Where he teamed up with Frankie Flow as they defeated Andrew Anderson and Jason Knight.
31	Bushwhacker Luke	M	71 years, 285 days	January 8, 1947	Living	Still active	Most recently wrestled for Alpha-1 Wrestling in Colborne, Ontario, Canada where he lost to Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham on July 15, 2018.
32	Chick Donovan	M	71 years, 227 days	March 7, 1947	Living	Still active	Most recently wrestled in a battle royal for PWA 10th Anniversary Show in Carrollton, Georgia on June 16, 2018.
33	Mae Weston	F	71 years, 138 days	January 30, 1923	October 14, 1999	June 17, 1994	Wrestled in her last match in a tag team match with Stormy Apple as they lost to Josie Navarro and Margaret Garcia at Ladies International Wrestling Association in Las Vegas, Nevada.
34	Kenny Jay	M	71 years, 93 days	March 27, 1937	Living	June 28, 2008	Wrestled in a tag team match with Buck Zumhofe at an PWA event in South St. Paul, Minnesota.
T-35	Ivan Koloff	M	71 years, 83 days	August 25, 1942	February 18, 2017	November 16, 2013	Wrestled his last match against Bob Armstrong in which he lost at Superstars of Wrestling 1 PPV in Rome, Georgia
	Stu Hart	M	71 years, 83 days	May 3, 1915	October 16, 2003	July 25, 1986	Wrestled in a tag team match with his son, Keith defeating Honky Tonk Wayne and JR Foley at Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
36	Kim Duk	M	70 years, 255 days	February 7, 1948	Living	Still active	Most recently wrestled in a tag team match with Great Kojika as they defeated Cory Gaspar & Curry Gaspar for Keiji Mutoh's Pro-Wrestling Masters on August 21, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.
37	Mitsuo Momota	M	70 years, 29 days	September 21, 1948	Living	Still active	Recently wrestled on September 28, 2018 in a 6 tag team match with Kesen Numajiro and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi as they lost to Gran Hamada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and The Great Sasuke in Sendai, Japan.
38	Nikolai Volkoff	M	70 years	October 14, 1947	July 29, 2018	2018	Wrestled his last match sometime in 2018 before he passed away.

Oldest wrestlers still wrestling

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Great Kojika	M	76 years, 175 days	April 28, 1942	Still wrestles for Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
2	Mil Mascaras	M	76 years, 97 days	July 15, 1942	Still wrestles in Mexico.
3	Jimmy Valiant	M	76 years, 75 days	August 6, 1942	Still wrestles in independent shows as of 2018
4	Bushwhacker Luke	M	71 years, 285 days	January 8, 1947	Wrestles for independent shows in Canada as of 2018.
5	Chick Donovan	M	71 years, 227 days	March 7, 1947	Wrestles for WrestleMerica in Georgia as of 2018
6	Kim Duk	M	70 years, 255 days	February 7, 1948	Currently is the WEW Heavyweight Championship in Japan
7	Mitsuo Momota	M	70 years, 29 days	September 21, 1948	Makes occasional appearances in Japan as of 2018
8	Yoshiaki Fujiwara	M	69 years, 176 days	April 27, 1949	Makes occasional appearances in Japan as of 2018.
T-9	Kevin Sullivan	M	68 years, 359 days	October 26, 1949	Most recently wrestled on July 19, 2018 in a 40-man Gauntlet Battle Royal at Major League Wrestling's Battle Riot event in Queens, New York.
	El Satánico	M	68 years, 359 days	October 26, 1949	Makes occasional appearances in Mexico as of 2018.
10	Jerry Lawler	M	68 years, 325 days	November 29, 1949	Most recently wrestled for USA Championship Wrestling in Jackson, Tennessee on August 5, 2018, where he defeated James Ellsworth. Also currently is a color commentator for WWE.

See also

• List of premature professional wrestling deaths

References

External links

• Dead Wrestlers