Ric Flair's surgery was a "success".
Ric Flair
The wrestling legend underwent a pre-planned operation on Monday (20.05.19) after being taken to hospital on Thursday (16.05.19), and his wife Wendy Barlow has now said the operation - the nature of which has not been revealed to the public - went well and Ric is now resting in the "recovery room".
In a statement to People magazine, Wendy said: "He is out of surgery and in the recovery room. Doctors said the procedure was a success! Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and support during this difficult time."
The surgery comes after he was supposed to go under the knife on Friday (17.05.19), but unnamed "complications that need to be taken care of first" meant the procedure was pushed back to the start of this week.
Wendy confirmed the delay when she said: "Ric's surgery has been postponed until Monday to address some complications that needed to be taken care of first. Thanks for all the well wishes."
Originally, the 70-year-old grappler was believed to be in a "very serious" condition, but his son-in-law Conrad Thompson - who is married to his daughter Megan - reassured fans on Thursday (16.05.19) that the hospital trip was pre-planned, and hoped he would still be able to attend Starrcast II in Las Vegas next week.
He said: "Ric was not worried about this. Ric did not think this was going to be reported or on TMZ. It's all systems go. The Roast of Ric Flair is still happening."
Ric's hospitalisation comes as he's had several brushes with death in the past, including having been involved in a plane crash and being struck by lightning.
Most recently, Ric was placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days in 2017 when he was diagnosed with the early stages of kidney failure and congestive heart failure due to years of alcohol abuse, and he admitted afterwards that the health scare completely changed his life.
He said: "The airplane crash and the lightning didn't change anything but the health scare has changed my life not drastically but it changed my lifestyle eventually.
"Number one I lost 43lbs when I was in the hospital, I had to learn how to walk again - I could stand but I couldn't walk. I couldn't even open a bottle of Gatorade or a Diet Coke. I was so weak and obviously it left me with issues that I had to deal with daily.
"Also the fact that I can't drink anymore, which is really painful."