The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

We all have guilty pleasures, whether it be a movie that's been handed out 6 Razzies or a song with lyrics that include "Don't Phunk with my Heart" (be honest, that song stinks, but it still has a good rhythm). With Beyond the Mat, Director Barry Blaustein probably felt a need to be vindicated for his love of wrestling, attempting to demonstrate to his audience: "Yes I like wrestling. And I'm still normal." That premise alone made me want to see it.

Pro wrestlers are quasi-circus performers, acting out many death-defying stunts with outrageous costumes and intense interviews, all in the name of entertaining the crowd. The film centers primarily around three of these "sports-entertainment" athletes: Terry Funk, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Mick Foley. Each one has had tremendous success in professional wrestling, a remarkable achievement when the number of jobs available to make a living out of this profession is miniscule. But, after going through the ups and downs of their careers, each person has taken different paths in their lives: some good, some bad, but always interesting.

Terry Funk has wrestled all over the globe, is well into his 50s and still continues to step between the ropes. His endless "retirement" matches make the whole stipulation a joke as he has returned numerous times to the ring, unable to get away from the spotlight that most wrestlers have an addiction to. Blaustein follows him to the doctor's office, where Terry is informed he essentially needs a new knee, while his other knee isn't fairing much better. It's the result of nearly 40 years of wear and tear on his body, doing an art that will likely one day render him crippled. He doesn't want to hear about it though, as he is headed northeast to help kick-start a new promotion called ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling), the most violent and edgy of the independent promotions that's taking a stab at national recognition (It would later file bankruptcy and all copyrights would be purchased by WWE owner Vince McMahon). Funk has pedigree in the business and performs tirelessly to get ECW's first pay-per-view off the ground. After his match, we see the after-effects of getting hit by chairs, falling off ladders and crashing through tables. Amazing his body can continue to withstand the punishment; amazing his mind cannot see he must stop.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts was one of my favourite wrestlers when I first started watching WWE when I was about 10 years old or so. Looking back, his matches weren't all that solid, and he had a slender & unspectacular physique. However, he had an amazing ability to connect with the crowd with his interviews, his mannerisms, his "psychology" and edge. He also had the most devastating finishing maneuver, the DDT, which has been mimicked so regularly it is now no more than a transition move. The crowds loved his pet snake he brought to the ring with him, Damian, and always looked forward to having his defeated foe get smothered by the 8-foot python. Blaustein draws comparisons of his career at his prime and today, and the contrast is too evident. At one point, Jake was wrestling in front of 90,000+ fans at Wrestlemania III in the Pontiac Silverdome; now, he's performing in high school gymnasiums with a few hundred fans in attendance. He still has the ability to get the crowd behind him, but is now horribly out of shape and has many personal problems outside the ring, including drug addiction and dysfunctional family relationships. Being on the road 300 days a year, hardly at home, neglecting the needs of his now ex-wife and daughter paid its toll. Blaustein videotapes his first one-on-one meeting with his daughter in years, and Jake breaks down and admits he hasn't conquered his demons and even tells her in so many words he might not be able to continue on himself. The glory, fame and money had come in spades for Jake, but it has cost him his family and well-being. After this meeting, Jake went back to his hotel room to do crack and Blaustein interviews him aftewards, dazed and rambling from the use of the drug. He reveals much of the excesses he has indulged himself with over his life, in a manner that is somewhat disturbing.

Mick Foley, like Blaustein, is the one guy I can identify with the most. He comes from a middle-class background, has middle-class values and is just an all-round nice guy. He has a wife and two kids and they are the most important thing in the world to him. Unlike Jake who got seduced with his reckless lifestyle, Mick resisted all the sex, drugs and rock n' roll that fame can make readily available. Instead, Mick's first passion was giving fans their money's worth, which is a nice way of saying putting his body on the line night after night to the delight of the crowd. It has led to countless injuries and an unavoidable decision to have a shortened career. Foley was involved in the infamous "Hell in a Cell" match back in 1998 against the Undertaker, where he was thrown off an 18 foot high steel cage and crashed into an announcer's table. After being taken away on a stretcher, he returned to climb the cage and continue the match but this time got slammed from the top of the structure down to the mat below, where Mick says he has no memory of that event happening. His wife, Colette, was of course scared to death after witnessing this spectacle, and pleaded with Mick to slow down. Mick would listen to her concerns but not act on them, and decided to continue his same wrestling style. Several months later at the 1999 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Mick would get struck in the head about 12 times with a steel chair. His family were at ringside for this event and they would leave in tears, unable to witness their father and husband be subjected to such barbaric punishment. Mick was shown that footage a few months later by Blaustein, and Mick swears he had no idea there family had taken it that much to heart. One of the myths of wrestling that it's all fake and doesn't injure is deconstructed by Beyond the Mat. Yes, it's scripted and all the results are pre-determined, but they DO get hurt and their bodies DO break down. Mick Foley decides to take a softer approach to the profession he loves by trying to reduce the nasty bumps he takes, and he would indeed become semi-retired a year later and devote more time to his family, the physical toll just too much to bear for someone slightly over the age of 30.

I liked this documentary not just because I'm a fan of wrestling, but also because it shows that these performers aren't lunatics or deranged. They have families and loved ones to worry about, or sometimes no one at all. They have demons to conquer and they do not earn their fame & fortune without consequence. I think there is something here for even those who don't watch wrestling, and it will give the viewer an appreciation of what these performers go through in their lives. Perhaps Beyond the Mat will also show you that I can watch wrestling and still be normal, too. :)