Billy Graham, WWE Hall of Famer and Pro Wrestler, Dead at 79

The death of the former pro wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer was announced by fellow sports entertainer Ric Flair on Twitter

The wrestling world is mourning the death of Billy Graham, who died on Wednesday at 79 after a series of health issues.

Graham's death was first announced by fellow pro wrestler Ric Flair, who wrote on Twitter, "The Superstar Billy Graham Just Left Us THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR INFLUENCE On My Career!"

According to a statement shared on Graham's Facebook account from his wife Valerie on Monday, Graham had been hospitalized and was on life support.

"Please urgent prayers needed for my husband. 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," the statement reads.

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According to a GoFundMe campaign attached with the post, Graham was facing "very serious health issues" that included "a major infection in his ears and skull that may take six months of intravenous IVs, congestive heart failure, diabetes, hearing loss as a result of the infection."

"Due to ongoing issues from his lack of appetite he has now lost 80 pounds and subsequently continues to struggle with extreme weakness," the campaign shared in an update on April 26.

Graham's time in wrestling dates back to the 1970s.

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Prior to joining the WWE, he wrestled under his legal name, Eldridge Wayne Coleman, before changing his stage name to Billy Graham when he made his National Wrestling Alliance debut in 1970, per Comic Book Resources. According to the news site, Graham worked for the American Wrestling Association from 1972 to 1975 before heading to the WWWF in 1975.

While he would briefly leave the company in 1976, he returned and won the WWWF world championship from Bruno Sammartino and held it from April 1977 to February 1978, explains Sports Illustrated. According to Graham's biography on WWE's website, his time with the company also included stints as a manager, and broadcaster, before his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the WWE said, "Graham's flashy fashion style, over-the-top interviews and bodybuilder physique created the archetype for a generation of Superstars that followed in his footsteps."

"Graham began emulating boxing icon Muhammad Ali in his interviews, coining the iconic line, 'I'm the man of the hour, the man with the power, too sweet to be sour,'" the WWE said, adding that, "Graham spouted that kind of poetic prose weekly on television, using his gift of gab to make himself a box-office attraction who would sell out every arena he main-evented."

Many paid tribute to Graham on Wednesday, including Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, known as The Iron Sheik, who remembered him as "one of my very first teachers of the heat."

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"The real legend Bubba," the post states. "He love me I love him. Together we hit the gym and shock the earth. I like you forever brother. RIP"

WWE wrestler Sean Waltman shared his tribute on Twitter alongside a throwback photo of Graham: "This is the version of Superstar Billy Graham I got to see in FL. He would come out to Kung Fu Fighting & I loved it! RIP to the most copied man ever in Pro Wrestling."

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