Speaking of HBK, was that SummerSlam 96 where he threw a hissy in the match with Vader?

 

If so, it's available on WWE 24/7 and I wonder if it's edited out....

Yes, it was Summerslam '96.

As long as Flair keeps going, guys 5 years or 10 years younger than him will keep going, because they'll think if Flair can do it, they can do it. The difference is that Flair is apparently made of teflon and will probably be capable of taking bumps into his 70s. Hogan can't really do that in his 50s, and Michaels is maybe just as limited or more limited than Flair in his 40s.

They need to move that "Immortal" tag from Hogan's name and give it to Flair. I just realize you're exactly right about this guy. And I've figured he can't be hurt. Think about it: Flair survived that plane crash. Hogan can't even get off of his couch.

 

 

And while I hate to admit this, we all argued Michaels going over Jericho being a bad move because Jericho would be there in the long haul and Michaels wouldn't. Three years later, who's still active and who is retired?

 

 

You could make the argument that the same person is responsible for both guys' current statuses.

Not to derail the thread, but I think the one-sided "feud" with Triple H in 2002 probably had more to do with Jericho's departure from the business than Michaels did. The Michaels feud certainly didn't help matters, but I would imagine that Jericho's comment about a desk on the top floor had more than a little to do with organizational politics (in which, admittedly, Michaels may have had a role).

My point was HHH had more than a little bit of a role in HBK staying as a main eventer and Jericho being on some celebrity singing show on FOX instead of in WWE.

It might remain. They left in him throwing that cameraman across the floor at ManiaXI.

What it comes down to is that Flair really needs to retire. As long as Flair keeps going, guys 5 years or 10 years younger than him will keep going, because they'll think if Flair can do it, they can do it. The difference is that Flair is apparently made of teflon and will probably be capable of taking bumps into his 70s. Hogan can't really do that in his 50s, and Michaels is maybe just as limited or more limited than Flair in his 40s.

Let's put this into perspective. Wrestlers who've attained Flair's stature in wrestling tend to stick around.

 

Ric Flair is still wrestling at 57. Lou Thesz wrestled into his 60s, and even had a match at the age of 74. Antonio Inoki wrestled into his 50s. Hulk Hogan is still wrestling part time at the age of 53. El Santo wrestled into his 60s. Giant Baba wrestled until he was 60. Buddy Rogers wrestled a series of matches in his late 50s. Jim Londos wrestled into his 50s. Ed "Strangler" Lewis wrestled in his 50s. Bruno Sammartino wrestled in his early 50s. Verne Gagne wrestled until he was nearly 60. Terry Funk is still wrestling at 61. Mil Mascaras wrestled in his early 60s. Nick Bockwinkel wrestled into his 50s. Fred Blassie had his greatest feud when he was 55 years old.

 

80-90% of great wrestlers either wrestle into their 50s or die young. For a number of wrestlers on Michaels and Hogans' level to stick around is not unprecidented. It's actually quite common.

Of all the guys you mentioned, I don't know of anyone besides Flair that has wrestled a full schedule, putting in 200 dates a year or so in their late 50s. Many of the names you mentioned had novelty matches as they got older, but how many of them worked a full schedule at that old an age? That's the model Flair has created that others are trying to follow. Yes, what Hogan is doing working a limited number of matches on big shows isn't a new concept, but the idea of a 57-year old guy and a 25-year old guy working the same schedule is a pretty rare thing.

And a lot of those guys were jumping from territory to territory so they weren't wearing out their welcome like a lot of the current older guys are. Had those guys main evented for 10-20 years in front of the same crowds they would've worn out their welcome too.

I just wanted to add that using Nick Bockwinkel probably isn't a great example. He was probably a better worker at the age of 50 than he was at the age of 35.