Ric Flair has spent his entire life acting like he’s damn near indestructible, but even The Nature Boy is feeling the weight of getting older. At 77 years old, Flair says watching people from his generation die one after another is starting to mess with him.
During an appearance on the Dual Time Podcast, Flair was originally asked a pretty harmless question about the greatest wrestlers he had ever seen. He started rattling off names like Steve Austin, The Rock, Ricky Steamboat and Hulk Hogan — then suddenly the conversation got a whole lot darker.
“Uh, Steve Austin, The Rock, Ricky Steamboat, The Hulk, of course. Um, it’s funny you say that. We’re losing them like one — we’re losing some of them every day now.”
Flair kept going through the names, bringing up Arn Anderson and Ted DiBiase before his mind went straight to the guys who are already gone.
“Arn Anderson was great. Um, Ted DiBiase was great. He’s still with us. Um, Roddy Piper is gone, of course. Um, but he was great. Um, Jimmy Snuka was great. Just crazy. Um, but there’s a list of endless, you know, and they’re all my age.”
That’s when Flair brought up the death of former NHL coach and longtime broadcaster Barry Melrose. Melrose died at 70, and Flair made it clear that seeing someone seven years younger than him pass away hit especially hard.
“I think Slaughter is a year older than I am, but I mean it seems like every day, like just yesterday, Barry Melrose died. I mean, at 70, seven years younger than me, so it becomes something that wears on you.”
That line carries some extra weight coming from Flair, because he’s already had his own brutal brush with death. Ringside News previously covered Flair opening up about his 2017 health crisis, when he suffered multiple organ failure and was given just a 5% chance to survive. Flair has also dealt with health issues much more recently. Ringside News exclusively revealed that blood clots in his legs kept him from attending the Cauliflower Alley Club ceremony in August 2026, forcing him to appear remotely instead.
For a guy who built his whole image around living harder, partying harder and surviving just about anything, this was a much different Ric Flair. He wasn’t cutting a promo or trying to get a laugh — he was admitting that every new death from his generation is starting to hit closer to home.
What do you think about Ric Flair admitting that watching people from his generation pass away is starting to wear on him? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
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