If you were to walk down the street and ask someone to name a wrestler some would say John Cena, Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, however the most common answer would be Ric Flair. A career spanning over 50 years, 16 World Heavyweight Championship reigns, two iconic factions, multiple legendary matches, flashy robes, Rolex Watches, lots of alcohol, and more importantly a lot of WOOO’S. For over 50 years Flair has stayed in the spotlight whether it was through wrestling, the pop culture world, or his health scare in 2017. Peacock presented WOOOOOO! Becoming Ric Flair to celebrate 50 years of the Nature Boy himself.
The two hour documentary goes through Flair’s whole life from start to finish, starting with him being an adopted only child in Tennessee and ending with many of his peers and celebrity icons such as Post Malone and Mike Tyson talking about the legacy that Flair has left on the wrestling business.
Throughout the documentary the producers go in depth about a lot of topics surrounding Flair’s legendary career including: the plane ride that almost ended his career (and life), being struck by lightning, how living his gimmick lead him to not be a family man, his son Reid’s death, his first time in WWE, his return to WCW, his confidence issues when he made his return to WWE, and his first of many retirement matches.
The main reason why this documentary is so different from the 30 for 30 ESPN did on Flair in 2017 is because they keep asking the same question — who is Richard Fliehr the man behind “The Nature Boy.” Throughout many of the interviews in the film, wrestlers could not distinguish the two because Flair lived his gimmick. Since Flair was so dedicated to the business and he truly loved what he did; Richard Fliehr slowly morphed into the limousine riding and jet flying superstar that his character Ric Flair was.
The documentary ends with Flair talking about how he is one of the luckiest people alive not only because of his success but also because of how he has escaped death three separate times and how he is lucky to still be alive today and not only be an iconic figure in the wrestling world, but also a pop culture icon as well.
WOOOOOO! Becoming Ric Flair does a great job not only explaining “The Nature Boy’s” success in wrestling but the greater world of mainstream pop culture as well. You do not have to be a wrestling fan to be entertained by this documentary. Flair’s story is interesting because he truly went from a college dropout to one of the most successful wrestlers to ever live. Although sad at times this is a much watch for anyone a fan of the one and only Nature Boy himself.
