dir/scr/prod: Barry W. Blaustein

For years I have always accidentally watched a few minutes of professional wrestling on television. But this is pretty much all I really remember about the WWF: In the eighties wrestling was popular. The theatrics of these huge strong men were kind of funny to watch every once in a while. Who can forget Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off every time he got mad? There was a cartoon series, Hulkamania t-shirts, action figures, lunch boxes, but it was nowhere near the billion dollar industry that it is now. Now professional wrestling is bigger than it has ever been in recorded history. The WWF currently has a prime time series, hundreds of pay-per-view shows, billions of merchandising material, movies in the works. Hell, soon they will be launching their own football league??!!!!!!

Wrestling has been stuffed in our face, and for the past year or so I have really looked upon it in disgust. I recall a day about a year ago when my 12 year old step sister came home telling me about the kids in school screaming, "suck it", and beating the hell out out of each other using their favorite wrestler's moves. Yet another reason to blow off professional wrestling as stupid theatrical merchandising bullshit to warp our children's minds. I hate wrestling. I think its a very violent soap opera and the children of America shouldn't be watching.

Now most parents and everyone else will say, "But it's ALL fake right?" Well folks let me tell you, from what I saw in "Beyond the Mat" a lot of those beatings that wrestlers take on television for our "entertainment" are very real and very dangerous. The film goes behind the scenes of professional wrestling, it takes you beyond the flashy costumes, the exploding lights, and, of course, the really bad acting. (Have you ever seen that guy THE ROCK? my god he blows). It shows us something we have never seen before: The reality of professional wrestling. We follow several wrestlers around throughout the film including Mick "Mankind" Foley, Terry Funk, two guys (I can't remember their names) who try out for the WWF, and a new wrestler called "PUKE". The film even digs up Jake "The Snake" Roberts who has all but disappeared from the spotlight. The film is done in such a way that you get to know these people, you want to know what happens to these people as you watch them in their own trials of life.

Blaustein paints a beautiful portrait of the lives of these men who make their living smacking the hell out of each other. You meet Mick Foley, his really hot wife, and two great kids. Foley is a tender loving husband and family man, far from his alter ego "Mankind" who can take just about anything from getting smacked repeatedly with a metal chair to falling from great heights breaking tables. Some of the most amazing and shocking moments happen during the Mick Foley segments of the film. We also meet Terry Funk, a man who has been wrestling for 30 years. Funk is also a tender and loving family man who for some reason likes making his living getting the crap beat out of him. Watch for the scene when he visits his doctor in the x-ray room. Then we get some really dark stuff: The finding of Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Everyone remembers the guy from the eighties with his over dramatic monologues, his bag of tricks, and of course the snake. Where did he go? Blaustein finds him travelling from town to town wrestling in high school gyms and what looked like fair barns. Why isn't he somehow still involved with the WWF if he was so good way back when? Nothing a good crack habit can't screw up. Roberts story takes you to the darkest level in the film.

The interview's with WWF owner/sometime wrestler Vince McMahon are really funny. I've always thought that guy was a jackass and now I know how right I am.

What will this film do for professional wrestling? Hopefully it will make the fans realize, hey, these guys are people with families and REAL lives. Maybe they will realize that not ALL of it is fake. Check out the scene when you get a close up of Foley's head after a deadly duel with bad soap actor "THE ROCK".

Will I become a wrestling fan since my new realization about the whole world of wrestling? No. Do I hope wrestling fans get a new point of view of their beefy heroes? Yes. This film makes you laugh, cry, gawk, and sick to your stomach. If you see any documentary during SXSW this is the one to see. DON'T MISS IT. It shows one last time on Friday the 17th at the State Theater 10:30pm.

(Note: It opens in limited theatrical release throughout the US later this month).

- Brad Sand

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