There’s one sentiment that will always be the same and that’s that ESPN’s 30 for 30 has nailed it again. Ric Flair’s Nature Boy documentary premieres tonight on ESPN and we had the pleasure of reviewing it.
Many of you have been waiting for Nature Boy to drop and when Ric Flair had his death scare, I was beginning to think that they might have to go back and edit it. But luckily, Ric Flair made it out of that back in August of this year. He holds a spot in all wrestling fan’s hearts out there. Wrestling fans might be shocked to not see much wrestling in it per se but this film definitely explores how Richard Fliehr turned into Ric Flair.
Nature Boy will seriously make you wonder, “How in the world did Ric Flair manage to make it this far in life?” Without giving too much away, its even a question that he ponders about. This documentary even takes us to his chubby wrestling days in which he was ready to quit.
In fact, he quit but his coach, Coach Verne Gagne, got word of his quitting and immediately went to him. When he saw him, he punched Ric in the face because he refused to let him quit. I think we all need a Verne Gagne in our lives to punch us in the face if we try to quit.
Back to the question we posed-how did Ric Flair manage to live this long? Perhaps someone up there really loved him but then again, the way he drank makes me wonder how he doesn’t have any liver issues. He was drinking 10 beers and 5 vodka mixed drinks a day. My liver hurts already just from typing that sentence. The years of alcohol abuse are unpalatable.
Something worth mentioning is some animation in the film. Director Rory Karpf incorporated some of the crazy stories and trainings that Ric had to endure to illustrate them. You’ll find yourself laughing at them because they really embodied the story as well as captured the moment.
I think the film is very personal and that’s something that 30 for 30 has extreme talent for. We meet his kids and you can tell that his fast paced life took a toll on his relationships with them. You can also sense that there’s a lot of resentment. But, since his son Reid Flair passed, it’s been a major turn around. Again, without spoiling it, the mentioning of his son is a moment in the film which will make you pause and think.
One thing that is missing is the whereabouts of his parents. But then again, it was probably pretty clear since they didn’t approve of his lifestyle choices so why bother including them further in the film?
You’ll see some familiar faces in the film and then, you’ll learn how Charlotte Flair became to be.
We hope all you stylin’, profilin’, limousine ridin, jet flyin, kiss-stealin, wheelin’ n’ dealin’ sons of a guns tune in on ESPN at 10 pm EST. You’re boss will understand why you were up late.