Ironic Indie Lad Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 The posts about 2002 Hogan and current day Jericho in the AEW thread has got me thinking, which wrestlers aged the best? I would go with: Shawn Michaels - He was already considered an all time great in ring worker at the point of his first retirement. I think his Post 2002 comeback run was somehow even better once he got back into the groove. Have a think back over just how many great TV and PPV matches he had in the 2000s with a wide variety of opponents. HHH, Undertaker, Benoit, Jericho, Orton, Cena, Flair, Benjamin, Edge, Christian, You could definitely argue that his 'Mania 25 and 26 bouts were 2 of the best of his entire career. Kenta Kobashi - He wasn't actually that old during his second 'prime' (late 30s) but he was totally written off multiple times before the legendary March 2003 GHC title win over Misawa. In fact, in this weeks retro observer from August 2002 - Dave mentions that Kobashi has probably had his last great singles match. Could not have been more wrong in retrospect. The major matches over the next couple of years with Akiayama, Sasaki, Takayama, Nagata etc. could comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder with his 90s AJPW run. Cant mention Kobashi's later years without talking about his comeback from cancer or his retirement match. Two of the most emotional scenes I have ever seen in wrestling. Others worth mentioning - Tanahashi, Terry Funk, Tenryu, Ric Flair (to a point), early 2000s Keiji Muto... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I wouldn't say Terry Funk aged gracefully and I say this as a huge fan of his later work (at the time), he was almost constantly tearing his body apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted September 4, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 4, 2019 Â It's all about 77 year old Jimmy Valiant. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted September 4, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 4, 2019 Goldberg. His run in 2003 was a bust, but his recent comeback was great.Sting -Â Had a great TNA run, and it's a real shame he got injured so early once he got brought into the E Christopher Daniels - He's got to be in his 50's right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Suzuki is an obvious one. Theres probably a lot of lucha guys you could pick from but Negro Casas and Black Terry both deserve a mention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Milano Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Yoshiaki Fujiwara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted September 4, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 4, 2019 56 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said: Kenta Kobashi - He wasn't actually that old during his second 'prime' (late 30s) but he was totally written off multiple times before the legendary March 2003 GHC title win over Misawa. In fact, in this weeks retro observer from August 2002 - Dave mentions that Kobashi has probably had his last great singles match. Could not have been more wrong in retrospect. The major matches over the next couple of years with Akiayama, Sasaki, Takayama, Nagata etc. could comfortably stand shoulder to shoulder with his 90s AJPW run. Cant mention Kobashi's later years without talking about his comeback from cancer or his retirement match. Two of the most emotional scenes I have ever seen in wrestling. Others worth mentioning - Tanahashi, Terry Funk, Tenryu, Ric Flair (to a point), early 2000s Keiji Muto... 100% agreed with my fellow Kobashi mark here. One of my favourites of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted September 4, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 4, 2019 (edited) Lawler is the most obvious one. Looks great for nearly 70. Still working and had great matches on TV into his late 50s. Mae Young aged (dis)gracefully. What a woman. Not sure if just talking about working but Tully has popped up recently in tremendous shape given he's also an OAP. Edited September 4, 2019 by tiger_rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheToeSucker Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 How has nobody mentioned Ricky Steamboat in 2009? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironic Indie Lad Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 10 minutes ago, TheToeSucker said: How has nobody mentioned Ricky Steamboat in 2009? A great shout, It was brief but what a comeback run that was. If I'm not mistaken he did Mania, the tag match on RAW, backlash against Jericho and maybe a handful of house shows right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheToeSucker Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 yeah he worked a match with Jericho at Backlash and then had a brain herromage in 2010, stopping any further matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironic Indie Lad Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 It's a shame he never did a proper match with CM Punk in ROH. They had a really cool feud at the time and in retrospect Steamboat could definitely have pulled it off and made it look easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted September 4, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 4, 2019 (edited) I thought Finlay in 2006 or whenever he came back was surprisingly good given his time away/injuries etc. He was a highlight of Smackdown for a bit in 2006/07 for me and had some really good TV and PPV matches (mostly TV) with Benoit, Regal, Flair, Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio. From what I remember anyway, don’t know if they’d hold up now but at the time I remember almost groaning when I knew he was making an in-ring return but it was a pleasant surprise. Dave Taylor to a lesser extent as well. Really enjoyed his team with Regal. Roadwarrior Animal and Tatanka around the same time, not so much. Edited September 4, 2019 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamTH17 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Can we have William Regal in here? A really good worker throughout his entire career, but in the last five especially he was really able to showcase himself as being absolutely fantastic. Someone who's far more appreciated at the end of his career as opposed to being praised endlessly throughout it. You've got his stint as the General Manager, his King of the Ring gimmick (which should've lead to a world championship reign if not for his drug test failure), his series with Punk over the Intercontinental Championship, the matches he had with the "up and comers" of that time era (Kofi, Mr Kennedy, Bryan etc), his entire run on top of the ECW brand where him and Christian were the only saving graces of that show, before his eventual transition into working with, and putting over the new kids on the block with excellent matches against Cesaro and Ohno to round out his in-ring career. Then, obviously, he's segued into the NXT GM role, for which he's absolutely perfect. You can put any of the current New Japan Dad's in this thread as well. The likes of Nagata, Kojima, Tenzan, Nakanishi, Suzuki to name but a few. Japan and Mexico have far too many examples to name overall. And don't even get me started on Jushin Liger. You could write pages upon pages about his talent despite his immense longevity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted September 4, 2019 Moderators Share Posted September 4, 2019 Black Terry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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