For longevity, can anyone top Rey Mysterio?

[bmfjules]

Just curious and thought I'd ask on here.

Dude is a 30 year pro. Debuted in 1989 at age 14, still going strong.

At least half of those years he has been a contender for top 10 workers in the world and except maybe for when he was uber green he has never been bad in any shape or form, so who in the modern or classic era can match his career in terms of number of years with a similar number of years at that high a level of work?

I realize the title of this thread will also draw height jokes. I welcome those too, I guess.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Negro Casas

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Jericho is up there, about to hit 30 in the business next year, and has wrestled in Japan, Mexico, ECW, Smokey Mountain, WCW, WWF/E, and now All Elite as their inaugural champion.

[bmfjules]

Sept 16, 2019 21:16:20 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Negro Casas

Damn. By a whole decade too.

I admit I had to google.

[Balesirion]

Both Jushin Liger and Keiji Mutoh debuted for New Japan in 1984 and are still going today. Granted, Liger is about to retire in a few months, but both are some of the biggest stars in the history of puro. Villano III debuted in 1970, and officially retired in 2015, though he still had a few matches afterward.

[bmfjules]

Sept 16, 2019 21:30:18 GMT -5 Balesirion said:

Both Jushin Liger and Keiji Mutoh debuted for New Japan in 1984 and are still going today. Granted, Liger is about to retire in a few months, but both are some of the biggest stars in the history of puro. Villano III debuted in 1970, and officially retired in 2015, though he still had a few matches afterward.

Except for Liger I am not overly familiar with the later years of those guys. (I absolutely need to catch up on post 2000 Muta. )

So this isn't a dig, just a question, since I think you could drop Rey with the right storyline into the Wrestlemania main event or Tokyo Dome main event and he'd be totally fine while some guys who have been going 30 plus years would be good for a battle royal appearance or a six man tag but not much else... where would you rank those three along those terms?

[Venti]

Jerry Lawler has been wrestling for almost 50 years now.
Of course these days, he mostly seems to just do indy matches for the fun of it, but he still spent plenty of time as a big deal.

Jericho has already been mentioned, almost 30 years and has spent most of that time being relevant and a top player in some form or another.

Can't forget Dustin Runnels/Rhodes. Debuted in 1988, just had one of the most acclaimed matches of the year.

[bmfjules]

Sept 16, 2019 21:54:38 GMT -5 Venti said:

Jerry Lawler has been wrestling for almost 50 years now.
Of course these days, he mostly seems to just do indy matches for the fun of it, but he still spent plenty of time as a big deal.

Jericho has already been mentioned, almost 30 years and has spent most of that time being relevant and a top player in some form or another.

Can't forget Dustin Runnels/Rhodes. Debuted in 1988, just had one of the most acclaimed matches of the year.

Ah, Lawler. He definitely may be the overall winner. I'm curious how many years it has been since Jerry could be considered as one of the top workers in the world though? I should have worded that better. Not saying Rey has had a longer career than anyone in history but most number of years as a top tier wrestler/worker perhaps.

Rhodes if anything has gotten better since his younger years. He wins this for a straight up comparison of years too, but his quality fluctuated alot until he seemingly found the fountain of youth and got consistently more incredible every year for the past 10 or so.

[thetower52]

Rock n roll expresse ?

[Cyno]

Terry Funk and Ric Flair.

[Deleted]

Abby just retired this year evidently. Wrestled for sixty-one years.

[Deleted]

Jericho (has probably the most variety in opponents) and Mutoh (same thing, but more of Japan side) has already been said, so I'll give my vote to Tommy Dreamer. Dude's still popping those crowds regularly.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Dr Wagner Jr and Blue Panther

[Pierre the Renaissance Man]

Mae Young wrestled in nine different decades. Don’t think anyone’s topping that one.

[Yamashita Enforcement Division]

Sept 16, 2019 21:54:01 GMT -5 bmfjules said:

Sept 16, 2019 21:30:18 GMT -5 Balesirion said:

Both Jushin Liger and Keiji Mutoh debuted for New Japan in 1984 and are still going today. Granted, Liger is about to retire in a few months, but both are some of the biggest stars in the history of puro. Villano III debuted in 1970, and officially retired in 2015, though he still had a few matches afterward.

Except for Liger I am not overly familiar with the later years of those guys. (I absolutely need to catch up on post 2000 Muta. )

So this isn't a dig, just a question, since I think you could drop Rey with the right storyline into the Wrestlemania main event or Tokyo Dome main event and he'd be totally fine while some guys who have been going 30 plus years would be good for a battle royal appearance or a six man tag but not much else... where would you rank those three along those terms?

Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki is going to headline one of New Japan's Tokyo Dome main events next year.

[sfvega]

Sept 16, 2019 21:54:38 GMT -5 Venti said:

Jerry Lawler has been wrestling for almost 50 years now.
Of course these days, he mostly seems to just do indy matches for the fun of it, but he still spent plenty of time as a big deal.

Jericho has already been mentioned, almost 30 years and has spent most of that time being relevant and a top player in some form or another.

Can't forget Dustin Runnels/Rhodes. Debuted in 1988, just had one of the most acclaimed matches of the year.

Rhodes is one of the most underrated in-ring talents ever. There's something to be said for being a good hand for 30 years while saddled with any number of lame gimmicks.

Jericho is probably the best that I recall.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Sept 16, 2019 23:21:07 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Abby just retired this year evidently. Wrestled for sixty-one years.

All Japan held a big show this year to honor the anniversary of Giant Baba's death and they decided to hold a retirement ceremony for Abdullah the Butcher on the show because he never had one. Abby hadn't wrestled in several years. He stayed seated in a chair or wheelchair for most of his ceremony.

As far as longevity goes, Gypsy Joe had incredible longevity, particularly in the hard, physical style he worked. He wrestled from 1951 to 2011.

For today, Great Kokika and Dory Funk, Jr. would be the oldest wrestlers still active, though they are very limited in what they can do.

[auph10imitated]

Manami Toyota wrestled continuously for 30 years before retiring in 2017.

[Nosnorb]

Mickie James.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Johnny Saint wrestled a long time but had a 10 year retirement gap in between there

Johnny Kidd wrestled almost 40 years straight. And still wrestles on and off

Mike Quackenbush who studied under these two has wrestled for 25 Years, with maybe a year or two off at most due to injury, and still wrestles at a good pace.