10 Wrestlers Who Look Better Now Than In Their Primes
It's never too late to get in shape...
Wrestling is a very cosmetic business. Though the physical pressures associated with the sport ensure that all of the participants need to be in decent shape, there's more to it than simply having the conditioning required for the grueling stresses of the ring - superstars also need to look like larger-than-life gladiators who are prepared for the prospect of battling in their underwear.
Often, physical features seem like the most important ingredient when it comes to what earns a wrestler a push. The Great Khali, for instance, offered nothing more than his incredible size, and it was enough to net him not just a World Heavyweight Championship, but a seven-year tenure with the company. Meanwhile, Scott Steiner - who was considered to be one of the best overall talents in wrestling during the early '90s - didn't get a true main-event push until he added muscle (at the expense of his mobility) later in the decade.
Still, there are wrestlers who figure out the true keys to working out (or possibly start taking shortcuts) long after fans would expect - stars who are past their peaks, both in terms of ability and fame, when they really get huge... literally.
Here are 10 wrestlers who look better now than they did in their primes...
10. Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio's size has always been the first thing that fans notice about him. When he first joined WCW in his early 20s, the future superstar was billed at 5'3" and 150 pounds - very small for a pro wrestler, and given that he competed as a mini in his native Mexico early in his career, not particularly surprising. Nevertheless, Rey became a household name with the amazing things he could do in the ring.
As his WCW career went on, Mysterio got larger, and after the organization closed, he put on even more weight. By the time he ended up in WWE (where, undoubtedly, he hoped to be taking on heavyweights regularly), Mysterio was billed at 5'6", 175 pounds - and he likely hadn't gotten any taller. Throughout his WWE career, Mysterio retained his bulkier build, though he was still able to out-work just about anybody on the planet.
It seems that Mysterio, now in his 40s, is once again changing the way he looks. Last summer, the star - who now works for Lucha Underground - shared a picture of himself in the gym looking absolutely enormous. Fans will have to see how it affects his style.