Ric Flair teamed up with his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, to beat Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett on July 31st, 2022, in his retirement match. Fans were concerned about Flair’s condition going into the match as an elderly man with a peacemaker in his chest, and they were worried for him during it as well.
Fans raised further concerns about how Flair looked in the match, although Flair has blamed his performance in the bout on lack of hydration due to his weight management regime with a strict diet during training for the match.
While guest appearing on the JAXXON PODCAST, the legendary name revealed he suffered a legit heart attack during the bout.
“Yeah, I trained (for my last match), I got in the best shape, ever since I was 20 years old, and then I had a heart attack during the match. I had a heart attack during the match. A lot of people didn’t (know). I didn’t know myself until about six months ago because I went and got a — I go to the heart doctor like every six months because I’ve got the pacemaker, right? And they put that on me when I was real sick, not because I had a problem with my heart, but because they couldn’t get over the fact that my heart rate was so low, but it was from all of those hour-long matches and all that cardio.”
Flair stated he used to do 500 free squats every day because not every town had a gym, or he would do step-ups on a chair. He said his heart rate was always like 48, and he later got a calcium scan because he became concerned after years of a few wrestlers dying because of heart issues, so he got some tests done.
“The guy takes me in and if you look at your heart like a round pie, there’s a piece of my heart right here, this big, it’s black, it’s gone. The guy said, ‘You’ve had a heart attack in the last two years.’ I said, ‘I never hurt.’ He said, ‘Have you passed out in the last two years?’ And during my last match, I passed out three times, and I thought it was because I was dehydrated. So I went in the locker room, I was with Kid Rock and Taker. I just drank two bottles of Gatorade and went back out to Kid Rock’s place all night long. But I had a heart attack. It didn’t hurt, no, none. I feel great, that’s my problem. I’m sure I’m just gonna fall off a chair one day (he laughed). They’re gonna say, there he is. Get that little son of a b*tch up out of here.”
Ric last appeared on WWE television two years ago when he introduced Charlotte for a segment on Raw 30 in January 2023. He signed with AEW last year, where he was featured on Sting’s retirement tour that ended at Revolution.
H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcription
