Ric Flair injury in Sting match worse than originally thought, torn triceps will require surgery

The sad ongoing tale of Ric Flair wrestling in high profile main event matches on free TV just gets worse.

"The Nature Boy" recently had a match with Sting that aired this past Thursday night (Sept. 15) and, needless to say, it was about as good as one might expect from two men with a combined age of 114. However, despite their advanced years, Flair did multiple spots off the top rope, including a superplex that resulted in a broken bursa sac in his left elbow.

Or at least that's what we thought.

It turns out, Flair injured himself worse than originally reported. He actually has a torn left triceps that will require surgery, which he will undergo next week. This just a short while after his recovery from a torn rotator cuff.

The Post and Courier talked to Flair, who noted that his arm "blew up to about twice the size of the other arm" after throwing the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game on Tuesday. He also said the following:

"I thought it was getting better but the swelling just wouldn't go away. I've never torn anything in my life except my rotator cuff. I just landed on it wrong. And that just comes from not working enough. But it's no big deal. It could have been a thousand other worse things."

Flair's contention that he tore his triceps simply because he hasn't been working enough matches is particularly troubling. While that surely plays a part in the equation, the larger problem is that he's a 62-year-old man that has no business wrestling anymore. Miraculously, he avoided most major injuries throughout his storied career but nothing lasts forever and it's no surprise that his body is finally breaking down on him.

It was only a matter of time. It catches up to us all.

Unfortunately, there's little faith in TNA management to make an executive decision to put him in a less physical, more managerial role to help get him out of actively wrestling. Of course, there's no guarantee he wouldn't simply cut bait and find someone else to pay him to get back inside the squared circle. After all, the reason he's still working this late into his career is because of his well documented financial issues. For a man that's made millions throughout his many years in the business, Flair essentially lives paycheck to paycheck now. And if he has to completely batter and break his body to keep the cash rolling in, well, that's exactly what he'll do.

Sad as that may be.