WWE: 6 wrestlers who lied about their age
Did you know that many wrestlers have lied about their age, and that this has also happened on multiple occasions throughout the years in WWE? On the independent circuit, wrestlers used to fake their age to get a wrestling opportunity much earlier than they could (as the legal age is usually 18).
In WWE, there has been a case of the promotion faking a superstar's age to further the storyline (more on this later). In this article, let’s take a look at five wrestlers who once lied about their age, as well as one superstar whose on-screen age was not accurate.
#6 Erich Kulas lied to ECW about his age
Eric Kulas aka Mass Transit was a novice wrestler from Rhode Island. On November 23, 1996, he had an unforgettable match with New Jack that would spawn national media controversy and a criminal court case.
The Life and Crimes of New Jack tomorrow, 10p on @vicetv / @CraveCanada. https://t.co/8aYAW6jkjI
We kick things off with an incident of faking age that was a big blow to the now-defunct ECW, which ultimately sold out to WWE. Known famously as the Mass Transit Incident, a 1996 house show saw booker Paul Heyman looking for someone to fill in for Axl Rotten, a wrestler who had failed to turn up.
A 17-year old Erich Kulas offered to work as his replacement in the tag team match that also involved D-Von Dudley. Not only did Kulas lie about him being above 18, but also about being trained by Killer Kowalski, a wrestling legend who trained Triple H and Chyna.
Things turned messy when a planned blading spot led to Kulas bleeding profusely, leading to ECW being dragged into court and losing trust with Request TV, who were ECW's pay-per-view provider at the time.
#5 Jeff Hardy lied to WWE about his age
.@JeffHardyBrand lied about his age when he made his WWF debut on RAW against Scott Hall. He was 16 years old. https://t.co/P71dAD5WTw
Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy discussed various moments from their legendary WWE careers on an episode of WWE Then & Now. As the conversation turned to their in-ring debut in WWE, Matt Hardy recalled that his brother lied about his age before he faced Razor Ramon at a RAW taping on May 23, 1994:
“Jeff was the first one that wrestled that night. He was 16 years old. The guy that brought us – Gary Sabaugh, The Italian Stallion – I remember him saying, ‘Your brother’s only 16? Well, he’s gotta lie about his age on the sheet. He’s 18.’”
Jeff Hardy said he felt intimidated by the environment in Vince McMahon's company and never wanted to appear in the promotion again after his match against Razor Ramon. He taped another match in the same week against The 1-2-3 Kid and quickly realized that he wanted to be a WWE Superstar.
#4 The Boogeyman
@Fightful Considering Marty Wright and WWE got off to a rocky start, he lied about his age during the 2004 Tough Enough, this new contract goes to show he's a hell of a guy.
I hope we see more appearance on television for The Boogeyman... #WWE #TheBoogeyman @RealBoogey https://t.co/ZH4MvgKmPl
Martin Wright (better known as The Boogeyman) was 40 years old when he attended a two-day tryout for the Tough Enough series in 2004. The rules of the competition stated that contestants were not allowed to be over the age of 35. As a result, Wright was disqualified from the show, even though he passed the tryout and made it down to the last eight finalists.
Speaking on his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Bruce Prichard discussed the moment that Wright was caught out for lying about his age:
“All I remember was Marty being part of the big cattle call for talent. And when they got in, he said he was 30. We said, ‘Really? Are you only 30 years old?’ And he stuck to it, man. And they had him go on, and said, ‘Where’s your license?’ And he says, ‘Well, I don’t have it here, it’s in my car.’ And so [they said], ‘Okay great, we’ll wait.’” [H/T 411mania]
Wright showed the Tough Enough bosses his license, which proved he was 40 years old. Despite his age, Wright still received an invite to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's then-developmental territory. This is where he developed the Boogeyman character that went on to debut on SmackDown in 2005.
#3 Ahmed Johnson
Ahmed Johnson made his WWE debut at the age of 32 in July 1995. He went on to have a three-year run, which included a 58-day reign as the Intercontinental Champion. Speaking to the BDSIR Network in 2013, Johnson addressed his injury-prone reputation and revealed that he lied about his age in WWE:
“For those of you that didn't know, I was already in my thirties when I went to WWF. I lied. I was not born in 1972, or '69 or whatever the internet says. I was born in 1963. I was already on my way to being an old man. So of course I had some injuries.” [H/T Bleacher Report]
Although many up-and-coming WWE Superstars are in their early-to-mid 30s these days, the WWE roster was very different in 1990s. During that time, Vince McMahon wanted to use younger superstars like The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels over older stars like Randy Savage and Ric Flair. At the age of 32, Johnson was one of the oldest full-time Superstars on the roster when he debuted.
#2 Becky Lynch lied about her age to Finn Bálor
While most of the superstars in this article lied about their age to get to WWE, Becky Lynch exaggerated her age several years before she even made it to Vince McMahon’s company. Speaking on WWE Network documentary Finn Bálor: The Demon Revealed, Lynch said her brother wanted to go to England to learn how to wrestle because Ireland did not have any wrestling schools when they were younger.
Lynch and her brother then found out that a wrestling school was opening in Ireland, with Fergal Devitt (aka Finn Bálor) working as one of the trainers. During a conversation about their time together at the wrestling school, Lynch said she lied to Bálor about her age when she signed up to train:
“[I was] 15. I told you I was 17. I figured if I told you I was 17, you wouldn’t ask me for ID. But if I said that I was 16, you might. So I said I was 17.”
Bálor added that he had no right to be training people when he was only 20 years of age at the time. The Irishman also claimed that he cannot take credit for anything that Lynch has achieved in her WWE career, as he believes she always had the natural ability to wrestle.
#1 WWE changed Dominik Mysterio’s age
Dominik Mysterio has already looked remarkably smooth in his debut match against Seth Rollins.
With the help of Lance Storm along with his father, he possesses plenty of potential at the tender age of 23.
#SummerSlam https://t.co/DBxAWBz4U4
Throughout Seth Rollins’ battles with the Mysterio family, commentators have made it clear that Dominik Mysterio is 23 years old and Aalyah Mysterio is 19 years old. To clarify, those ages are correct – Dominik was born on April 5, 1997 and Aalyah was born on August 20, 2001.
However, a year earlier, the promotion tried to make fans believe that Dominik was only 19 years old when he suffered a brutal attack at the hands of Brock Lesnar on RAW. Jerry Lawler repeatedly said during the segment that Dominik was a teenager, even though he was 22 at the time.
“Dominik is a teenager. This is reprehensible. Come on, [Paul] Heyman, do something. This guy is heartless. Reprehensible, rotten... no, no, no. Somebody stop him!”
Aalyah Mysterio's age was mentioned a lot during a romance storyline with the now-released Murphy, who turned 32 in September 2020. Many fans criticized the storyline on social media due to the 13-year age gap.
Recommended: WWE Superstars who have aged gracefully!