Ric the nature boy flair fighting for his life

Ric's fiance made an official statement through social media, giving a bit more insight. She says he is having multiple organ failure and is still in critical condition, which doesn't sound like it gives too much hope at all. :( She confirmed that he did have surgery, but said that Mean Gene and the media were wrong about it being colon surgery. She says it was another surgery, but didn't say what was operated on.

“Just want to give an update to my friends and Family as I have been unable to talk on the phone without crying and just feel shocked over events….I took Ric to the Hospital Friday night with Severe Abdominal pain. From that moment on it all seems like a nightmare…multiple Organ problems. Not to go into too many details I want everyone to know he still needs Prayers as he is still in Critical Condition. And No he did not have Colon Surgery….It was another Surgery! I don’t know how the Media comes up with their stories. I have been by his side since Friday and will continue to make sure he is getting the best care possible. Thanks for all of the support and Love”

 

Damn, this is so sad, yet not unexpected at all. His personal life has been a series of bad decisions for 30 or 40 years, including steroid, alcohol and drug abuse.

I was living in Charleston SC from 1975-1981 and the NWA Mid-Atlantic region was the local wrestling territory. This was before cable TV and Vince McMahon making the WWWF (now the WWE) a national company. All of wrestling was made up out of local territories.

The NWA Mid-Atlantic region then had Flair, Greg the Hammer Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, Blackjack Mulligan, and Wahoo McDaniel as its stars, so I got to see Flair in his early years in the business. Good times. I continued to watch him for years but the 1970s was the period when he was at his best, IMO, even though he didn't become a "superstar" until later, when cable expanded and territorial wrestling became "minor league" and the WWF, WCW and NWA were the major leagues.

During the 1970s in the Carolinas and Virginia, Flair wrestled both in singles and tag-team. Greg Valentine was his most frequent tag-team partner. The storyline was that Flair was also a cousin of the Anderson Brothers (aka the Minnesota Wrecking Crew) and Flair occasionally tagged with one of them or sometimes for 6-man tag-team matches. Flair later became one of the original members of the Four Horsemen with the Andersons and Tully Blanchard with JJ Dillon as their manager.

Get well, Ric.

 

Loved his NWA Sat. Night promos from 84-88. The Sat. Night show might not have been the best in terms of competitive matches but it might have had the best promo's top to bottom.

 

Great improvements for Flair! Even though he is still considered to be in critical condition.

The surgery that happened is now confirmed to have been on his bowels (so, his intestines, rather than his colon). He was having intense abdominal pain, which prompted the visit. He had a severe blockage, which I'm guessing is what they had to go in to remove. The blockage resulting in an infection, which was complicating his heart issues and also causing various organs to shut down.

Currently, he's got no kidney function and is on complete dialysis, they also had to install an external pacemaker. His heart is back to normal function and beating strong with the pacemaker, and the doctors have faith that his kidney function will rebound after the infection is taken care of. The doctors are describing the infection (although they haven't said exactly what type of infection it is, as far as I've heard) as a "very long battle and healing process". But now that they know what it is, there is a plan of attach everyone is confident in, and all of the problems are expected to resolve after the infection is gone.

 

While remaining in critical condition, The Nature Boy has made a lot of positive progress. He has awaken from the coma and is not only communicating, but seeking out attention and communication, showing that his energy levels are high, again. They said the most positive sign of all is that he "cut a promo" on a nurse for looking at his bare ass (she was giving him a shot).

 

Ric has made a full turnaround and is out of his hospital bed and being The Nature Boy, again.