Some former wrestling stars have aged exceptionally well, like Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson, who possibly look better now than they did when they were still in the WWE. But time has not been kind to every former wrestler. For every Trish Stratus there is a Tammy Lynn Sytch, and for every Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who seems to be aging in reverse), there is a Scott Hall (who, well, looks like he’s aged about forty years since he retired).
If there’s one thing to take away from this list, it’s that women age better than men, because out of fifteen entries, only 6 are female. And with some of the men, Father Time didn’t just catch up to them; it lifted them off the ground, spun them upside down, and slammed them to the mat with a devastating piledriver that would make even The Undertaker wince.
In a decade or two, it will be interesting to see which current wrestlers aged well and which did not. Will John Cena go the way of Hulk Hogan and turn into a leathery, deflated middle-aged man? (At the very least we know he’ll have better hair than the Hulkster.) Will the Bella Twins lose their good looks and turn out less like the Klimaszewski twins and more like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito from the film Twins? We’ll just have to wait and see. Until then, here are 15 former wrestling stars who lost their looks.
15 15. Lex Luger
Lex Luger had one of the most impressive physiques in all of wrestling in the '80s and '90s. Nicknamed “The Total Package” for a reason, Luger, a former pro football player and bodybuilder, once weighed roughly 270 lbs. while standing in at 6’4”. Unfortunately, a freak injury in 2007 led to him being temporary paralyzed and eventually quadriplegic. It took nearly a year for him to begin to show signs of improvement and even be able to stand up on his own, but at that point, his extended period of sedentariness had left him frail and much smaller than he once was. Although he’s made a significant recovery, he still requires a cane to walk around and is a far cry from looking like the bodybuilder he once was.
14 14. Missy Hyatt
Referred to as the undisputed first lady of wrestling ever since she beat Madusa of the Dangerous Alliance in a bikini contest in 1992, Missy Hyatt was once considered one of the greatest beauties of the WCW. That was a long time ago, however. Hyatt, now 52 years old (although she could easily pass off as someone ten years older), is virtually unrecognizable after extensive plastic surgery. She was arrested in March of 2016 in her hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, for grand theft, and her mug shot revealed a woman who has aged far beyond her years and looks nothing like she did when she was fawned over by fans and wrestlers alike in the WCW in the '80s and '90s.
Last we heard of her, Hyatt was managing Lance Storm in the independent circuits. In what was advertised as her final appearance in the world of wrestling, Hyatt’s wrestler loss to Matt Hardy, marking the end to a long and controversial career for the former first lady of the WCW.
13 13. Triple H
You might be wondering what Triple H is doing on this list, given that he’s possibly more jacked now than he ever was. But if you’ll recall, back in the early 2000s H-cubed began to pack on the pounds. He didn’t exactly go all Scott Hall on us, but he did clearly let his diet/workout regime slide, to the point that he looked downright out of shape at one point. But the blubber didn’t last long, as Triple H dedicated himself to getting back in shape and now looks just as good, if not better, than he did when he broke into wrestling in the early '90s, which is all the more impressive when you consider that, at 47 years old, he's no spring chicken. According to Muscle & Fitness, H maxes out at over 405 lbs. on bench press and can lift 225 lbs. for 30 reps--not too shabby.
12 12. Wendi Richter
Before there was Trish Stratus, there was Wendi Richter, who younger wrestling fans might have a hard time placing. Okay, so she might not have looked quite as good as Stratus in a bikini, but she did do a steamy photo shoot in a leopard print bikini way back in the day that still ranks up there with some of the hottest photos ever taken of a female wrestler.
Unlike Stratus, however, Richter was unable to maintain her famous slender figure. Now in her mid-50s, the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame inductee, who was once married to WWF announcer Hugo Savinovich, looks more like an average middle-aged woman (nothing wrong with that) than the long-legged bombshell she once was.
11 11. Dynamite Kid
It’s almost impossible to look at Tom Billington today and see the Dynamite Kid, his wrestling persona from the mid '70s to the mid '90s. In his heyday, Dynamite was one of the more muscular wrestlers in the WWF, weighing 228 lbs. at a compact 5’8”.
Unfortunately, Billington suffered a number of injuries, mostly to his back and legs, as a result of his lengthy wrestling career, and he has been dealing with the complications of these injuries since retiring in 1996. In 1997, for example, his left leg became paralyzed, forcing him to use a wheelchair. On top of never being able to walk again, Billington, who invented the diving headbutt, also suffers from the effects of multiple spinal injuries and concussions. Just recently, he was hospitalized due to heart problems, a recurring issue for him.
10 10. Jazz
Sporting bulging biceps and six-pack abs, Jazz had one of the more muscular physiques amongst Divas in the early 2000s. While most wrestling fans probably prefer the more conventional Diva hotties, like Torrie Wilson or Trish Stratus, there’s no denying that Jazz had an impressive body in her prime. But, as Robert Frost might say, “Nothing gold can stay.” During a recent appearance at the Hardcore Roadtrip show in Canada, Jazz looked noticeably less muscular than when she was in the WWF/WWE. Still, it’s nothing compared to the kind of weight that some of her fellow male wrestlers put on after they retired.
On top of making appearances in smaller wrestling circuits, Jazz also owns a fitness gym that is geared toward helping keep kids off the streets and out of trouble.
9 9. Ahmed Johnson
At more than 300 lbs., former pro football player Ahmed Johnson was one of the biggest wrestlers in the WWF in the mid-90s. He was so big, in fact, that he made guys like Farooq (who was no slouch himself at roughly 270 lbs.) almost look normal… almost. But all that muscle turned to fat after Johnson retired, as the now-53-year-old looks nothing like his former linebacker self. His physical transformation was never more evident than when he posed for a picture with a life-size cutout of himself from the 1990s. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that they were completely different people.
Along with several other former wrestlers, in June Johnson was named in a class action lawsuit against his former company, WWE, alleging that serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, were covered up by the organization.
8 8. Hulk Hogan
As one of the most recognizable wrestlers of all time, Hulk Hogan needs no introduction. Part of what made him so famous was his gigantic frame. Living up to his nickname, during his wrestling days the Hulkster stood in at 6’8” (he’s now roughly three inches shorter as a result of several injuries to repair his back) and weighed well over 300 lbs., much of which was pure muscle.
Now in his early 60s, Hulk, who shares his name with the Marvel superhero, seems to be having a reverse transformation—from that of an angry, muscle-bound monster to an ordinary man. Call it the Bruce Banner effect. Now that he’s over $100 million richer thanks to a successful lawsuit against Gawker, Hogan has no reason to ever be angry again, which means we may have seen the last of his giant alter ego.
7 7. Bret Hart
One of the biggest, most prolific wrestlers of the 1990s, and often considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Bret “The Hitman” Hart was famous in part because of his appearance. Sporting his signature pink singlet, wraparound glasses, long black hair, and big muscles, the Canadian-born wrestler had one of the most iconic looks in wrestling history. In recent years, however, the now 59-year-old Hall of Famer looks nothing like his former self. Naturally, his hair has turned a few shades greyer and his skin a few shades lighter, and he now looks less like a guy who could toss you around the ring and more like a guy who would hang out a bar wearing an old Mötley Crüe concert t-shirt and reminiscing about the glory days.
6 6. Dawn Marie
Dawn Marie once wrestled aside such hotties as Torrie Wilson and Nidia, and she was every bit as hot as them. Unlike Torrie Wilson, however, who is now a fitness model and self-professed “health advocate,” since being let go from the WWE in 2005, Marie has not been able to maintain her famous figure. Who can blame her, though? After all, she’s now in her mid-40s and is the mother of two young children.
But let’s not focus on the negatives. Let’s remember Marie when she was at her hottest, and there’s no question that she was at her hottest in 2003, when she took on Nidia and Torrie Wilson in a bikini contest during WWE Smackdown. While Marie and Nidia ultimately tied the contest, the commentators believed that Wilson had won hands down. But if you ask us, the real winners that night were the fans.
5 5. Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels seems to have gone the way of Brett Favre, in that he’s grown a beard and adopted the persona of a Ted Nugent outdoorsman-type since retiring. Along with Bret Hart and Scott Hall, Michaels, who understandably did not wrestle under his given name (Hickenbottom), was one of the most popular figures in the WWF in the 1990s, which culminated with his World Heavyweight Championship win in 2002.
Michael’s new look can be attributed to his post-retirement passion: the great outdoors. Along with friend and hunting partner Keith Mark, Michaels, an avid hunter, hosts an outdoor TV show called Shawn Michaels’ MacMillan River Adventures. So that explains why he now looks like an aging Paul Bunyan.
4 4. Scott Hall
By comparison, Scott Hall makes fellow '90s wrestling stars Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart look like male models. Hall was never the most clean-shaven wrestler in the WWF (in fact, his persona was that of a cocky, greasy, bad guy), but after he retired, he really let himself go. At the beginning of his career, Hall, who also fought under the names "The Diamond Studd" and "Razor Ramon," was one of the most physically imposing figures in the wrestling industry, weighing in at anywhere between 250 and 280 lbs. of solid muscle. But years of alcohol and drug abuse took a toll on his body, leaving him considerably greyer and heavier than he was when he was in the ring. For a while, Hall’s life seemed to be in jeopardy, as he was forced to check into rehab in 2010 and was hospitalized twice that same year for double pneumonia. He was back in the hospital in 2011 after suffering a seizure, and he was treated for dangerously low blood pressure. In recent years, however, the former wrestling star seems to have turned his life around, thanks in part to the generosity of friend and fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who took Hall into his home to help him sober up and get his life back on track.
3 3. Chyna
Chyna went through several physical transformations throughout her career. Her face and other body parts that shall remain nameless were noticeably altered in the midst of her wrestling days as a result of plastic surgery. After retiring, her image continued to change, as we can only assume that she continued to go under the knife. Due to substance abuse problems, Chyna, whose real name was Joan Laurer, appeared more and more disheveled in public appearances, and she continued to lose her signature looks which made her so famous in the 1990s and 2000s.
Unfortunately, Laurer passed away in April at the age of 46 due to a drug overdose after mixing her anxiety and insomnia medication. As one of the most popular female wrestlers of all time, hundreds of fans attended her memorial service in Los Angeles.
2 2. Ric Flair
As a wrestling fan, it’s hard to think of Ric Flair and not picture the tanned, blonde haired, cocky young wrestler from the '70s and '80s, screaming “Woo!” at the top of his lungs into the camera. But that was ages ago. Now in his late 60s, Flair, a sixteen-time world champion, is showing the signs of aging—actually, he’s been showing the signs of aging for quite some time now, with his leathery red skin and his granddad bod.
Despite being well past his prime, “The Nature Boy” was active in the WWE up until just a few years ago, which is a feat in and of itself. Sure he might not have the same iconic look that he had when he was flying around the ring in the NWA in the 1980s, but you’ve got to give the guy credit for lasting over four decades in a physically demanding sport. Only time will tell if any of today’s wrestlers will be able to achieve similar longevity.
1 1. Sunny
When she was in the midst of her wrestling career, Tammy Lynn Sytch, better known simply as Tammy or Sunny, was one of the hottest Divas in the WWF. And not only was she one of the hottest, but she also holds the distinction of being considered the first true Diva. Due to alleged drugs problems and an ongoing backstage feud with fellow Diva Sable, Sunny was released from the organization in 1998, at which point she made the move to Extreme Champion Wrestling and eventually WCW. Again, however, allegations of drug abuse prompted her premature departure from the major organizations, and she was forced to wrestle in independent circuits, where she’s been since 2000. Along with her reputation, recent ring appearances have shown that Sunny has also lost her looks, which made her so popular in the 1990s.
Ironically, Sunny’s waited until after she lost her looks to make her foray into the adult entertainment industry. Earlier this year, it was reported that she had signed with Vivid Entertainment to make a film classily titled Sunny: In Through The Backdoor. However, her XXX career might be put on hold, as she recently pleaded guilty to three DUI charges and could be facing jail time.