“Superstar” Billy Graham, WWE Hall of Famer and Former World Champion, Dies at 79

Eldrige Wayne Coleman, better known as Superstar Billy Graham, passed away at the age of 79 on Wednesday, May 17th. News broke after Ric Flair posted on Twitter announcing Graham’s passing. The news broke while AEW Dynamite’s live broadcast was airing and the commentary confirmed Flair’s report. This tragic news follows word from the morning of May 15th when Billy’s wife, Valerie, revealed that he had been placed on life support after undergoing surgery recently. The doctors suggested he be removed from the life support, though she initially declined. 

“The Superstar Billy Graham Just Left Us,” Flair wrote on social media. “THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR INFLUENCE On My Career!”

With a background in bodybuilding, Graham trained under Stu Hart and made his pro wrestling debut in 1970 for the Stampede Wrestling promotion. He’d make his way to the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1972 and first arrived in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now the WWE) three years later. After a stint with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), he’d return to the WWWF in 1977 and defeated Bruno Sammartino to end “The Living Legend’s” second and final run as the WWWF’s top champion. He’d drop the title less than a full year later to Bob Backlund and would go on to have numerous stints in the AWA, NWA and WWF. His final match was on Nov. 7, 1987 when he lost to Butch Reed at a WWF life event in St. Louis and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. 

Graham’s bombastic presentation and snappy promos served as an inspiration for generations of professional wrestlers, including generational pillars of the industry like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Triple H and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. 

This story is developing and will be updated with more information.