Ric Flair had a rough Friday. The WWE Hall of Famer, 77, revealed he’s dealing with a serious blood clot in his leg, and hours later, found himself hospitalized after a fall outside a Tampa restaurant.
It started with an apology. Flair posted on Instagram explaining he’d have to cancel an upcoming appearance at Washington State Horror Con in Seattle, writing that he wanted to “sincerely apologize” to his agent, the convention organizers, and his fans. The reason, he said, was a blood clot serious enough to require a procedure.
“Blood clots are extremely serious and can be life-threatening,” Flair wrote, pointing to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ own recent blood clot complications as an example of how seriously he was taking it. He said the procedure, removal of the affected vein, would eventually let him resume traveling internationally.
Then, just hours later, came the fall. According to TMZ, Flair was walking across the street after leaving Tampa restaurant Wagamama when he went down hard. Video obtained by the outlet showed him on the ground being tended to by paramedics. TMZ reported he sustained cuts to his head and around his eye, with the eye described as “bleeding extensively,” and that medics suspected he may have also suffered a concussion.
With Flair’s condition initially unclear, his daughter, WWE star Charlotte Flair, took to social media to calm things down. “Not my dad telling the doctor he fell bc of warrior dropping him on his head,” she wrote, referencing her father’s old in-ring rival Ultimate Warrior, before adding the reassurance fans were actually looking for: “(ps: he’s going to be ok).”
Her comment, part joke, part genuine update, was enough to shift the tone of coverage from alarm to cautious relief, even as his exact status following hospitalization remained somewhat uncertain through Friday evening.
This isn’t the first time blood clots have disrupted Flair’s schedule. He had to cancel an appearance at the Cauliflower Alley Club earlier this past summer for the same underlying issue, suggesting this has been an ongoing health concern rather than something that came out of nowhere Friday.
Flair, whose real name is Richard Morgan Fliehr, has been open about various health struggles in recent years. He’s previously addressed concerns about his heart health and given updates on cancer treatment to fans directly, part of a pattern of transparency that’s continued into his late 70s even as he’s stayed remarkably active in the wrestling world, both as a commentator and an occasional on-screen presence for AEW.
Even setting aside Friday’s health scare, Flair’s remained a fixture in wrestling news well into retirement from in-ring competition. He’s been vocal about his legacy, recently clashing publicly with WWE over business restrictions tied to his name and image, and has continued to weigh in on wrestling culture, other wrestlers, and his own complicated history with the business that made him famous.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest performers in professional wrestling history, a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Flair’s public profile has rarely dimmed, for better or worse, whether the news involves his career, his family, or now, his health.
As of Friday evening, it’s still unclear exactly how this fall will affect the timeline for Flair’s blood clot procedure, or how long he’ll need to recover from the head injuries themselves. Charlotte Flair’s reassurance that her father is “going to be ok” offers some comfort, but a fuller update on his condition, and what it means for his planned medical treatment, will likely come from the family or Flair himself in the coming days.
