Kemo
10-10-2023, 06:17 PM
Ric Flair survived a life-threatening ordeal in 2017, but the situation robbed the Nature Boy of his memories in the ring.
That year, Flair would be placed into a medically induced coma to treat a ruptured intestine. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer would also experience total kidney failure and became septic with his body trying to fight off infection. This led to respiratory heart failure and pneumonia.
Flair is a legend of the ring but has seen plenty of his friends and colleagues pass away far too soon. During Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Flair was asked about his own near-death experiences.
"I mean I know twice. Air plane crash [in 1975] would have to be considered one. And of course in 2017 when I was on life support for 13 days. ICU for 31 [days]."
The Nature Boy added that he suffered severe memory loss due to the ordeal and that some close to him tried to take advantage of him.
"A lot of people still don't understand, I didn't know where I was for six months after I woke up. I had no memory of anything behind me, I was just going forward. I didn't even know I lived in Charlotte.
"I couldn't remember anything for six months. That's how I got beat up so bad legally, because I forgot that I had lawyers and when I was dying... everybody was wanting my s***. Including my agent who stole about 300 grand... including 50,000 from ESPN for the '30 for 30' [documentary]."
Later in the interview, Flair recalled how his memories began coming back to him.
"One day it just started kicking in. I had texts! When I woke up, I had 170 texts, and half of them I didn't realize. 'Who is this person?' I saw 704 which is the Charlotte area code but I didn't know who it was. But then it just started [coming back]."
When asked if he rewatched his matches to help him remember, Flair said that he had lost his memories of wrestling.
"No. I had no memory of any of that. I didn't remember anything, for six months, that is a strange deal. And then to realize one day 'God, I do remember that' and kind of piecemeal itself together.
"I knew the people. I recognized Steamboat, he was there, I recognized Hulk [Hogan] and all that. But I didn't remember wrestling those guys."
If there is a silver lining to Flair's ordeal, it is that the Nature Boy is more willing than ever to move on from previous gripes.
"The one core lesson for me was to tell everybody that I cared about them in life. I was obsessed with it. For two years, 'I love you' because you never know when you're going to say goodbye. And I also learned it's not worth being at odds with anybody at my age. Whatever happened in the past, it happened."
That year, Flair would be placed into a medically induced coma to treat a ruptured intestine. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer would also experience total kidney failure and became septic with his body trying to fight off infection. This led to respiratory heart failure and pneumonia.
Flair is a legend of the ring but has seen plenty of his friends and colleagues pass away far too soon. During Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Flair was asked about his own near-death experiences.
"I mean I know twice. Air plane crash [in 1975] would have to be considered one. And of course in 2017 when I was on life support for 13 days. ICU for 31 [days]."
The Nature Boy added that he suffered severe memory loss due to the ordeal and that some close to him tried to take advantage of him.
"A lot of people still don't understand, I didn't know where I was for six months after I woke up. I had no memory of anything behind me, I was just going forward. I didn't even know I lived in Charlotte.
"I couldn't remember anything for six months. That's how I got beat up so bad legally, because I forgot that I had lawyers and when I was dying... everybody was wanting my s***. Including my agent who stole about 300 grand... including 50,000 from ESPN for the '30 for 30' [documentary]."
Later in the interview, Flair recalled how his memories began coming back to him.
"One day it just started kicking in. I had texts! When I woke up, I had 170 texts, and half of them I didn't realize. 'Who is this person?' I saw 704 which is the Charlotte area code but I didn't know who it was. But then it just started [coming back]."
When asked if he rewatched his matches to help him remember, Flair said that he had lost his memories of wrestling.
"No. I had no memory of any of that. I didn't remember anything, for six months, that is a strange deal. And then to realize one day 'God, I do remember that' and kind of piecemeal itself together.
"I knew the people. I recognized Steamboat, he was there, I recognized Hulk [Hogan] and all that. But I didn't remember wrestling those guys."
If there is a silver lining to Flair's ordeal, it is that the Nature Boy is more willing than ever to move on from previous gripes.
"The one core lesson for me was to tell everybody that I cared about them in life. I was obsessed with it. For two years, 'I love you' because you never know when you're going to say goodbye. And I also learned it's not worth being at odds with anybody at my age. Whatever happened in the past, it happened."