Eldridge Wayne Coleman, a professional wrestler better known to millions as WWE legend “Superstar” Billy Graham, died Wednesday of undisclosed causes. He was 79, and had reportedly been battling a number of health issues.
The news was made public by fellow pro-wrestling legend Ric Flair, and confirmed by Dave Meltzer, a reporter for the Wrestling Observer, later confirmed the news.
The Superstar Billy Graham Just Left Us,” Flair wrote. “THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR INFLUENCE On My Career!”
Graham’s wife Valerie wrote on Facebook earlier this week her husband had been in the ICU for three weeks due to various health issues. Graham’s wife included a GoFundMe link in the post.
“Please urgent prayers needed for my husband,” Valerie wrote on her husband’s page. “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.”
Graham first came to prominence when he became the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977. Graham was known for his affiliation and friendship with fellow bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as his mentorship of future wrestling legends like Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner, Jesse Ventura.
As the news became public, Graham’s peers in wrestling took to social media to pay tribute.
“ONE OF MY FIRST TEACHERS OF THE HEAT,” wrote Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, better known as The Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan’s rival throughout the 1980s. “THE REAL LEGEND BUBBA. HE LOVE ME I LOVE HIM. TOGETHER WE HIT THE GYM AND SHOCK THE EARTH. I LOVE YOU FOREVER BROTHER. RIP”
Sean Waltman, aka 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac, deemed Graham “the most copied man ever in Pro Wrestling.”
Prior to Graham’s death, Flair shared why the legend meant so much to him: