Happy Birthday Stephanie

Stephanie McMahon Levesque
September 24, 1976

Ric Flair Talks Recent Health Issues Due To Years Of Alcohol Abuse, Says He Will Never Drink Again

PEOPLE Exclusive – Wrestling Legend Ric Flair Fighting for His Life After Decades of Alcohol Abuse: Health Scare Tamed 'Nature Boy'

(NEW YORK) – Wrestling legend Ric Flair may have once commanded the ring – but after the cameras turned off, things "just got out of control."

Decades of "social" drinking finally caught up with the 16-time pro wrestling world champion this year, landing him in the hospital and near death last month.

"I crashed in an airplane and broke my back, I've been hit by lightning," Flair tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "But this is totally different. Anything I've been through before is nothing like this."

On Aug. 11, the 68-year-old was rushed to the hospital with stomach pains. Within hours, Flair was in the early stages of kidney failure and on the verge of congestive heart failure – the result of years of alcohol abuse.

Flair's family members were told he had only 20 percent odds of surviving, and he was placed in a medically induced coma while they – including daughter, pro wrestler Charlotte Flair – took to social media to asks fans for prayers.

Doctors subsequently removed part of Flair's bowel, and inserted a pacemaker. Now, in recovery at a convalescent center in Atlanta, Flair tells PEOPLE of the entire ordeal, "It scared the s— out of me."

He adds, "But I'm not out of the woods yet."

Now, the man once known as the "Nature Boy," needs a nurse to help steady his shaking hands so he can sip water from a glass. He admits, "I didn't think I was an alcoholic, but obviously I was."

Flair's problem with alcohol started while he worked to build a camaraderie with his fellow wrestlers during the early days of his career in 1972. It helped them "bond," he says, noting though, "I never drank when I was working."

"But as soon as work was over, I went right to the mill," he says, adding that he's long struggled to "do anything in moderation," and admitting to a failed rehab stint four years prior.

Alcohol also served as a tonic of sorts when it came to coping with his injuries and intense physical pain from his job. "I've never taken a pain pill in my life," he explains. "I'd just take a shower, flip my hair back and go to the best bar in town."

Now, the father of four says he is dedicated to doing better.

"I'll never drink again," says Flair. "I never want to go through this again."

WWE Starrcade Official Announcement

As noted, the Greensboro Coliseum announced today that the Saturday, November 25th live event will feature a Starrcade theme, the first since 2000. No word yet on if this will be a WWE Network special but we will keep you updated.

Below is WWE's official announcement on the event:

Starrcade returns to Greensboro this November

Starrcade is back, and for the first time in 30 years, it's coming home.

On Saturday, Nov. 25, during Thanksgiving weekend, Starrcade returns when the Superstars of SmackDown LIVE descend on Greensboro, N.C., for a historic event at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The premier event of the National Wrestling Alliance and, later, WCW, Starrcade got its start in Greensboro on Thanksgiving 1983 with a star-studded lineup that saw Ric Flair defeat Harley Race to win his second of 16 World Championships. Starrcade remained in Greensboro through 1986 and was the stage on which legendary performers like Dusty Rhodes, The Four Horsemen, Magnum TA, The Rock 'n' Roll Express and many more etched their names into sports-entertainment history.

As the calendar turned to the 1990s, a new generation of competitors emerged to take the Starrcade spotlight, like Sting, Vader and the nWo. The last edition of Starrcade under the WCW banner took place in December 2000.

Now, fans in Greensboro will get the opportunity to be a part of history, as Starrcade returns with an absolutely stacked card featuring two Steel Cage Matches. Matches announced* for the return of Starrcade include:

WWE Championship Steel Cage Match

Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Women's Championship Steel Cage Match

Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair

United States Championship Triple Threat Match

AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Rusev

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Texas Tornado Match

The New Day vs. The Usos

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler

The Hardy Boyz are also confirmed to appear at Starrcade in their home state of North Carolina, as are WWE Hall of Famers and Starrcade legends Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and The Rock 'n' Roll Express!

Tickets for Starrcade will be available starting Friday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. ET at Ticketmaster. Don't miss your chance to be a part of history as Starrcade returns!

*Talent and matches listed and depicted above are subject to change.

WWE Hall of Famer Bobby “The Brain” Heenan passes away

From WWE.com:

WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Bobby Heenan, regarded by many as the greatest manager in sports-entertainment history, has passed away at age 73. 

With a career spanning more than four decades, Bobby Heenan was the “The Brain” behind some of the most prolific Superstars in sports-entertainment history. Heenan plied his trade as their mischievous manager by running his mouth on their behalf with a sarcastic wit considered among the best in the business.

Heenan named competitors under his guidance as the Heenan Family, a moniker meant to show the strength of their alliance over any of their opposition. Members of the Heenan Family in the AWA and WWE read like the who’s who of sports entertainment, including legends and WWE Hall of Famers such as Nick Bockwinkel, the Blackjacks, Big John Studd, King Kong Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard), Harley Race, and of course, the first WWE Hall of Famer, Andre the Giant, whom Heenan led to the ring at WrestleMania III before 93,173 fans.

As impossible as it may seem, Heenan’s overwhelming success as a manager was matched by that of his announcing career. Heenan’s constant verbal jousts with fellow WWE Hall of Famers Gorilla Monsoon and “Mean” Gene Okerlund on USA Network remain among the most entertaining moments in sports-entertainment history. In fact, “The Brain” was so entertaining, that "The Bobby Heenan Show" had a brief run on USA Network as well.

In addition “The Brain” was part of the original broadcast team for Monday Night RAW in 1993, and also sat at the announcers’ table for both Raw and WCW Monday Nitro.

First Details On The 2017 WWE Tribute To The Troops Special

PWInsider.com is reporting WWE is currently planning to tape this year’s Tribute To The Troops special on Tuesday, December 5th in San Diego.

The Tribute To The Troops taping would be part of the WWE Smackdown Live TV tapings at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.

WWE Discovers Baron Corbin Is Involved In A Major NFL Concussion Lawsuit

We reported recently that Baron Corbin's sudden burial from Mr. Money In The Bank and subsequent removal from the WWE SmackDown Live main event picture was in part due to a recent incident backstage incident in which Corbin got into an argument with Dr. Maroon who was giving the talent a talk on the connection between CTE and concussions. 

We can now reveal via Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE learned in the last month that Corbin is involved in a rather high profile lawsuit against the NFL. For those unaware Corbin is a former National Football League (NFL) player who played offensive line for both the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals.  

The exchange between Corbin and the Dr. was said to be 'awkward’ and ‘uncomfortable’ with many in the room feeling Corbin should have aired his concerns away from everybody else in private.

In addition, Corbin has existing heat on him for the way he was conducting himself on twitter in regardings to fans and fellow professional wrestlers, including an army veteran who he later apologized to. 

Kairi Sane To Challenge For NXT Women’s Championship At NXT TakeOver: Houston

WWE.com posted the following announcement, confirming an ESPN.com report that Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane will challenge for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Takeover: Houston in November on Survivor Series weekend:

Kairi Sane made history by winning the inaugural Mae Young Classic in a dramatic Final showdown against Shayna Baszler, but that was just the beginning of her epic Tuesday night. As first broken by ESPN, the Mae Young Classic winner will challenge for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Houston.

WWE COO Triple H made the bombshell to ESPN just minutes after Sane stood tall in WWE’s historic 32-woman tournament. The news follows a whirlwind few weeks for the NXT Women’s Title that saw Asuka relinquish the coveted championship to pursue a new opportunity on Raw. The Empress of Tomorrow had held the title for a record 523 days, but now a new titleholder will be crowned on Saturday, Nov. 18.

With Sane slated to challenge for the title at TakeOver: Houston, the question remains who will The Pirate Princess be facing for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship?

WWE Crowns Winner Of The Inaugural Mae Young Classic

Kairi Sane is the winner of the inaugural Mae Young Classic after defeating Shayna Baszler in a thrilling finals match live on WWE Network.

Sane won a back and forth match with a double stomp and her trademark diving elbow drop moments after she avoided defeat by escaping a rear naked choke hold. Both competitors congratulated each other after the match, and Sane was presented a bouquet of roses and the trophy by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.

Mae Young Classic Drawing Strong Viewership On WWE Network

The Mae Young Classic has reportedly been a huge success for the WWE Network.  The 32 competitor tournament exclusively for women from both NXT and the independent circuit is set to conclude next week with finals being held in Las Vegas.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports the eight most watched WWE Network shows this week were episodes of the Mae Young Classic which overshadowed WWE 205 Live viewing figures. WWE took the decision to release multiple episodes rather than one a week and that might have helped with viewership and might be a good formula for the company going forward with tournaments.

GFW Announces Global Wrestling Network, Extension of Pop TV/Impact Deal

GFW has announced several new global and digital expansions, including an extension of their deal with Pop TV and the Global Wrestling Network. The company made the announcement today that they will be extending their deal with Pop to air Impact in the United States in the Thursday night 8 PM ET timeslot, along with plans to launch their multi-platform digital service.

The announcement listed the new initiatives as follows:

* Plans to launch the Global Wrestling Network, a multi-platform digital service designed to give fans around the world instant 24-hour access to the extensive GFW and IMPACT libraries.

* Plans to launch the IMPACT Wrestling Channel on Pluto TV, a 24-hour live feed of content on the leading free over-the-top (OTT) television service in the U.S.

* Extension with Pop TV in the U.S. to continue airing its flagship weekly show IMPACT on Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET.

* Distribution deal with 7Sports, the sport business unit of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, to bring IMPACT back to screens in Germany, Austria and Switzerland via ran FIGHTING.

“These digital initiatives and broadcast agreements are a significant step forward for the Global Force Wrestling organization as we continue to expand the brand globally, making it available on more platforms and in more countries,” said GFW president Ed Nordholm. “Anthem is committed to broadening Global Force Wrestling’s footprint, as we work alongside international broadcast partners, digital platforms and professional wrestling promotions to bring our passionate fans a high-quality product that not only stands out in today’s media landscape, but continues to thrive into the future.”

Triple H, William Regal, Court Bauer And More Explore The UK Scene On “The World According To Wrestling”

The World According To Wrestling podcast is back with a second episode this week and explores the current situation in the British wrestling scene, ITV’s revamp of World Of Sport, WWE’s UK plans and how the UK indie scene feels about it. The loaded line-up of episode guests includes Triple H, Dave Meltzer, Andy Quildan, Klondyke Kate, Fred Dinenage, William Regal, Robbie Brookside, Finn Balor, Neville, Ryan Satin and Court Bauer.

The episode is available to download from today on iTunes and all other podcast platforms. You can read a few excerpts as well as listen to the show below:  

Paul Levesque, WWE’s Executive Vice President and 14-time World Champion Triple H, on launching in the UK at a similar time to World of Sport: 

“Did it change our timing a little bit because of when they positioned their show? Yeah, but we are talking by maybe months or something not speeding up the process in terms of getting it done. We’ve been working on this for a long time. Any other show aside, if they are successful I’m happy for them. And, at the end of the day, it all helps the industry so we just do what we do. And I think we do it better than anyone else on the planet.”

Former WWE writer and MLW’s Court Bauer, said: 

“UK really was an amazing region for pro wrestling and then there was a scorched earth effect for many years and it’s revived itself in more modern times. When you have something as big as WWE hovering over you like a death star, you know, this could go two different ways. Fans might win, but also that might just be a short term position if you look at the large term something like ITV doing World Of Sport truly could really help sustain and stabilise this regeneration of pro-wrestling. So that’s my concern.”

Andy Quildan, founder of Revolution Pro Wrestling in the UK said, on ITV and WWE moving in on the British scene:

“Worrying about what everyone else is doing and trying to get into pretend wrestling wars with people is just ridiculous. The fact of the matter is if WWE want to come over and takeover UK wrestling, they’re going to do it. It is what it is. Let’s continue to do what we do in the highest level possible.

“I can see people’s mentality with ‘they’re trying to take over British wrestling’ and my argument is if you look at for example theatre, look at the West End. How many different theatrical productions are going on in the West End every single night. All at the same time. All competing with one another… I’m not phased by it. It’s a very interesting time and certainly a lot of stuff’s changing but at the same time it’s nice for British wrestling not to be an afterthought for once."

The Young Bucks Receive A "Cease And Desist" From WWE

The Suck It "crotch chop" made famous by D-Generation X in the late 90s during the Attitude Era may be one of the most iconic and memorable taunts ever created in professional wrestling and it's often imitated across the industry, none more so than in independent promotions who attempt to tow the line when it comes to intellectual property.

Today, top indy tag team The Young Bucks revealed on Twitter that their use of the crouch chop would no longer be permitted by WWE after they received a cease & desist notice from the company which they discuss on episode 68 of The Elite.

The Young Bucks haven't stayed silent on the matter posting a humorous tweet in which they claim WWE has taken away everything including Christmas, in reference to WWE's decision to air Raw live on Christmas night.