The Rock's new project hits a personal note

Actor and former WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wants to honour his wrestling hero with a new movie. Photo / AP

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is developing a film based on the life of his wrestling hero, Ric Flair.

The former WWE star, 51, revealed he was backing the movie because he worships the former ring pro, 74, and considers it a personal project.

He said on X on Wednesday: “Woo! As a wild kid, who grew up in the wild world of professional wrestling, I idolized ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. He was one of my heroes.

“And once I broke into the wrestling business and began to spill my own sweat and blood in arenas across America – my reverence for Ric turned to great respect.

“Because I realized just how rare and almost impossible it is to truly disrupt the wrestling business, and truly change the game – and that’s exactly what Ric Flair did.

WOO!
As a wild kid, who grew up in the wild world of professional wrestling, I idolized, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. He was one of my heroes. And once I broke into the wrestling business and began to spill my own sweat and blood in arenas across America - my reverence for Ric… pic.twitter.com/gfE2vSt6S1

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 21, 2024

“Ric Flair had a relentless passion to be the greatest of all time, but with achieving that GOAT status – he also sacrificed it all and paid a heavy price.

“And lived to tell the story. I’ve known Ric since I was 8 years old when he and my dad, Rocky ‘Soulman’ Johnson, were wrestling together in the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance). This project is personal for me and we at @sevenbucksprod and #KevinMischer films can’t wait to tell his unbelievable story.”

The Rock signed off his message with: “As always, ‘Thank you for the house, Ric’ ~ people’s champ #TheRicFlairStory #SevenBucksProds #MischerFilms #Woo.”

Before The Rock’s post, TheWrap revealed he had joined the production as producer.

Flair, one of the most celebrated professional wrestlers, with a career spanning more than 50 years and virtually every major wrestling federation around the world, is a 16-time world champion and the first wrestler to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice.

He’s also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

In the 1970s, he adopted his flamboyant “Nature Boy” persona, which led to his “Battle of the Nature Boys” match in 1979 against Buddy Rogers, who had used the stage name earlier in his career.