Back To Nature (Boy)

 

- 

CHARLOTTE-BASED FILMMAKER Rory Karpf had just wrapped up a project for ESPN’s successful “30 for 30” documentary series when network executives asked him to consider making another movie for the series. Specifically, the Worldwide Leader wanted a project about Ric Flair, the ›amboyant Charlotte wrestler known for his signature catchphrase— “Woooooooo!”—and his extravagant behavior out of the ring. The result, Nature Boy, promises a revealing look at Flair (his real name is Richard Fliehr), who now lives in Atlanta. “There’s some shocking revelations in the film, from the amount of women he slept with to his lifestyle back then to admissions about wrestling,” Karpf says. Nature Boy also hints at Flair’s difficult family life, including his relationship with his daughter, who wrestles in the WWE under the name Charlotte, and his son, Reid, who died of an accidental overdose in 2013 in a SouthPark hotel room. The “30 for 30” ‰lm premieres November 7 at 10 p.m. on ESPN. —Adam Rhew

CHARLOTTE MAGAZINE: How did this project come about?

RORY KARPF: Flair’s management team, which is also based in Charlotte, they were talking to ESPN about doing a ‘30 for 30.’ I don’t know how serious the talks were going. I actually interviewed Ric for a film I did called