During August of last year, the legendary Ric Flair found himself fighting for his life, struggling with kidney and heart failure simultaneously, all stemming from decades of alcohol abuse. Living up to his reputation, “The Nature Boy” fought back like a true champ and lived to talk about it (though he lost 43 pounds and now has a pacemaker). While on The Steve Austin Show podcast recently, the 16-time world champ revealed that his health has improved to the point where he’s actually been cleared to work out in the ring again.
According to the transcription by Wrestling Inc., he said “I can do anything, bench press. I have to be careful after surgery, the second surgery, for hernia issues. And now I’m full speed ahead. The guys have cleared me to do anything. I’ve actually been cleared to get knocked down in the ring.” He also mentioned that he does 500 bodyweight squats a day.
Not bad for a guy who was in a coma for 12 days, followed by another 31 days in the ICU. However, Flair didn’t guarantee that he’d actually be making a return to the ring—and it would be hard to imagine WWE actually letting it happen. He did stress that he didn’t know if WWE was “going to use me in some capacity,” but if they were, he’d still need to pass their own health tests (he’d likely need to get approval to even take one bump in a non-wrestling segment).
At the very least, it’s good to know that Flair can lead a more active lifestyle again. For now, he can live vicariously through his daughter, Charlotte, who’s absolutely tearing it up in the WWE’s women’s division.
