Ric Flair 30 for 30

[Makaveli31]

I watched the Ric Flair 30 for 30 episode on ESPN and thought it was not only one of the best 30 for 30's but one of the best wrestling documentaries ever produced. It stripped the layers from "Ric Flair" the wrestler and gave us a look at Richard Fliehr the man. The personal and professional highs and the personal and professional devastation. It was all laid bare for the world to see.

It was great to see Flair get his due as one of the pioneers of modern "sports entertainment". His "Nature Boy" personal copied by many sports entertainers and pro athletes to this day. Hogan says he was the best. Flair's vice wasn't pills or steroid abuse....it was booze and women and lots of it. It was amazing to get a peek in the the stylin and profilin, limo-riding, jet-flying, kiss stealing son of a gun wild lifestyle Flair led in the '80's and the price he paid. It was truly eye-opening.

Did anyone else see it?

 

[kenvin100]

It was a great documentary as it pulled no punches. Flair as seen in the documentary had one of the biggest egos in the business. (not a bad thing, just stating the obvious) He is one of the greatest if not the best wrestler in the ring. His successes and pitfalls demonstrate the price of being the Nature Boy. If anything, I wish ESPN interviewed more people from the NWA/WCW days. I would've thought Vince or Eric Bischoff would have time for an interview though.

I thought the graphics ESPN had was hilarious. Like the graphic with JR and Flair at the bar or Undertaker sharing drinks with Flair in the back of a limo LMAO.

I know a lot of people credit "The Wrestler" that demonstrates pro wrestling life-but there should be a biopic on Ric Flair. Not only will it generate a ton of revenue, I think many fans would like to see it with the right actors, movie producers, with the right mind behind the camera to shoot the movie.

 

[LODemolition]

I was looking forward to this for a long time up until last night and it absolutely delivered. I really felt for him and Charlotte during the part about Reid's death. I don't know how he made it through that not to mention all the damage he did to himself with alcohol over the years. Michaels was brutally honest in his interview, saying Flair doesn't even really know himself because he's lived as his character his entire life. Easily one of the top five 30 for 30 documentaries they've aired on ESPN, which are nearly always fantastic.

 

[Lowdown]

While I enjoyed it, I felt that it was lagging in some respects. It would've been nice if Dusty had been around to add to the finished product. But in truth, they could only fit so much of the content into an hour and a half documentary. If anything, for a 40+ year career they could've split this into at least two parts. Hell, his peak periods during the 80's could've been one episode alone. Still, it was well executed by ESPN.

 

[louchratis]

To me, the Flair 30 for 30 reinforced that the only success he's ever had has been in a scripted world. In the real world, Richard Fliehr is basically an abject failure. Alcoholic? Check. Deadbeat father? Check. Broke and horrible with money? Check. It also left me with a few questions:

1) Was the Hogan interview conducted immediately after the Gawker verdict or something? He seemed so........human. I'd love to know how heavily edited his stuff was.

2) Why was, of all people, Shawn Michaels criticizing Ric Flair for living a life of excess? Hypocrisy humors me more than most things and that stuff had me laughing.

3) What's Charlotte thinking? She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and seems to realize that she grew up in a by dysfunctional family. Yet, she's only 31 but has already been divorced twice. Not surprisingly, both marriages were to wrestlers, one of whom beat her, and she's working in the same profession that contributed to her brother's death.

4) Is no one else talking about the fact that HHH allowed someone who pissed dirty to be re-tested and told him in advance that he'd be tested again? That seems a tad bit unprofessional for an executive who way too often clearly gets caught up in being a fan.

5) Why did that documentary try to paint Flair as an outlier in terms of a wrestler from the 80s and 90s who struggled with substance abuse, alcoholism, and horrible parenting? Anyone who pays a small amount of attention to what happened to many of those guys knows Flair was a lot closer to the norm, though most don't have the 9 lives he clearly has.

 

[Makaveli31]

4) Is no one else talking about the fact that HHH allowed someone who pissed dirty to be re-tested and told him in advance that he'd be tested again? That seems a tad bit unprofessional for an executive who way too often clearly gets caught up in being a fan.

I too was stunned by this admission. Not only unprofessional but it also opens the door to possible legal ramifications. Anyone fired or suspended due to a Wellness Policy violation can point to this interview as proof the tests were rigged to favor certain individuals. The question is how many other individuals received this preferential treatment and how many were covered up?

5) Why did that documentary try to paint Flair as an outlier in terms of a wrestler from the 80s and 90s who struggled with substance abuse, alcoholism, and horrible parenting? Anyone who pays a small amount of attention to what happened to many of those guys knows Flair was a lot closer to the norm, though most don't have the 9 lives he clearly has.

I don't think they painted Flair as some outlier he was just the biggest name.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

To me, the Flair 30 for 30 reinforced that the only success he's ever had has been in a scripted world. In the real world, Richard Fliehr is basically an abject failure. Alcoholic? Check. Deadbeat father? Check. Broke and horrible with money? Check. It also left me with a few questions:

1) Was the Hogan interview conducted immediately after the Gawker verdict or something? He seemed so........human. I'd love to know how heavily edited his stuff was.

Hogan is a giant man child but he has the ability to turn the "sincerity" up a level. Like Flair, Hogan is constantly working the marks.

2) Why was, of all people, Shawn Michaels criticizing Ric Flair for living a life of excess? Hypocrisy humors me more than most things and that stuff had me laughing.

Huh? Michaels is supercritical of his own excesses. Being critical of Flair doesn't make him a hypocrite. If anything ESPN found the guy who is one of the best subject matter experts on Flair's demons that they could possibly find (still living that is).

3) What's Charlotte thinking? She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and seems to realize that she grew up in a by dysfunctional family. Yet, she's only 31 but has already been divorced twice. Not surprisingly, both marriages were to wrestlers, one of whom beat her, and she's working in the same profession that contributed to her brother's death.

I don't get this comment. She grew up in a dysfunctional family like you said. That makes her more prone to mistakes. As for her reasons for getting in to the business, she explained that she wanted to fulfill Reid's dream in some terribly shitty and uncomfortable promos years ago.

4) Is no one else talking about the fact that HHH allowed someone who pissed dirty to be re-tested and told him in advance that he'd be tested again? That seems a tad bit unprofessional for an executive who way too often clearly gets caught up in being a fan.

It had nothing to do with letting Reid slip through and everything to do with trying to wake Ric up to the fact that his kid had a severe problem.

5) Why did that documentary try to paint Flair as an outlier in terms of a wrestler from the 80s and 90s who struggled with substance abuse, alcoholism, and horrible parenting? Anyone who pays a small amount of attention to what happened to many of those guys knows Flair was a lot closer to the norm, though most don't have the 9 lives he clearly has.

Huh? The documentary was about Flair, not the wrestling industry. And like you said, he has had 9 lives, in that way he is an outlier.

Anyway, that was a great program. I wanted another hour and a half. I'm sure they could do ten hours and I would be entertained. Flair is a real legend, not just some guy who signed a contract after retirement with that corny label.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I saw it and while it was very good, I didn't learn much that I didn't know already about Ric Flair or Richard Flehr. Only things I learned were exactly how much he drank and that after he quit, Verne Gagne found him in a bar, punched him in the face, and said "you aren't quitting on me". I could see them doing a 30 for 30 on Hogan one day.