WWE Had Three RAW Versions Ready in Event of Ric Flair’s Passing in 2017

2-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair has accomplished a lot during his career, but he remains a highly controversial figure no matter what. It appears there were three different versions of RAW in the instance that Ric Flair passed away from his 2017 health scare.

As fans are aware, Ric Flair’s health has not always been the best. He has been in and out of hospital for a long time. Back in 2017, Flair suffered a totally ruptured intestine, total kidney failure, and became septic with his body trying to fight off infection. This would lead to respiratory heart failure and pneumonia.

Mike Mansury, AEW’s Executive Producer and Senior Production Executive, recently shared a story from his time at WWE while appearing on Talk Is Jericho. During his tenure at WWE, Mansury helped produce broadcasts for Monday Night Raw and recalled a particularly nerve-wracking moment involving wrestling legend Ric Flair’s health scare.

Mansury recounted that on the day in question, Flair’s family was providing the company with updates about his dire condition. As a result, WWE prepared three different versions of that night’s show in anticipation of possible developments regarding Flair’s health.

There’s so many to list (highlights from my time producing WWE Raw). I would say one of the more nerve-racking moments I had ever doing Raw and one that stands out like crazy to me is the night we all thought Ric Flair was gonna die. So Ric had-had a really bad health situation and I think they basically were ready to give him last rites and everything else in-between. So, we had-had three versions of the show prepared. We had the version that it was gonna be executed as it was written, a version that we would do if Ric, God forbid, passed before the show and then if he had passed during the show. 

We were getting updates through the family as the day was progressing and I remember just being like, ‘Holy sh*t.’ I felt the enormity of that sort of situation. Being in position where probably one of the most iconic names in the business is — 100 percent (we’d have to change the course of the show), and then all the elements that would kind of domino effect into that. That was a pretty nerve-racking time. I mean, also because of the relationship that I developed with Ric. It was pretty nerve-racking and you know, thank God he pulled through. He’s alive and better than ever now, all these years later but, that’s definitely one of the shows that just really, really sticks out in my brain like, woof.”

Ric Flair wrestled his final match at the event titled Ric Flair’s Last Match on July 31, 2022, where he did suffer a legitimate heart attack and is now part of AEW, as he is definitely healthy now. Regardless, fans will hope Flair stays well and that’s all that matters.

Are you shocked to hear this story about Ric Flair? Let us know in the comments section below!