Since professional wrestling is such an intense and demanding sport, many of its athletes suffer health problems and tend to have a shorter life span. Many wrestling legends like Eddie Guerrero, Curt Hennig, Chris Benoit and other capable performers left us too early, way before their time, due to various health problems. In light of that, we’ve decided to compile a list of professional wrestlers who made names for themselves in this sport and somehow managed to get to old age, surpassing their legendary status.
Bob Armstrong
The wrestler that starts our list is also one of the strangest since he is still active. Bob Armstrong, also recognized by his nickname “Bullet,” was born way back in 1939 in Georgia as Joseph Melton James. He joined the army at an early age, and became a firefighter afterwards. In 1960, he made his wrestling debut, which means that his career past the 50-year mark long time ago. One time, when he was working out at a gym, he suffered an accident and, as a result, his face became disfigured. At that point (in a true Batman-villain manner) he decided to hide his disfigured face with a mask and took on the nickname Bullet. Although he is semi-retired since the 90’s, he came back to the ring in 2010 and defeated Bob Orton Jr., his former rival who is also the father of the famous Randy Orton.
José Lothario
The next entry on the list is José Lothario, a Mexican professional wrestler who was born in 1934. He is mostly remembered for his performance for the National Wrestling Alliance, where he won numerous championship titles including NWA Brass Knuckles Championship, NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship, NWA American Tag Team Championship and others. What is interesting about Lothario is the fact that during his long career, at one point, he held a losing streak of over 500 matches. During the 80’s he became famous as Shawn Michaels’ trainer and, later, his manager. With the beginning of a new century, Lothario disappeared from the wrestling world.
Mr. Wrestling II
John Francis Walker (sometimes called Johnny for the obvious reason), born in the same year as Lothario, 1934. His career began in 1956, when he was a travelling wrestler working for Paul Boesch Promotion. However, after only 8 years he retired and settled down. In 1972 he returned to the ring as Mr. Wrestling II, a partner of Mr. Wrestling, but he quickly surpassed him and became a large success. He won numerous titles and was Georgia Heavyweight Champion 10 times straight. In the early 80’s he started training Terry Allen, better known as Magnum T.A. and took him as his tag team partner, conquering Mid-South Tag Team Championship. Walker is also remembered for being a favorite of a former president, Jimmy Carter.
Danny Hodge
Next up is Danny Hodge, a retired wrestler and boxer whom many dubbed a genuine badass. He began his career in what is called amateur wrestling, where he won numerous titles and achieved recognition. However, in October 1959, he made his debut in professional wrestling, where he won a number of titles including Junior Heavyweight Championship title astounding eight times. His most famous feud in pro wrestling was with Angelo Savoldi, which led to a famous incident where Hodge’s father entered the ring during a boxing match and stabbed Savoldi with a penknife. However, Hodge’s most recognizable gimmick is his ability to crush an apple with one hand, which he claims has something to do with double tendons in his hands. Although retired, he is still a great performer.
The Mormon Giant
Born in Utah in 1931, Don Leo Jonathan was raised as a Mormon, which, combined with his awe-inspiring height of 6’6’’ led to the creation of his ring name – the Mormont Giant. He began his career just after the WWII, and performed all over the world, focusing at times on USA and Canada. His titles include, among others, AWA World Heavyweight Championship, IWA World Heavyweight Championship, and NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship. He had a number of notable feuds like the ones with “Nature Boy,” Killer Kowalski, Dutch Savage, and Andre the Giant. The last one mentioned resulted in the highly-anticipated 70’s match called “Battle of the Giants,” that Mormon won by disqualification. Don Leo continues to support wrestling in any way he can, promoting matches and discussing his prolific career.
Dick Beyer
Finally, there’s Dick Beyer. The oldest in the group, Beyer was born in 1930 and began his career somewhere in the mid 50’s. While he started off as a babyface, during the next decade he changed his ways, started performing with under a mask and with nickname – The Destroyer when he achieved major success both in USA and Japan. In the late 60’s, he started performing under the name of Doctor X only in Minneapolis. This changing of masks and identities was a part of his gimmick as fans would often wonder who’s behind them. In 1973 he went to Japan and gain recognition both in the ring and outside of it. He semi-retired in 1984 and continued to have a fulfilled life while making event appearances from time to time to help promote the sport.
While these people are truly living legends of wrestling, do you perhaps know of some other stars that belong here? Explain why.
