AEW Does Have Older Wrestlers and An Age Issue But They're Not The Only One

AEW Does Have Older Wrestlers and An Age Issue But They're Not The Only One 

November 30, 2023
By Ryan Porzl

AEW is wrestling's second biggest promotion in the world and as a result, many great wrestlers and legends have come through the promotion. In recent times, many have noticed the older talent and aging legends popping up and the roster looking older. While it's true AEW does have an age issue or older talent, to be fair, they're not the only ones and it's something that's been happening for most of the major promotions. For the record, I don't mind talent in their 40s or even 50s still competing if they aren't totally washed up so I'm not saying older talent is a bad thing but like anything in life, you don't want too much.

It's no secret that AEW's roster has been skewing older in recent times. Since the promotion launched in 2019, they've employed their share of talent who are either up there in age or have gotten older in recent times. Current top stars over 40 include the likes of Bryan Danielson (42), Eddie Kingston (42), Claudio Castagnoli (43), Chris Jericho (53), Samoa Joe (44), and Kenny Omega (40). Meanwhile, the promotion also employs the likes of Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal, Kota Ibushi, Lance Archer, Scorpio Sky, Roderick Strong, Billy Gunn, and The Butcher and The Blade tag team who are also over 40. The women's division is much better with much younger talent but it still has some aging names like Taya Valkyrie and Emi Sakura. AEW has also employed in recent years a lot of aging legends such as Sting, Ric Flair, Paul Wight, Christian Cage, Adam Copeland, and The Hardy Boyz. Then you got guys like The Kingdom, Killswitch (the former Luchasaurus), Orange Cassidy, Penta El Zero Miedo, Brian Cage, Jon Moxley, Mark Briscoe, Dax Harwood, and Matt Jackson who are in the 38/39 range meaning they're less than two years away from 40. To be fair though, AEW does have plenty of young talent. Most of their women's roster are young with some not even 30 yet. Meanwhile, the promotion has young champions like MJF, Julia Hart, Ricky Starks, and The Acclaimed while Starks and Willow Nightingale were this year's Owen Hart Cup tournament winners. Then there's talent like Hook, Jack Perry, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, Powerhouse Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita, Wardlow, Skye Blue, Anna Jay, Tay Melo, and the Top Flight tag team who can eventually be developed as future stars.

AEW isn't the only Tony Khan helmed promotion with an age issue as ROH does too. Not counting the wrestlers who were champions at the time of the purchase, many ROH champions are aging names. Since the purchase, every ROH World Champion has been over the age of 40 with Claudio getting two runs with the belt while Jericho got one and Kingston is the current champion as of writing. The TV Title situation isn't better as the two champs are over 40 as well. The 50+ year old Minoru Suzuki would be the first to hold it in the Khan era while the belt would then be held by the now 44 year old Samoa Joe. The Pure Championship is better with young talent like Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia getting runs but the belt has mostly been dominated by the now 44 year old Katsuyori Shibata. 

However, as the title mentions, AEW and ROH are hardly the only one with an older locker room. In many ways, certain looks rooms have been skewing older in recent times. Honestly, MLW is the only locker room with a mostly young roster.

For all the talk of AEW being a retirement home, WWE is not much better. The promotion has guys like Sheamus, Rey Mysterio, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, and AJ Styles who are 45 or over. Guys like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and Sami Zayn are in the 38/39 range meaning they are less than two years away from 40. Then there's the talent the promotion is getting behind. LA Knight has become a rising star for WWE but he's 41. Damien Priest is considered an up and comer in the promotion and he's 41, too. Santos Escobar, the latest luchador brought in to feud with Rey Mysterio and possibly be "The Next Rey Mysterio" is 39. The Usos are now getting singles runs and they're both 38. The last two major rivals for Seth Rollins' world championship were the 42 year old Finn Balor and the 43 year old Shinsuke Nakamura. The women are once again better but again have aging names. Natalya has been getting more chances lately and she's 41. Asuka is still a top female talent and she's 42. Shayna Baszler is a Triple H favorite, a former NXT Women's Champion as well as former Women's Tag Team Champion and she's 43. The promotion recently signed Nia Jax back and she's 39. Finally, you got nostalgia returns as the biggest buzz the promotion has gotten in recent months were the return of aging legends like the 46 year old John Cena and the 51 year old Rock. Meanwhile, the recent Survivor Series PLE is mostly memorable for the return of 43 year old Randy Orton from a long injury layoff and the 45 year old CM Punk. Once again, WWE does have young talent such as the NXT crew as well as Austin Theory, Solo Sikoa, and Grayson Waller to name some but they too are skewing older whether it be aging names or getting buzz from nostalgia acts or older talent that, quite frankly, should've been pushed five years ago.

Impact Wrestling has made strides in recent years to show they are no longer a "retirement home" for ex-WWE wrestlers but even they have their share of older names. As of writing, all three of Impact's male singles titles are held by guys 40 or over as World Champion Alex Shelley is 40, X Division Champion Chris Sabin is 41, and Digital Media Champion Tommy Dreamer is 52. The promotion also has guys like Moose and Brian Myers who are less than two years away from turning 40. Meanwhile, both Rhino and Johnny Swinger are 48, Bully Ray (like Dreamer) is 52, and the recently resigned PCO is 56. 

The NWA has plenty of great talent but again, has their share of older ones. Current world champion EC3 is 40. Rodney Mack, currently Damage in the Blunt Force Trauma team and one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions is 53. J.R. Kratos, one half of the NWA United States Tag Team Champions, is 41. Crockett Cup winners Trevor Murdoch and Mike Knox are both in their early to mid 40s. Former NWA National Heavyweight Champion Chris Adonis also is 40. The promotion also has guys like Jax Dane, Zyon, and Tim Storm who are over 40 with Storm being in his 50s.

Finally, there's New Japan Pro Wrestling who has probably the biggest issue regarding aging names. In recent months, they have brought back their young wrestlers from excursions like Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura, Ren Narita, and Shota Umino while their junior heavyweight division is mostly of young studs but most of the names in the promotion are old. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (52), Satoshi Kojima (53), Yuji Nagata (55), and Minoru Suzuki (55) are all in their 50s and either well past their prime or washed up. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Tanahashi (47), Hirooki Goto (44), YOSHI-HASHI (41), Tetsuya Naito (42), Tomohiro Ishii (48), Yujiro Takahashi (42), Toru Yano (45), and Shingo Takagi (41) are all over the age of 40. In terms of native talent, only Kazuchika Okada (36), SANADA (35), and EVIL (36) are really the only main event talent under 40.

Overall, AEW does have an age issue and have hired their share of old legends but they aren't the only ones as it's an issue throughout the industry. It's something all the major promotions have to look at and it's hardly just AEW. Again, I don't mind wrestlers in their 40s or 50s if they can still go as some prove age is a number but you obviously want a balance.