Earlier this morning Melinda Morris Zanoni, the head of Ric Flair’s management firm Legacy Talent, took to twitter asking fans for thoughts and prayers for Flair.
PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson has since posted the following to PWInsider shedding some more light on Flair’s hospitalization and what Flair could be dealing with:
Flair is currently hospitalized in Atlanta, GA, where he resides. The belief is that Flair is dealing with heart-related issues, which were initially described as simply “routine tests.” Since Zanoni’s Tweet, there has been an insane amount of activity among those in the pro wrestling industry with different stories about Flair’s health being passed around.
Since there is no confirmation on any of that information, we won’t report any of it. What we do know, based on what was written in Flair’s own autobiography To Be The Man, the former NWA and WWF champion suffers from Alcoholic cardiomyopathy, a condition caused by excessive, prolonged alcohol abuse that can lead to heart failure. When one suffers from that condition, the toxic effects of alcohol on the heart’s muscle leads to a situation where the organ is unable to pump blood efficiently.
It goes without saying that Flair, when he was wrestling, was one of the greatest performers in the history of pro wrestling and is at the top of any list when you rate professional wrestlers – work ethic in the ring, level of matches, promos, characters – whatever the discussion is, Ric Flair is there in the mix because he’s a once in a lifetime performer who had an immeasurable amount of passion for what he did. He also carried himself in life the same way his character does on TV, with caution thrown to the wind.
