10 Wrestlers Turning 40 In 2017
You're only as old as you feel...
In competitive sports, youth is a crucial advantage. As athletes get older, they lose speed and stamina, have a more difficult time staying in shape, and find it tougher to rebound from injury. For that reason, it's pretty rare to see a star in pro sports (and sometimes even rarer, depending on the sport) reach the age of 40 while maintaining success.
In pro wrestling, it's a bit different. Those same age-related woes hinder wrestlers' careers, but since so much of a pro wrestling performance is mental and so much is cooperative, it's a lot easier for a star to keep going when his or her body starts to go south. Every wrestler is created differently, but some stars have managed to deliver great matches into their 50s.
Still, jumping from your thirties to your forties is perceived as a major change, for pro wrestlers more than the rest of us. Hiroshi Tanahashi crossed the threshold a couple of weeks ago, celebrating his 40th birthday on November 13. Over the course of the next year, a surprisingly large number of wrestling stars are slated to follow in his footsteps, maybe even changing the idea that wrestling is a young man's sport.
Here are 10 great wrestlers turning 40 in 2017:
10. Sin Cara
Being Sin Cara isn't an easy job, but someone's gotta do it. After lucha libre superstar Mistico tainted the name with his repeated injuries and bad performances, the mantle was passed to Jorge Arias, who had previously competed for the company as Hunico.
Of course, the current Sin Cara has issues of his own, having gotten into a bunch of backstage fights during his WWE career. The most recent happened earlier this month when he tangled with respected locker room veteran Chris Jericho on a tour bus. Though Sin Cara and Jericho have seemingly mended fences, Sin Cara is still persona non grata backstage.
On September 5, 2017, Sin Cara will turn 40 years old, and he's already accomplished quite a bit - from runs in Triple A and Chikara to an NXT Tag Team Championship reign with Kalisto. Where he goes from here is anyone's guess, but he's certainly got the talent to continue as a valued part of the WWE roster.