Who was Billy Graham? WWE champion dies at 79

In unfortunate news from the wrestling world, legendary wrestler "Superstar" Billy Graham died at the age of 79 on Wednesday. The former pro wrestler was hospitalized for a long due to ill health. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital, and was on life support, before he succumbed, leaving behind his wrestling legacy.

Graham was battling poor health for a long time. Although his passing away was confirmed on Wednesday, the cause of his death has not yet been revealed. He died a few weeks before what could have been his 80th birthday on June 7. Meanwhile, Valerie, his wife, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday morning that she refused to put him off life support.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, the late wrestler's real name was Eldridge Wayne Coleman. While his mother claimed Cherokee ancestry, his father belonged to Mississippi. He was attracted to wrestling from a very early age in life when he was barely in the fifth grade. As a teenager, he saw Steve Reeves and John Grimek as his bodybuilding idols.

Since a very young age, Coleman was attracted to various kinds of sports. In his high school days, he became a shot put champion only to later participate in a professional boxing championship. Later, he tried his hands at football and played a couple of games in the Canadian Football League. He also used to work as a bouncer in nightclubs.

It was in the late 1960s when Coleman joined pro wrestling. He thrice won the world champion professional wrestler tag including the one in 1977-78. In 2004, he was inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame. Renowned wrestlers such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, "The Body" Ventura, and Scott Steiner are some of the many names who were influenced by him.