The art of a great Netflix documentary is that it can completely change your view on a subject that you didn't even know you cared all that much about in the first place. Most of the time it's the hard-hitting documentaries that really grab our attention, but for some reason, sporting docs are incredibly inconsistent when it comes to hitting the mark and making us feel that way.
Today, we want to list a number of athletes that we truly believe would provide the most intriguing documentaries - both for their own fans and critics alike to enjoy (if enjoy is the right word).
Bill Goldberg
Competing in professional football is hard enough, but to then make a successful transition over to professional wrestling is just unheard of. Goldberg was able to do so really efficiently, but then in the blink of an eye, he was gone again and took 12 years off from the business.
From his return to his anxiety issues to his unbelievable journey as a whole, Bill has a really intriguing story – and while we’ve already had a great WWE Network documentary come out, there’s still a lot more left to be revealed.
Mo Farah
Mo Farah’s journey through the world of athletics has been one that, along the way, has been a little bit controversial. On the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got an overwhelming volume of success to his name, but of course, his association with the disgraced Alberto Salazar calls all of that into question.
The highs and lows of Farah’s career are out there for all to investigate, but they haven’t quite been put together in an updated doc that really does dive into the pros and cons of his tenure in the sport.
Mariusz Pudzianowski
Pudz is currently a professional mixed martial arts fighter over in Poland with KSW, but beyond that, he’s best known for being the five-time World’s Strongest Man. If that doesn’t warrant an extended documentary, then nothing will.
He’s one of the scariest men on the planet today and we will maintain that until the day we die (because let’s face it, he’s going to outlive us all like The Terminator).
We want to see the lighter side of his life, and we also want to know how he was able to get into such an utterly ridiculous shape.
Venus Williams
We know the story about the Williams sisters and we have heard more than enough about Serena’s rise to the top of the sport. But what about Venus?
After all, she was the first to really break out into the tennis world, and it’s almost like she’s become a bit of an afterthought. When you consider everything that she’s done over the years, that just feels a little bit wrong to us.
We’d have Serena feature in the documentary because you obviously can’t cut her out of it, but she certainly shouldn’t be as heavily featured as Venus herself. That wouldn’t make any sense.
Shaquille O’Neal
He went from being one of the most successful NBA stars to one of the most entertaining TV personalities, but over that time, he’s still been recognized as one of the more polarizing members of the basketball community.
Whether that be because of his rivalry with Kobe Bryant or not is a bit of a mystery, but whatever the case may be, Shaq is so entertaining and probably has an unbelievable volume of stories to tell. We want him to come out of his shell and really delve into what makes him the legend he is.
Tom Brady
Tom vs Time was a tremendous docuseries that gave us a look into what Tom Brady does to keep himself in shape even at this late stage of his career. However, it was understandably a bit biased in his favor, and we want to see something a little bit more well balanced.
Brady has been involved in his fair share of controversies over the years, and even that is putting it a bit lightly. He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and in order to get a good idea of how the public should portray him, we want to see a full Netflix series on the guy – potentially after he retires.
Yao Ming
When it comes to popularizing a sport in a country, Yao Ming is certainly someone who deserves a whole lot of praise.
He was an icon in China during his playing days, and he still is even to this day. We can’t imagine he was anticipating such a rise in his star power, even though some claimed they could see it coming from a mile away. This gentle giant has so much more to tell the world about his own story, mainly because it’s still such a mystery to the masses.
Simone Biles
Simone Biles has been through quite a lot through her athletic journey, and with the 2020 Summer Olympics being right around the corner, it seems as if those struggles have only just begun.
With the negatives come the positives, though, and those positives come in the form of a whole bunch of gold medals. She’s looking to improve upon that total, as well as her overall legacy, once we arrive in Tokyo. Will she be able to replicate what she was able to do in Rio three years ago? Only time will tell.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney is arguably the most successful England forward of all time, based on his goals tally for both Manchester United and the England national team. So then, why isn’t he more highly regarded amongst his peers and the general fanbase alike?
There are plenty of reasons, in truth, and investigating them in-depth during a Netflix documentary (an updated one) is the right way to uncover it all.
Rooney is a controversial figure and yet, with his story being written, we still don’t really have any idea as to how he’s going to be remembered.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
The man wrestled bears as a child. How on earth can you tell us with a straight face that you don’t want to see a documentary about the man? The Eagle is an accomplished fighter, but beyond that, he’s an immensely intriguing personality. From his relationship with known dictators to the kind of heroic reception he gets from his millions of fans, Khabib is arguably the biggest star in all of MMA today.
Whether or not that lasts is a different matter altogether, but either way, we want to see this.