3 minSports
Ric Flair, 77, hospitalized in Tampa after fall outside bar
Wrestling legend Ric Flair was taken to a Tampa hospital with reported head injuries after falling outside a bar, a day after he cancelled a Seattle appearance because of a blood clot in his leg.
Pro wrestling legend Ric Flair was taken to a hospital in Tampa, Florida, after falling outside a bar and suffering reported head injuries, according to TMZ. The entertainment outlet reported that Flair, 77, walked outside the establishment, fell, and cut his head and eye, which was bleeding. He was then loaded into an ambulance, and the outlet said he may have suffered a concussion.
Tampa Fire Rescue confirmed that it responded to a fall outside the establishment and that an adult male was transported to a local hospital. The department did not name the patient, saying it could not « provide any patient particulars due to HIPPA guidelines ». Flair's name was not officially confirmed by the agency, and the reports on his condition came from TMZ rather than from a statement by his representatives.
The reported fall came hours after Flair announced that he would not attend a scheduled appearance in Seattle because of a blood clot in his leg. In a post on X, he wrote that his doctors had limited his travel to three to four hours and that Seattle fell outside that range. « Blood clots are extremely serious and can be life-threatening, » he wrote, referring to the recent case of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had complications involving blood clots in his lungs. Flair said he was scheduled to undergo surgery on the affected vein, which his doctors expected would allow him to be cleared for more travel afterward.
Flair has long dealt with health and alcohol issues, and his career has been marked by frequent returns to the ring. His so-called « Last Match » took place in 2022, a tag-team bout with his then son-in-law, the wrestler known as Andrade, against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. He later said he had passed out twice during that match. He made his All Elite Wrestling debut in 2023 and was briefly part of Sting's final professional match at AEW Revolution, where Sting and Darby Allin faced the Young Bucks.
Flair's record includes eight World Championship Wrestling world heavyweight titles, nine National Wrestling Alliance world heavyweight titles and two WWE Championships. WWE inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2008 as a singles wrestler and again in 2012 as a member of the Four Horsemen. As of the reports, no further update on his condition had been released by his representatives or by the hospital.
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