WWE was taking no chances with Ric Flair after a series of health issues in 2017 led many to believe the end was near for the Nature Boy.
That year, Flair suffered a ruptured intestine and kidney failure that became septic. These complications would lead to respiratory heart failure and pneumonia.
On a recent edition of the “Talk is Jericho” podcast, AEW Executive Producer Mike Mansury, who was with WWE at the time, recalled the company’s efforts. He said,
“I would say one of the more nerve-racking moments I had ever doing Raw and one that stands out like crazy to me is the night we all thought Ric Flair was gonna’ die. So Ric had-had a really bad health situation and I think they basically were ready to give him last rites and everything else in-between.
“So, we had three versions of the show prepared. We had the version that it was gonna be executed as it was written, a version that we would do if Ric, God forbid, passed before the show and then if he had passed during the show.
“It was pretty nerve-racking and you know, thank God he pulled through. He’s alive and better than ever now, all these years later but, that’s definitely one of the shows that just really, really sticks out in my brain like, woof.”
Flair would thankfully recover and would even appear on WWE TV that same year to celebrate Charlotte Flair’s SmackDown Women’s title victory.
