The Tragic Life and Times of Ric Flair

#6 His recent health troubles

Flair suffered from multiple health issues

In August of 2017, Ric Flair was rushed to an emergency room in his home state of North Carolina after experiencing pain in his abdomen.

Flair spoke with Fox5Atlanta after he was deemed healthy.

Flair and his surgeon remembered just how serious it was:

"I knew that something was going on because it really hurt," Flair says. "So, she took me and, sure enough, my intestines had ruptured."

Flair has a major bowel obstruction.

"And if that goes on long enough, it causes a cascade of problems: hypoglycemic shock, sepsis, multi-organ failure," vascular surgeon Dr. Jim Elsey says. "All of that which Mr. Flair had."

Dr. Elsey had operated on Flair before and was unsure if the Nature Boy would make it out of surgery alive.

"He was in shock," Elsey says. "He was in renal failure. He had a complete heart block. He had multiple electrolyte abnormalities."

A good amount of the damage had been done due to the drinking Flair had engaged in after the death of his son, Reid, in 2013.

"I didn't start 'day drinking' until probably right before my son died," Flair says. "And then, I really, after he passed away, it was 10 in the morning until 2 a.m. every day."

Unfortunately, sometimes the toll a disease takes over the course of time doesn't rear its ugly head until its too late. Eddie Guerrero's earlier drug use ultimately helped contribute to his untimely death in 2005.

Luckily for Flair, this time his drinking and its after-effects didn't take his life. He claims to be sober ever since and has resumed being the Nature Boy, but a more grounded version.

He'll always be a part of the WWE family and will hopefully avoid any more health scares as he suffered in 2017.