411’s Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair Report

-It’s the day after Christmas and Peacock has gifted us an original documentary about Ric Flair. We had one a few years again from the folks at ESPN 30 for 30 and you can find my recap of that here. It will be interesting to see what this can add to that documentary. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 1:51:42
-Rated: TV-MA
-Interviewer/Narrator: Tom Rinaldi

-Note: I was given the option of watching 170 seconds of commercials before the documentary so I wouldn’t have any breaks during the documentary. They need to do that more often!

-Ric is asked who is Richard Fliehr? “I don’t know, he is the luckiest man in the world that got to become Ric Flair, for better or worse.” He is then asked who is Ric Flair, and he laughs, “the wildest son of bitch who ever lived.”

-We get aerial shots of a limo pulling up to a mansion and Flair is in his butterfly robe looking at his career highlights. Some of the talking heads in the opening: Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Mike Tyson, Shawn Michaels, Stephen A Smith, Post Malone, Booker T, DDP, Charlotte Flair, and Bruce Prichard among others.

-We get a montage of people from sports, entertainment, and just people off the street doing Ric Flair impressions. Many know that Ric Flair, but this is the story of the man behind the cameras. A man caught between a character and reality.

-We start with Poplar Ave in Memphis, TN as in 1949 an orphanage stood there and that’s where life began for Ric Flair. Ric tells us his given name at birth was Fred Phillips. He mentions he just found that out three years ago. He believes his birth mom and dad were a nurse and architect. His birth mom is Olive and his birth dad, Luther. He found out through social media (that reached out to Wendy) that he has a brother. Wendy (Ric’s wife) tells us a man reached out and he had the same mother as Ric. He didn’t want anything, but he just wanted to reach out. Ric opted not to meet him as he is 73 and isn’t curious about the past. He has seen himself as an only child and doesn’t want to change that.

-We get footage from Mike Wallace from an episode of 60 Minutes about a story on Black Market Babies. Apparently the orphanage Flair was in, was one of these places that illegally sold babies that were stolen from their mothers. Good Lord! Ric says he was put up for adoption and stolen from the orphanage. He notes he could not have been adopted by two finer people (Kathleen Fliehr and Richard Fliehr). He doesn’t think they knew it was illegal as his parents were honest and straight. They wanted to tell Ric more about his past, but he wanted nothing to do with it as he was happy. His dad was a medical doctor with a PHD in theater and English. His mom also had a Masters in theater and English. They were cultured and very smart. He laughs as he only knows where his genes came from. He mentions he would daydream a lot and now it’s called ADD.

-Ric admits he started drinking regularly when he was 15 years old with a fake ID that stated he was eighteen. He was playing strip poker and messing around with girls at a young age. Ric: “I was wild as a kid.” His parents put him in a private school (Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, WI) and we see some aerial shots of the school. The people in the school came from wealthy backgrounds: Blackhawk owner, Campbell Soup, and the like. That was the life Ric wanted and he got into football.

-He was able to get to The University of Minnesota to play football. He was there to party though and flunked out of school in his first year. His parents weren’t shocked. Ric sold life insurance and never got his license but made $40,000 because he knew so many people.

-In 1971 Ric married his first wife, Leslie. Ric calls her a wonderful lady and they get along to this day. The next year they had a daughter, Megan.

-Ric was working as a bouncer in a bar in the Minneapolis Area. A guy walks in and orders a double vodka and Ric realizes it’s Ken Patera. Ken was an Olympian and Ric started talking to him. They became friends and started living together. Ken was training to be a wrestler with Verne Gagne.

-We get a brief history lesson on Verne and the AWA. Every year Verne would put a class together to train wrestlers. Ric decided to give it a try and it was an insane two months. Verne (from 2006) says he started guys out with simple knee bends and they would start dropping by the time they hit 50 of them. Ric notes he was 300 pounds and he was asked to 500 free squats, 200 crunches and sit-ups and run 2 miles. They had to do all this in 30 degree weather.

-The name Ric Flair came from Verne as he thought Ric was crazy trying to be Rambling Ricky Rhodes. Verne didn’t like that Ric was obsessed with Dusty Rhodes. He told him he had a “cool fucking name already with Ric Fliehr,” and it just needed modified. The man has a point. Ric Flair is a great wrestling name.

-Ric had his first match at the Minneapolis Auditorium in a 10 minute draw. It was the longest 10 minutes of his life and admits he was excited, but had no idea what he was doing. He was paid $50 for the match and spent it coming home. He mentions he has driven a thousand miles for little money and then had to head out to Des Moines. Winnipeg was always sold out but other places were low. He lived off Leslie as she was a dental hygienist. When he wasn’t booked he would drive Dusty and Andre The Giant. Andre once told Ric to get him wine or there would be no match. He was there the night Andre drank 106 beers.

-We are up to 1974 and Ric is heading to The Carolinas. He went down in April 74 with $400 in his pocket and he left Leslie $200. He met a guy in a bar who asked Ric if he wanted to fly to the next show instead of drive. He would charge $100 a person if Ric could get five people. Ric did the math and that made sense as it would them money and time. He was able to get Tim Woods, Johnny Valentine, David Crockett, and Bob Bruggers to join. It was a small plane with jacked up wrestlers and to compensate for the weight, some of the fuel was dumped.

-They were flying to Wilmington and got to the point of no return. They were 1400 lbs over weight and that is why he dumped fuel. They were 6000 feet in the air and the right engine dies instantly. Ric saw the pilot pull for the reserve fuel as he forgot he dumped it. The left engine went dead and the pilot started freaking out. Valentine started slapping the pilot to get him to focus.

-They were going so fast they mowed down a tree orchard and may have landed safely, but caught some electric lines. They landed in a railroad embankment about 300 yards away from a runway. We see newspaper clippings and Ric remembers being put in a military ambulance. The pilot ended up in a coma that lasted for a year. Valentine was paralyzed from the waist down and Flair had a broken back in 3 places plus a torn stomach. He notes it made him 2 inches shorter. He was told he would never wrestle again and all he could think was, “I’m screwed and what am I going to do?” All he could do for rehab was lay on his stomach and arch up.

-Ric had been wrestling for three years by then and his career was in question, but he worked hard and was back in the ring within six months. The Ric Flair we all know came in steps as he was a brown hair, chunky guy when he was training. Superstar Billy Graham’s wife dyed, Flair’s hair blonde. Someone told Ric that he reminded him of Nature Boy Buddy Rogers. Flair says Buddy was the first Nature Boy and thought he was cool. He admits to getting the clothing game from Buddy and Joe Namath.

-The new Ric Flair came from the ashes of the plane crash. Ric says every day the character got better and he felt great at 240 lbs. “The more extravagant I was, the more attention I got.” That’s basically the story for the rest of his life. His first robe cost $3000 and the last one was $20,000. He bought a limo and paid a guy $25 a day plus got him laid each night to be his driver. They talk about Woooo and it came from Jerry Lee Lewis and Great Balls of Fire.

-HHH says that every match Flair had was amazing and he was loud and could talk. In 1981 he wins the NWA Title for the first time and started defending it all over the country. Stephen A Smith says Flair had people magnetized just by looking at you through the camera. Tyson and Malone note nobody could talk shit like Flair. DDP “who didn’t he feud with.” We get video on Flair/Rhodes, Flair/Steamboat, Flair/Sting. In the early 1980s Flair became an attraction across the globe.

-Ric tells the story of the time he was struck by lightning. This was 1983 and he was working a program with Steamboat. Flair was carrying his robe and briefcase in one hand while holding an umbrella. He felt something and his umbrella shot fifty feet in the air and everyone started screaming. The lightning hit his umbrella and bounced off and hit the guy behind him in the eye, killing him. DAMN! Even the producer notes that in Flair’s story getting struck by lightning is a marginal story.

-We get some classic Flair promos as he was living the life. “I’M HAVING A HARD TIME HOLDING THESE GATORS DOWN.” Shawn talks about the suits, ladies, cars and it was captivating. Flair oozed charisma and fun. Flair notes every time he heard no, he proved yes.

-His parents didn’t see the importance of all the extravagance. He doesn’t know if his parents ever got it. Flair says he had over 200 pairs of alligator skin shoes and it may be hard to believe, but he never wanted to to wear the same thing twice on TV. He would buy 4 suits a week and that went on for 36 years. Rinaldi asks why it is necessary and Flair says he wanted to set the bar so high nobody could get to it. He was able to afford it by not paying his taxes and admits that was irresponsible. No kidding! He jokes when a flight attendant asks how to spell his last name, he says, “F-A-M-O-U-S.”

-1985: The 4 Horsemen! Ric was associating with Arn and Ole Anderson and they pulled in Tully Blanchard. Ric says Arn came up with The 4 Horsemen name during a promo and held up 4 fingers. The next week fans started showing up in suits and they were off and running as a group.

-Luger talks about how Flair would have a match, party all night and then go to the gym with him the next day. JJ Dillon says that Ric would walk into a bar and slap his credit card down, but it would be handed back because fans were paying for Ric’s drinks when he would mention he was coming out to the bar. DDP mentions he came from the night club business and nothing compared to what Ric was doing every night of the week. Barry Windham says he would carry a passed out Ric, naked or not, on a baggage cart to his room.

-Ric was living the rockstar lifestyle and was all about the women. “You don’t have to go to Disney World to find Space Mountain. It’s right here.” He was truthful when he told the women what hotel he was staying and when his wife questioned him, Ric told her it was to plug the place to get discounts. She questioned why he wasn’t wearing his ring and Ric told her it wasn’t his gimmick. He laughs about all this as he tells Rinadli. Ric admits he has a disease as he loves women. “To this day, I love them. Damn it! I don’t buy their love, but I know how to talk to them. Even at 73 I can be Slick Ric.”

-Ric says he has been married four times. Leslie told him, “I can’t live like this.” Ric had a son and daughter by the mid 80s and his personal life was collapsing. Life on the road was a fantasy and life at home was real, so he escaped when he could. Megan says it was her, David, and her mom. They never had the one on one time and it wasn’t by choice, but the wrestling business. Ric notes they grew up on their own without him. He missed basketball games and whatever else. Megan: “He spent more time being Ric Flair, then he did Ric Fliehr.” Ric says when he was there he was as good as a father as could be, but he wasn’t there enough. “I don’t want to be Richard Fliehr. Maybe when I’m dead.” Wendy says he is Ric Flair and always wants the world to know who he is.

-Ric says you can’t have a family and be a pro-wrestler. You can be married, but you are never home. Being World Champion made it even harder as he worked 365 days twice on Saturday and Sunday for 10 years. He was the traveling champion and we get a rundown of the territory days.

-Vince McMahon had the idea to promote the entire country and we get the WWF expansion that wiped out everyone other than JCP. That was sold to Turner and it became WCW. WWF was a family business while WCW was part of a larger corporation and had executives that had no wrestling background making decisions. Sting says that became frustrating for Ric as they went from a wrestling company with TV to a TV company with wrestling. Ric mentions Jim Herd didn’t know anything about the business and tried to change his character. They wanted to call him Spartacus and cut his hair. Nash says they were trying to re-invent the wheel and it was Ric Flair. It was causing Ric to have panic attacks and when he cut his hair it killed him. He lost his self confidence that day because “I gave in to a fucking idiot.”

-Ric wanted to leave and there was only one place to go. Vince didn’t believe Ric was actually going to jump this time and Flair told him he had the belt. Vince told him to send it and he would believe him. Ric sent the belt overnight and he made the jump.

-Bobby Heenan brings out Ric Flair on an episode of Prime Time Wrestling. Keith Elliot Greenberg (Ric’s biographer) remembers filling chills when Ric made his WWF debut. He was the symbol of everything that was supposed to be the counter to WWF was now part of WWF. Ric says he had no guarantees from Vince and was told everyone knew who he was and didn’t have to impress anyone.

-Ric was now a father of four and had what he considers the greatest moment of his life. The 1992 Royal Rumble! The WWF Title has been vacated and whoever wins The Royal Rumble is the new champion. Rosenberg gives a quick rundown of the Royal Rumble for people watching that may not he hardcore wrestling fans. Flair draws number 3 and puts on the greatest performance in Rumble history. He goes nearly an hour and becomes WWF Champion for the first time. Flair says people don’t know how much that meant to him and how great it made him feel. Prichard: “To some people that was a big deal, but to the WWE audience, Ric wasn’t that big of a deal.” Ouch! He continues that it was an audience that only knew WWE and to them WCW was an inferior product. We see highlights of the awesome Flair/Savage match at WrestleMania VIII which is one of my favorites of all time.

-Flair notes that Vince wanted to go younger and he was 43 at the time, so ended up going back to WCW. Now 43 you have 10 more years of Main Events at Mania and 10 more after that in Saudi Arabia if healthy enough. Vince told Flair he could stay and get pushed down the card or leave on top and go back. Flair left and says it was on good terms.

-1993: Flair beats Vader in Charlotte for the WCW Title and his family is there with hum. We see his wife and all 4 kids. Charlotte tells us she is the middle child as she has Megan and David older and Reid is her younger brother. Reid and Charlotte came later in Ric’s career so he was home a lot more for them compared to Megan and David. His relationship was different with all the kids. Reid (from 2008) wanted to go on the road with Ric and would have if his mom had let him. “He is my role model and I would love to do everything like him.” Oh man, it’s about to get heavy. We see home videos of Reid in amateur wrestling and you can see the love in Ric’s face as he watches his son.

-In the mid 90s Eric Bischoff was put in charge of WCW and brought in Hogan, Savage and Piper among others. Eric says some of the best and worst times he has had in the business have been with Ric Flair. He credits Flair for being instrumental in getting Hogan into WCW. They had the first PPV match between the two in July of 94 and it did the biggest numbers WCW had done to that point. Hogan mentions he brought celebrities and Flair put him over that night and was the shot in the arm they needed. Ric was happy, but then 1996 happened.

-The nWo takes over the wrestling world in 1996 and was the shiny object that was working. The attention went to the nWo and Flair had to take a backseat. He was no longer the man and DDP says that is tough to swallow sometimes. Hogan says Flair took one for the team as he talks about spray painting Ric’s hair. To punk out a big star like that only helped get the nWo angle over. Bischoff says everyone was being run over by the nWo. He wishes he would have been better at realizing how it affected talent, but to him it was all business. Flair: “he couldn’t think of enough ways to to fuck me around. That’s all he did.” We see Flair getting his head shaved and Flair wants to know what that accomplished. Bischoff notes there was a number of occasions they went too far and he wishes he would have known it.

-In 1998 Flair no-showed an episode of Thunder and went to Reid’s amateur wrestling match. Bischoff says Flair, to this day, says he requested the time off and on his side they had no notice of the request. It escalated and got out of control. Flair took his son to an AAU tournament in Detroit and realized he was being fucked by Bischoff. Eric says he told Ric to show up or he would sue him for everything he had for breach of contract. Ric says Eric fucked him out of millions. There were stories in The Atlanta Journal Constitution and they both decided to turn it into a storyline to make money. Eric calls it some of the best work Ric has ever done because it was real. They were in on it, but the emotion didn’t go away and we see Flair’s return where he unloads on Bischoff. Great stuff! Flair tells us he doesn’t forget about shit like that. We jump to Nitro where Reid shows up and handles his dad’s light work. He takes Bischoff down and that’s that.

-2001: WCW goes out of business and is bought by Vince McMahon. The decision was made to close the final Nitro with Sting and Ric Flair. Ric made sure to wear a t-shirt as he didn’t feel he looked good enough to be there. Ric notes WWE didn’t hire him for a year and he started day drinking. It was about 8 months and was it that they didn’t hire him or did Ric sit out and collect his Turner money? Vince called him and Ric was ready to get back to work. “I have been waiting for a year motherfucker, where have you been?”

-2002: Taker is asked who he wants to work at WrestleMania and he wants Ric Flair. Flair was stunned and wasn’t sure if he could do it. Vince told him he could do it and was the only one who didn’t think he could. Flair says the match ended up better than he thought and Taker says it was a special night.

-WWE was global and that meant Flair was traveling around the world again. He also had self confidence and didn’t know if he would live up to his standard. HHH didn’t know how much of a fragile ego Flair had and that the Flair persona was in front of a sensitive and anxious guy. Flair notes he never lost it in his heart, but it wasn’t connecting with his mind. HHH wanted to help him and get him back to being Ric Flair. He would tell Flair all the time, “you are the only guy who doesn’t know you are Ric Flair.” Flair says it was due to five solid years of Eric pounding him. Austin calls Flair the barometer of the greatest world champion of all time. He puts Flair on a pedestal and you don’t think there could be anything wrong.

-Evolution: The idea was to bring up two young guys and left Flair regain his confidence being in a group like The Horsemen. PLAY THE THEME MUSIC YOU COWARDS! Batista says if he didn’t have access to Flair and HHH’s brains he never would have had the success he did. Orton says the same and HHH notes when the camera hit Flair started to become Flair again. Flair said it seemed like a rib to walk down the aisle with guys cut like HHH, Orton and Batista and he made sure to wear his robe as much as possible, but he got the old Flair back in time.

-HHH can’t remember the circumstances as Evolution was over, but people were starting to worry about Flair in the ring. Ric didn’t want to retire, but Vince pushed him that way. He compared it to a race horse and how they have a jockey pulling the reigns or they will run until they die. The pitched the idea of going into The Hall of Fame and having a last match at WrestleMania. “That was tough for Ric,” We see highlights from his Hall of Fame speech as he bawls his way through it. Flair wanted to thank everyone he could. Shawn wanted to honor everything about Flair in that match.

-WrestleMania XXIV: As I mentioned in the past, this was going to be my first Mania, but my cousin who went with me figured we would wait a year until XXV. I got Shawn/Taker, but missed Shawn/Flair. Prichard notes the retirement decision was more Vince’s idea as they wanted to give Flair the sendoff he deserved.

-Flair’s family was ringside including his 3rd wife (I believe). We see old interviews from 2008 from all four of his kids. Flair says he was nervous and insecure as he had ever been in his life. Shawn says he took it seriously because Flair has an image and a legacy. He wanted to honor it all. Flair says that Shawn told him “shut up and just listen to me.” No wrestler has ever said that to him. You knew Shawn was going to do whatever he could in that match and I am sure he also took it as a challenge.

-Charlotte says she didn’t realize how her important her dad was to the wrestling world until he retired and people were crying in the crowd. We get highlights from the match as Shawn says he was trying to stay focused and intentionally unemotional. HHH says he doesn’t get the chance to watch many matches at Mania and he watched every second of that one. Not shocking! “I’m sorry! I love you.” SUPERKICK! Who says wrestling can’t be Shakespeare? Just amazing and they would build years off story off of that one match! Shawn says it was real, raw emotion and they are all grown men that are paid to put up walls and act tough. Flair couldn’t believe the response and looked down at his family. Charlotte notes it was the first time all the siblings were together and she remembers her little brother bawling his eyes out. Megan says it was sad like the end of a movie.

-Reid Flair wanted to be in the WWE. Megan felt Reid was built to be in the WWE. Ric mentions he put Reid in a prep school that was a national powerhouse in wrestling. Reid started working professional in Japan. Hogan says Reid was doing a real good job in Japan and if you can do a good job there, you can wrestle anywhere. Reid (2008) knew he had to work harder because of who his dad was, but he has been around it his whole life. Ric says Reid had it!

-Back to Flair as a pop icon as he appeared on TV shows, cartoons and video games. Reid wanted to be around Ric all the time and wanted to be Ric. Reid pushes his sister to be a wrestler with him. Reid had a try-out with WWE and failed two drug tests. He had to sit home for a year. Reid was really close his sister, Megan’s, daughter Morgan, but she had to draw a line as Reid started getting into drugs. Ric would help him with rehab and in six months he would fall back off the wagon. It made Ric realize it was a disease more than an addiction. He realized later that all Reid wanted was to wear his grandfather’s Rolex. Ric had it in a safety deposit box and Reid told him he was responsible enough to wear it now. Ric realized how bad it was when Reid sold the watch for drugs. Damn!

-March 28, 2013: Charlotte, NC: Flair says they were leaving the next day for WrestleMania. Reid went back to his hotel where he had a room. He told Wendy to come to town and they would meet his dad at the restaurant and all go together. Ric notes Reid wasn’t drinking alcohol as he was drinking water, but a bag of pills fell out of his pocket. Ric picked them up and put them in his pocket. Wendy notes that Reid didn’t seem like himself and went to leave. He told Wendy before he left to please take of his father. Ric found him lying in the bed knocked out from pills and Ric decided now was the time for tough love and left him lying. Ric met Charlotte the next day and told her about his anger at Reid for being messed up. They were running late so Ric went to check on Reid and he was purple. Wendy says Ric knew right away and started screaming. They play the 911 call and it is heartbreaking to hear Ric in that state. The paramedic informed Ric that Reid didn’t make it. They show video of Ric with Reid and it is haunting. Ric, crying, says he went to the bar and ordered a six pack and didn’t stop. Reid was dead at 25!

-Charlotte talks about her dad calling her and breaking the news. Charlotte says part of her knew that was going to be Reid’s fate and other part was shock. She thinks to this day she has put it all in a drawer and closed it. We get photos of Reid and Charlotte together.

-Ric breaks down again as he will always feel guilty for not calling the ambulance that night. He says that Reid was his best friend. Ric and Wendy go to visit Reid’s grave and they broth break down again. Ric kisses the grave.

-Charlotte and Wendy note that the way Ric managed the tragedy was going back to being Ric Flair. If he could be a persona or character then he didn’t have to feel. For Charlotte her focus became living out her brother’s dream to be a pro-wrestler. They discuss how Charlotte has furthered her father’s legacy. Megan thinks there is a little guilt from Charlotte as she is living Reid’s dream. Ric says what Charlotte is doing is the greatest honor a father can have.

-WrestleMania 32: Charlotte makes her WrestleMania debut and she mentions her robe has pieces of Ric’s robe he wore at WrestleMania XXIV. Charlotte breaks down talking about what it means to her and her father. The downside to all of this is Ric is back on the road.

-Life on the road was always tough and Ric had his demons. Booker mentions how looking from the outside was tough as they don’t know what it is like to lose a child. He thinks it was almost like Ric wanted to die. Ric says he drank a lot before his son died and breaks down saying he drank every day from 10 AM to 2 AM after Reid passed. Prichard says the only way Ric knew how to deal with it was drown himself in liquor. Megan confirms it was from time up to he went to sleep. He wasn’t taking care of himself as he wasn’t showering. Wendy called WWE and Hunter called back and asked if they needed to help him and Wendy told him yes. Ric gets a call from Hunter who tells him to turn his car around and Ric thinks they want him for RAW, but HHH tells Ric he is going to rehab. Ric shoots back that’s not happening and Hunter told him he had to or they would carry him there. Ric bought a six pack and had 3 hours in the airport before the flight and drank 10 double tequila and cranberry sodas. He had 8 bloody Mary’s on the plane and then a six pack on the way to the place. He called Hunter at 2 AM and told him he didn’t need to be there. Hunter told the rehab place to take Ric’s phone and not let him call again. In total he spent 35 days, got his coin, and walked into a bar a block away. “Fuck you guys. Screw this shit.”

-Up to 2017 and Charlotte gets a call while in China that her dad is sick. Wendy says Ric told her to get him to a hospital as he doesn’t feel well. He had started vomiting a green liquid. Ric was screaming though he doesn’t remember doing it, but Wendy told him he was. He had ruptured intestine, kidney failure, respiratory failure, pneumonia and was septic all at once. He was slipping into a coma and needed surgery. Wendy called Hunter and all the kids and they were all informed that Ric might not make it. Charlotte went into survival mode and could not process it. They gave Ric a 15% chance to survive and let everyone say goodbye to him.

-Flair’s poor health made national news. Ric came out of the coma and was delusional. He didn’t recognize people and was telling people to go to Taco Bell. He was also going through detox when he was used to drinking 30 vodkas a day. Hogan says it was a tough room and he was holding Ric’s hand and talking to him. He woke up and told Hogan to get him a 6 pack.

-In total Ric was in ICU for 32 days and then rehab center for 30 days. He had to learn how to walk again and couldn’t even pop the top on a diet soda. Flair: “They said it was from drinking and it wasn’t at all. It was a bowel obstruction.” Rinaldi asks Ric why he survived and Ric says it’s strange and he wonders why he is here. He has learned to let people know who mean something to him that he cares about them. He breaks down thinking about the Charlotte, Megan and Wendy taking care of him. Everyone viewed it as a miracle that he survived.

-Wendy tells us that it took 18 months from ICU on for Ric to feel like he wanted to be the life of the party again. The producer asks Ric why he would want to drink again. “Because I enjoy it.” Ric says he is just wasting time for 5 PM and has a schedule of what he drinks from there until 10 PM when he can go to bed. Sometimes he drinks alone and sometimes when he has company.

-Flair had cheated death again and his legacy started impacting music. Songs had been written about him and the rap world couldn’t get enough of Ric Flair. They show video of Flair visiting with Post Malone. Malone calls him the coolest dude you will ever meet. Booker notes he was a fan as a child and wanted to be Ric Flair. Ric was talking about limousine riding and jet flying before the rappers.

-Ric is called a marketing genius and people want o be part of that. Hogan says Flair hit a nerve with mainstream society. He laughs about saying Hulk-a-mania would live forever, but it will be Ric Flair that lives forever. Post Malone talks about The Ric FLair Drop. George Kittle (GO NINERS) says all sports have been affected by Ric Flair. We hear audio of Rams QB using “Ric Flair” as an audible call at the line of scrimmage. They show The Colts celebrating in their locker room like Ric Flair. Ric hanging out with Snoop who has said that Ric was bling before bling. Hogan wonders how Flair is keeping up with his schedule. The mention the car commercials as Flair is pushing harder than ever. Flair says he is in the best condition he has ever been.

-2022: Ric is grinding in a gym and Wendy says Ric can never stop what he is doing. Hogan notes it is hard to walk away because for some of them it is their life. Stephen A says Father Time is undefeated and it is hard as youth is always coming up, but Flair hasn’t lost it. Charlotte hopes deep down that Ric doesn’t feel like he has anything left to prove.

-DDP says Ric’s legacy is two words: “The Man!” Hogan calls him the greatest wrestler of all time and there is nobody else. Shawn isn’t sure Ric will grasp the influence he has, but he feels he understands it better now. Lex talks about speaking at churches and just mentioning Ric’s name draws a “woooo.”

-Wendy says Richard Fliehr is a more caring and kinder person that wants to be loved and cared for. The people around him suck the Nature Boy character out of him. Megan says that Ric has a great relationship with his granddaughter. Charlotte notes that Dad still has Ric Flair tendencies including hitting a Wooo when he ends each phone call.

-Ric is asked about his health and he says he feels phenomenal. He doesn’t hurt anywhere anymore. He has never done anything to hurt anyone intentionally. Everything he has told us is the God’s honest truth. He is asked again who is Richard Fliehr and he says the luckiest son of a bitch alive. Everything he has said on TV has been true because he lived what he said.

-“There is a Richard and Ric. Who are you?” Ric takes a deep breath and we cut to credits.

-Ric is asked about how he is in retirement, and he says terrible as he could work every weekend.

-“In July 2022, the 73-year-old wrestled in an event titled, “Ric Flair’s Last Match.” Six days later, Flair was involved in a match again…this time in Puerto Rico. On September 26th, Ric Flair posted on social media “I will never retire.””

-The credits have some classic Flair promos and then he and Rinaldi hug.

-A lot of what we got here was the same stuff from Ric’s interview on ESPN’s 30 for 30. The lightning story was new and is crazy, but this is Ric Flair we are talking about. I was captivated by this and the near two hours flew right by. The stuff with Reid was heartbreaking just like it was on the other documentary. This got to touch on his health scare and it’s amazing that he made it through. It was troubling he made sure to note his drinking had nothing to do with it. I guess it could be true and I am sure he believes it. From the tone it seemed like some of his family felt it was due to the drinking as well. The fact he still lives for 5 PM and drinking is troubling, but he is a grown adult and those are his choices. The talking heads were there and added, but this was definitely Ric Flair’s story and he had a good rapport with Rinaldi. I am sure there is a lot from the talking heads that ended up on the cutting room floor. There was enough new here to add to what we already knew about Ric. Definitely check this one out. Thanks for reading!