'Superstar' Billy Graham, WWE Legend, Has Died at 79
Graham's wife Valerie had previously told fans he was on life support.
UPDATE 5/18/23: According to TMZ Sports, Graham's family confirmed that he died on Wednesday, May 17 after being taken off life support. He was 79 years old.
See below for original story:
Retired professional wrestler "Superstar" Billy Graham is currently fighting for his life at the Mayo Clinic's intensive care unit, where the 79-year-old athlete has been suffering from a "myriad of very serious health issues."
Graham's wife of nearly 45 years, Valerie Coleman, shared an update about her husband's health on his Facebook account early Monday, with a link to a GoFundMe donation page.
"Please urgent prayers needed for my husband," she wrote. "The doctors wanted to remove him from life support tonight, I refused. He’s a fighter and his will is strong even if his body isn’t. God is our hope."
According to the GoFundMe, Graham (whose real name is Eldridge Wayne Coleman) spent three weeks in the ICU before being transferred to a rehab center, and then back to intensive care. Among the serious issues he's been dealing with are a "major infection in his ears and skull" that could require six months of IV fluids, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and hearing loss as a result of the infection. He has also lost 45 pounds in the past three weeks.
Graham is a three-time wrestling world champion who was inducted into the WWE in 2004, where he went on to mentor some of the greatest stars of professional wrestling including Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Ric Flair, and Scott Steiner.
An award-winning bodybuilder, Graham likewise trained alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger at Venice Beach's famous Gold's Gym in the late 1960s.
With such an impressive career, hopefully Graham still has some fight left.