Wrestlers Who Died Naturally at an Advanced Age

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (Luna's uncle) lived to be 84.

Ox Baker was 80.

Emile Dupree, Rene's father, is 87 and still going. "Purple Haze" Mark Lewin is 85 and still around, too.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Jan 24, 2023 0:32:25 GMT -5 El Pollo Guerrera said:

Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (Luna's uncle) lived to be 84.

Ox Baker was 80.

Emile Dupree, Rene's father, is 87 and still going. "Purple Haze" Mark Lewin is 85 and still around, too.

I met Ox and Lewin several years ago. Ox did conventions fairly often, but I only know of Lewin doing one.

Speaking of Mad Dog, his brother, Paul “Butcher” Vachon is still with us at 85. You can even purchase autographed photos via a Facebook page that occasionally posts new pictures and videos of the Butcher.

[chazraps]

Jody Hamilton "The Assassin" lived to 82 and through at least 2019 was still making appearances.

[Jacy Jayne Atomic Dog AMV]

Lou Thesz literally got so old he died

[warriorthug4edge]

Nick Bockwinkel was 81.

[tafkaga]

Stu Hart was dead for years before he stopped attending his son's matches. That's dedication.

[booty2shoes]

Just to put some of their ages at the time of their passing in sequence...

Mae 90
Verne 89
LeBell 89
Stu 88
The Destroyer 88
Hodge 88
Thesz 86
Blassie 85
Angelo Poffo 84
Moolah 84
Mad Dog Vachon 84
Jay Strongbow 83
Bruno 82
Fuji 82
Jackie Fargo 82

The Assassin 82

Karl Gotch 82

Skaaland 82
Kowalski 81
Ox Baker 80
Bob Armstrong 80

Bockwinkel 80

Patterson 79

The Crusher 79
George Steele 79
Inoki 79
Race 76
Alfred Hayes 76
The Sheik 76
Morales 76
Albano 76
Rocky Johnson 75
Akbar 75
Ivan Koloff 74
Snuka 73
Heenan 72
Rogers 71
Orndorff 71
Volkoff 70
Dusty 69

[Toates Madhackrviper]

MY maternal grandpa and paternal grandpa are both past 90 and in excellent health for their age so its interesting that noone has been brought up that made it past 90.

[rrg251]

Abdullah the Butcher is still alive at 82, not bad for a guy with obvious obesity issues and a notoriously violent in-ring style.

[The Thread Barbi]

Here's a pretty decent list from Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_surviving_professional_wrestlers

Also, at 69, both Hulk Hogan and Ted Dibiase are probably the oldest surviving wrestlers of the Golden Era.

[msc]

The Destroyer made it to 88 AND inducted someone else into the WWE Hall of Fame a decade earlier. He was right there. That omission pisses me off.

Jacque Rougeau Sr made it to 89.

The legendary Mick McManus was about 93, though he'd tried to claim he was a decade or so younger for years.

Larry the Axe Hennig was 82. Blackjack Lanza was 85-ish. Dominic DeNucci and Danny Hodge made their late 80s.

Living notable name wrestlers who are 80 or older include Ken patera, Afa, Abdullah the Butcher (somehow), Ole Anderson (also somehow) Dory Funk, Thunderbolt Patterson (I think?), Hisashi Shinma (who looks amazing for 87), famous trainer Eddie Sharkey, "Purple Haze" Mark Lewin, Johnny Saint, Paul Vachon, the unpredictable Johnny Rodz, General Adnam, Bill Watts, Sheiky Baby, Adrian Street, Les Thatcher, Jerry Jarrett, Sweet Daddy Siki, Jimmy Valiant, Baron Van Raschke, Kendo Nagasaki, and JJ Dillon.

(Since you said 70 plus, I'll stick to the huge names of Jimmy Hart, Superstar Billy Graham, Vince, Rugged Ronnie, Sika, Gerry Brisco, both Bushwhackers, Demolition Ax, Sgt Slaughter, youngster Carlos Colon, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, Jumping Jim Brunzell, Mr Backlund, Stan Hansen, The Magnificent Muraco, possibly druid Kevin Sullivan (Solie injoke), Dutch Mantell, Tenryu, Greg the Hammer Valentine, Jesse the Body, A few of the Harts and good old JR himself. Oh, and Teddy Long. Did you see him on RAW? He's SEVENTY SIX this year. Yeah, I know!!!!)

Is Max Crabtree still alive? He'd be 90 at least if so.

Is Spiros Arion still with us? The internet used to claim he died in 1997, until some wrestling historians went and talked with him about 15-20 years ago!

Probably missing a bunch because its impossible to know every wrestler and I've probably forgotten someone obvious there. But in general, it does feel like there's a lot more wrestling getting well into their 70s now than in the 1990s when I got into wrestling.

The Godfather is Gorilla Monsoons age this year. He was on RAW, Charlie Wright, and he looked amazing. That's not old! It just seemed old 30 odd years ago when I was a lot younger!

[msc]

Jan 24, 2023 18:16:38 GMT -5 Toates Madhackrviper said:

MY maternal grandpa and paternal grandpa are both past 90 and in excellent health for their age so its interesting that noone has been brought up that made it past 90.

From above, Mick McManus, one of the biggest legends in British wrestling history, died in 2013 aged 93. He was still giving interviews aged 90. I remember a fun Sky Sports one with the much missed Sid Waddell.

He was also the heel's heel, a superb villain of the 50s through 70s. You'd see entire arenas booing his every breath. One of his big feud matches with Jackie Pallo draw a stupid TV audience of something 1 in every 4 people in the UK at the time. (It was held on FA Cup final day on TV.)

Yet whenever they went to Glasgow, he'd have one woman cheering his every move. My great gran, who was a huge wrestling fan. "Someone has to cheer for the poor man" she apparently said.

And this how I like to think my dear old great gran was the worlds first smark, decades before the term was invented.

[Triangle Lancer]

Billy Goelz was 84 when he passed in 2002 (born in 1919).

Former multi-time Junior Heavyweight Champion, he was like the Clark Gable of wrestling.

[booty2shoes]

Terry Funk (78) and Dory Funk Jr. (81) still going strong!