Professional wrestler Eldridge Wayne Coleman, better known as WWE legend “Superstar” Billy Graham, passed away on Wednesday from undisclosed causes. He was 79 and was reportedly suffering from multiple health issues.
The news was made public by pro wrestling legend Ric Flair, and later confirmed by Dave Meltzer, a reporter for the Wrestling Observer.
Superstar Billy Graham has left us,” wrote Flair. “Thank you for your impact on my career!”
Graham’s wife Valerie wrote on facebook Earlier this week, her husband was in the ICU for three weeks due to various health issues. Graham’s wife included a GoFundMe link in the post.
“Please urgently need prayers for my husband,” Valerie wrote on her husband’s page. “The doctors wanted to take him off life support tonight, I refused. He is a fighter and his will is strong even if his body is not. God is our hope.
Graham first came to prominence in 1977 when he became the WWWF Heavyweight Champion. Graham was known for his affiliation and friendship with fellow bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as mentoring future wrestling greats such as Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner, Jesse Ventura.
As soon as the news became public, Graham’s teammates in wrestling took to social media to pay tribute to him.
“One of my first teachers of the summer,” wrote Hussein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, better known as the Iron Sheik, who was Hulk Hogan’s rival in the 1980s. “The real legend Bubba. He loves me I love him. Together we hit the gym and rocked the earth. I love you forever bro. Tear up”
Sean Waltman, aka The 1-2-3 Kid and X-Pac, Graham is considered “the most copied man of all time in pro wrestling”.
Before Graham died, Flair shared why the legend means so much to him: