During the 1960s, television began to grow in widespread popularity, so too did broadcasting in various forms of programming. That certainly included professional wrestling, as names like Gorgeous George became commonplace. Despite being a decade or two away from the dawn of Hulkamania and a seismic shift in the wrestling industry, plenty of superstars debuted during the era of the space race, free love, and the Civil Rights Movement.
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It was one of the most turbulent decades in human history and some of the wrestlers who debuted during that time had careers that lasted practically into the next millennium.
10 The Bushwhackers
The interesting career of The Bushwhackers began as cousin Luke and cousin Butch started out as The Kiwis in their native New Zealand before traversing the globe as the ultra violent Sheepherders in the late 1970s. The team were actually a bloody hardcore tag team. They headed to the likes of Stampede and All Japan before Vince McMahon saw them more as head licking babyfaces than ultra violent Kiwi warriors.
9 Andre The Giant
As the wresting world’s first ever global superstar, Andre the Giant has been wrestling since the '60s as well. He started out in his native France as Geant Ferre, a play on a French folk hero. It wouldn’t be before long that he too had a career that turned him into his own mythic legend.
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During the '60s and '70s, Andre wrestled all over the world, and yes, he was big in Japan and wrestled huge matches against the likes of fellow list members who we will see in upcoming entries.
8 Giant Baba
While the wrestling world has seen plenty of guys bigger, six-foot-ten is nothing to sneeze at either, especially in Japan where historically, isn’t filled with a lot of taller individuals. Giant Baba became one of the key figures in all of Japanese wrestling. When the former baseball player met the Rising Sun’s first legend, Rikidozan, that was it for Baba, and he began training to become a pro wrestler. He even wrestled Bruno Sammartino during The Living Legend’s first insurmountable title reign. Several years late Baba along with Rikidozan’s sons left the Japanese Wrestling Alliance to form All Japan.
7 Brisco Brothers
No, not “dem Boys.” But as far as “wrestler’s wrestlers” and old school tough guys go, there’s are no better men than Jack and Jerry Brisco. The former NWA World Champion Jack and the former Stooge Jerry both began in the late '60s and had careers that spanned decades, including winning the NWA Tag Team Championship several times during their career. Even today, there are wrestlers who won’t dare try the now 75-year-old Jerry.
6 Antonio Inoki
Quite possibly, the first ever Japanese born WWE Champion, Antonio Inoki might win the award for being the most prolific wrestler of all time. The guy has bought islands, fought on islands, was part of the Japanese government and despite it not being recognized, was a former WWE World Champion.
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He, like Giant Baba, started out under the tutelage of Rikidozan and perhaps is best known for his greatest gift to wrestling - starting New Japan.
5 Mr. Fuji
By the time most old school wrestling fans got to see him, Mr. Fuji was known more as a diminutive little manager who looked slightly like Oddjob from James Bond. Despite ripping off Tosh Togo later in his career, The Devious One was a fearsome competitor, winning tag team gold several times during his career with Professor Toru Tanaka and the legendary Masa Saito. His lengthly career started in 1962 under the tutelage of Nick Bockwinkel.
4 Harley Race
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Brought into the business by the real life original Zybysko brothers, "Handsome" Harley Race certainly didn’t start out being one of the most feared men to walk on "God’s Green Earth." On his way to seven NWA titles, Race actually worked for local St. Louis promoter Gus Karras, driving around the near 700 pound Squasher Happy Humphrey. Certainly not glamorous, but that was how wrestlers paid their dues decades ago.
3 Bobby Heenan
There isn’t a single person reading this list that doesn’t understand the level of greatness behind Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. But before he became the best manager in the history of the sport, he actually did have an in ring career that started way back in 1961 with names like Dick the Bruiser and Sam Mushnick before promoters realized Heenan’s mouth was much better than his ring work, which was also pretty good.
2 Mil Mascaras
Nowadays, wrestling podcast fans know Mil Mascaras as “no yob,” but the man of a thousand masks is responsible for bringing Lucha Libre to the masses by wrestling all over the world.
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Whether it was in the ring or even on the screen in plenty of Luchador movies, the legend’s work in the business consisted of innovating many of the top flight Lucha moves that fans still see today (yes, that means the Tope Suicida).
1 Terry Funk
No one on this list changed with the times more than the legendary Terry Funk. A former NWA and ECW World Champion, and a violent hardcore wrestler. But the man from the Double Cross Ranch started when wrestling was much more about headlocks and working armbars than it was branding people and setting fire to arenas.
