wordsfromlee Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 I’m amazed how young Finn Balor looks considering he’s 42. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted March 4 Paid Members Share Posted March 4 1977: Mick McManus says "getting on a bit, in me late 40s now, going to selflessly put a couple of guys over on TV and make some new stars. Just a couple, mind, or it won't mean as much." 2013: Upon his death it's revealed that he kayfabed his birth date and in 1977 he was in fact 57 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted March 4 Paid Members Share Posted March 4 1 hour ago, wordsfromlee said: I’m amazed how young Finn Balor looks considering he’s 42. He does look great. I can’t imagine there are many wrestlers who look after themselves quite as well as he does though, so it makes sense. Even for a pro wrestler he is in absolutely phenomenal shape, and in a 0% body fat kind of way rather than jacked to the gills. Seems like a good eating/good sleeping/plenty of sun screen kind of guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallicks Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Foley being 34 in 2000 has blown my mind a bit. I presumed he was well into his 40’s by that point. I have the vaguest memory of seeing him as enhancement talent “Jack Foley” against someone (Hercules?) on one of those WWE rewind/classic shows they used to show on Sky, so just presumed he was way older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted March 4 Paid Members Share Posted March 4 In fairness I still find his age (42) on inexplicably winning the TNA title even more shocking. That entire run he looked like a packed in VHS player, defying the laws of gravity and falling off cages like a twat at half speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 I'm sure this is the inspiration for this thread, but just putting here for all to see as it's so, so good. 11 years. What a lad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew "the ref" coyne Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Another thing to consider is that we are in a echo chamber. The average age of people on the UKFF has to be increasing over the years SURELY? So when were all spriteful and in our youth, we all thought anyone who was 35+ was old and over the hill, but now that we're all crusty gits ourselves, we're okay with 50 year old wrestling. I'm still involved in the AUS wrestling scene, and as a result I see a lot of sentiment from the younger generation (18 to 20 ish) who dislike the older wrestlers and think young wrestlers are being held back. So it might be OUR perceptions have changed as we've gotten older, AS WELL as the fact that generally people being healthier for longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 (edited) 15 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said: The Nasty Boyz only being 45 in 2010 has absolutely done me in. It’s a good one. Them being in their mid 20s when they made their name as brawlers was fairly young for the time, but it’s mad to remember that getting the attention of and being signed by the WWF, getting a run, turning babyface, growing stale and being let go and heading back to WCW all happened in less than 3 years. By 2010 they’ve been out of “the big time” for more than 10 years unless you count Knobbs’ hardcore run in WCW (during which he looked like an anachronism). Plus due to lifestyle they aged (and fattened) rapidly. I think of that Dudleys feud as “Team 3D, 10 years after their prime vs The Nasty Boys, 20 years after theirs, TNALOL” but the difference in ages wasn’t 10 years. There are other great examples in the thread mentioned by others, it’s incredible how young some guys managed to find themselves washed up. The story of Michael Hayes drinking himself into being a lost cause by 35 we’ve all heard, but I was somewhat shocked to learn that during second heel run, Fuji reunion, shit music and losing to the Bushwhackers era of Demolition, when even after getting Crush in the feeling of “it’s over lads” loomed large, Smash was only 32. Edited March 5 by air_raid Accuracy, ALWAYS accuracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlondonmist Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I've watched a lot of wrestling back and it's I still now think many of them look old despite me being older (now) than many of them, not all of them. But there is definitely more receding hairlines and also the less out there and colourful clothing plays a part. Some of them just wore robes and big pants. I think you watch Rude, Michaels, Hart and Sting and they look young as they have a colourful image. Much of it must be down to lifestyle? Less roids, less cocaine, less alcohol, better healthcare and less dodgy painkillers. Even the ones taking PEDs now will probably learn to take them in a safer manner. I imagine many of them eat better food too. I'd also say it's a thing in general. I saw a picture of my dad the same age as me now. I look much much younger than he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 Lifestyle is a big factor.... 17 hours ago, wordsfromlee said: I’m amazed how young Finn Balor looks considering he’s 42. ... I mean, he's got stupidly boyish looks regardless. I met him ten years ago when he was 34 and I was 31 and I looked like his dad in comparison. Clean shaven, it's magnified to the point he could pass for early 20s. But lifestyle helps. At the very least when he was in Japan, if he went out with the other gaijin to be sociable, I'm told he used to nurse one baby Heineken all night then go home completely sober. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 4 hours ago, air_raid said: It’s a good one. Them being in their mid 20s when they made their name as brawlers was fairly young for the time, but it’s mad to remember that getting the attention of and being signed by the WWF, getting a run, turning babyface, growing stale and being let go and heading back to WCW all happened in less than 3 years. By 2010 they’ve been out of “the big time” for more than 10 years unless you count Knobbs’ hardcore run in WCW (during which he looked like an anachronism). Plus due to lifestyle they aged (and fattened) rapidly. I think of that Dudleys feud as “Team 3D, 10 years after their prime vs The Nasty Boys, 20 years after theirs, TNALOL” but the difference in ages wasn’t 10 years. This reminds me of the UK King of Trios that CHIKARA did; they had three teams representing different "golden ages" of British Wrestling. The "World of Sport" team was Mal Sanders, Danny Boy Collins and James Mason, the "Revival" team was Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm & Johnny Moss, and the present day team was British Strong Style. Across those teams, allegedly spanning multiple decades, James Mason's only two years older than Trent Seven on the "youngest" team, and younger than Jonny Storm on the middle team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: This reminds me of the UK King of Trios that CHIKARA did; they had three teams representing different "golden ages" of British Wrestling. The "World of Sport" team was Mal Sanders, Danny Boy Collins and James Mason, the "Revival" team was Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm & Johnny Moss, and the present day team was British Strong Style. Across those teams, allegedly spanning multiple decades, James Mason's only two years older than Trent Seven on the "youngest" team, and younger than Jonny Storm on the middle team. Reminds me that "young" and "fresh/new" are not always interchangeable terms. Dallas Page was already 40 when he rejected the nWo's advances and transformed into WCWs hottest new babyface act, feeling completely fresh. Conversely when the "New Blood" formed to fight the Millionaires Club, Shane Douglas looked so knackered, constantly injured and generally past it at 35 that you couldn't take him seriously as "new" anything. Tagged up as he was with Buff Bagwell, who having got his national break so young and been a part of the nWo storyline for years beforehand, still felt a bit at odds with "new" despite not even having turned 30 yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 (edited) in modern terms, I still can't get my head around Nick Jackson only being 34. Not that he necessarily looks older, but he certainly feels like he must be just in terms of number of years he's been around wrestling at a high level, so that's another one where exposure is the key, not the actual age. Edited March 5 by BomberPat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 3 hours ago, air_raid said: Lifestyle is a big factor.... ... I mean, he's got stupidly boyish looks regardless. I met him ten years ago when he was 34 and I was 31 and I looked like his dad in comparison. Clean shaven, it's magnified to the point he could pass for early 20s. But when you consider what team he also supports, he should look as old and haggard as us surely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Unrelated to regular in-ring performers, but it strikes me that Jim Ross must've only been in his 40s at best – and thus arguably in the prime of his career for a commentator – when first referred to as "Good Ol' JR". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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