Ric Flair's surgery, originally scheduled to take place last week, is now slated to happen today. The WWE legend is reportedly in good spirits and expects to make a full recovery when it's all said and done - but he still won't be healthy enough to attend "The Roast of Ric Flair" later this week.
Flair, 70, was supposed to headline the upcoming Starrcast II event this Friday, May 24 at The Pro Wrestling Tees Theater inside Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. However, his medical condition will prevent him from being there.
In an interview with CBS Sports last month, Flair's son-in-law Conrad Thompson revealed that "The Roast of Ric Flair" would be very similar to the Comedy Central Roasts, with a dais featuring "a who's who of stand-up comedians" such as Dan Soder, Taylor Williamson, Mike Lawrence and Dan St. Germain. Hopefully they'll be able to reschedule once The Nature Boy is fully recovered from his surgery.
Thompson initially explained that Flair could have undergone the procedure after the Starrcast event but decided to get it done as soon as possible. Thompson issued the following response in regards to the original reports of Flair's hospitalization (H/T CBS Sports):
"This is not a last-minute surprise surgery to family [members]. I knew that he was going to be having a procedure done today. I don't think it's nearly as grave or serious as TMZ would have us believe because Ric is in good spirits about it, knew it was happening," Thompson explained. "[He could have chosen] to have it done now or after [attending Starrcast, a wrestling convention in Las] Vegas and decided to go ahead and get it done now because he thought he would be feeling good and wanted to get this done beforehand."