'Superstar' Billy Graham Hospitalized for Internal Bleeding
Retired professional wrestler "Superstar" Billy Graham was admitted to a hospital earlier this week for internal bleeding but is now in stable condition, according to family.
The 73-year-old former World Wrestling Entertainment champion was admitted to the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday evening, receiving surgery on Wednesday that stopped the bleeding.
"GNW has been informed through his wife, Valerie, that former WWE Champion and WWE Hall of Famer" Superstar Billy Graham has been admitted to the Mayo Clinic due to some serious medical symptoms," said Great North Wrestling, as reported by Wrestlinginc.com on Tuesday.
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Later on, station KPNX channel 12, which focuses on news in the Phoenix area where Graham resides, provided an update Wednesday evening courtesy of a family member.
"Graham's son, Joseph Miluso, told [Pro Wrestling Sheet] that the bleeding was under control after the surgery but it was unclear how long Graham's hospital stay would be," noted KPNX.
Born Eldridge Wayne Coleman of Paradise Valley, Arizona, he took the stage name "Superstar" Billy Graham in tribute to the famed Christian evangelist.
Graham's pro-wrestling career occurred mostly during the 1970s. He won the World Wrestling Federation's World Heavyweight title from long reigning champion Bruno Sammartino in 1977.
However, the harmful effects from extensive steroid use resulted in his wrestling career being effectively over by the early 1980s.
Due to a lost legal battle in a British court against the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF eventually changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002.
Although eventually admitted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Graham has been a critic of the product, including when the organization adopted more graphic violence and sexual content during the "Attitude Era" of the late 1990s to early 2000s.
In recent years Graham has experienced a series of severe health issues. For example, in October 2014 Graham was hospitalized due to a liver complication.
"Superstar here back home from a liver complication 2 day stay at the Mayo Hospital. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers," wrote Graham on Facebook in 2014 when he was released from the hospital.
In March, Graham had to back out of a Wrestlemania autograph signing event due to needing to undergo emergency hip replacement surgery.
"The reason this is a potential life or death surgery that I must have is because I am a diabetic. I have high blood sugar and am taking medication to control it but my numbers are still way to high," explained Graham back in March on his Facebook page.
"I am on crutches and the doctor will not let me travel. So I am obviously going to miss this year's Wrestlemania. I am very sorry about this of course, especially because of the fan axxess event and all of my fans who will not get the chance to meet me now."
