Just hours before he was set to wrestle for All Japan Pro Wrestling, it was announced that Flair would be unable to compete due to medical concerns. During Flair’s pre-match physical, doctors found “suspicion of deep vein thrombosis of the left foot.” There was concern that the blockage could have spread to his heart or brain if he competed and All Japan made the decision to pull him from the show.
Flair was replaced by his son Reid, who was already scheduled to wrestle on the show. Reid and Keiji Mutoh (Great Muta) lost to Tatsumi Fujinami and Seiya Sanada after Sanada hit his This Is It finisher on Flair. Ric Flair was ringside for the match and did get physical at one point, hitting Sanada with his signature chop to the chest.
A lot of fans at the arena were said to be upset over Flair not wrestling as advertised and were asking for refunds.
Here are pictures of Ric Flair watching his son Reid wrestling in his place for AJPW:
