Au-delà du ring

I enjoyed Beyond the Mat because it gave us an insiders view of wrestling. But to be honest it was quite disturbing at times.

In a way it can shatter a fans illusions. We fans seem to think of wrestlers as superhuman beings-we forget that they have personal needs, families, wives, girlfriends, children etc. This movie shows us how wrestlers lives can be changed due to their devotion to keeping the fans entertained.

I won't spoil any of the film but one example is Jake "The Snake" Roberts. I watched Jake wrestle in the WWF from 1986-1992 and to me he was a brilliant wrestler who had it all-how wrong I was. It showed us another side to Jake Roberts-the human side who has sacrificed a lot to become a wrestler, including family.

This is a thought provoking movie which helps remind us that wrestlers are human after all and that they spend a lot of time away from their loved ones putting their bodies on the line purely to keep us entertained. If anything, this movie helps us appreciate the wrestlers even more.

As a wrestling fan, when I saw this movie in the video store, I had to get it. Thinking I'd be seeing nothing more than an overview of pro wrestling, I was pleasantly surprised to see this documentary by filmmaker Blaustein that incorporates all the major wrestling organizations in the U.S. and also some of the greatest wrestlers ever to step in the ring...including a few personal favorites like Mick Foley and Terry Funk. In showing these wrestlers as humans, Blaustein has created a view of wrestling unique in a world of trickery and promotional stunts. This is one helluva documentary going behind the scenes of all the wrestling promotions, showing the real people involved, and in the end shows the viewer that, indeed, in wrestling nothing as it seems. A few of the highlights include a touching, and tragic, portrayal of mat legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts, behind the scenes of a WWF pay-per-view, and the story of hardcore legend Mick Foley. I would highly recommend this to anyone...it is an entertaining and revealing film that I think even non-wrestling fans would enjoy.

This is the greatest insiders look in wrestling of all time. We look at not only those individuals as characters but also as people. Terry Funk, New Jack, Mick Foley and Jake Roberts are to name just a few in this film and even if you're not a fan of wrestling or you think that wrestling is fake then look at this film and see that it's more real than people think.

Vince McMahon doesn't want you to see it. See it and it will open your eyes.

Yes, that's the title to the second Mick Foley book, but it also does a good job of summarizing this wonderful documentary. This movie shows wrestling for the dangerous and addictive sport it is and that people seem to forget because the endings are predetermined. If you can watch the scenes where Foley is repeatedly hit in the head in front of his wife with a chair and then try and talk about how fake the sport is. Look at the life of Jake Roberts and say that there isn't something inherently messed up. Though it depicts horrible acts of violence and drug use, but this movie is more shocking in the damage people in this sport do to themselves in pursuit of this "fake" sport with so little respect for themselves. A chilling and wonderful documentary.

Love them or leave them - misfit politicians, wayward spouses, and yes, professional wrestlers. Perhaps no other spectacle involves personalities as much as professional wrestling and Barry Blaustein's insightful "Beyond the Mat' explores those who thrill us with their lust for mayhem. Men and women with self destructive appetites are drawn into this entertainment venue - those who make a profit like the billionaire promoter Vince McMahon are called smart and shrewd, those who are swallowed up by their maladaptive behavior like the pathetic Jake'the Snake' Roberts are simply called mad. "Beyond the Mat" doesn't uncover anything we don't already know - the loud-mouth, hyped interviews, the staged choreography of flying bodies and colliding men against steel, and the spurting blood sacrificed in the name of violence. What we do see are the showmen who strut their stuff inside the ring, more dedicated to their brotherhood and craft than you can imagine. The battle wearied Terry Funk is a throwback to the self-managed, up-close-and-personal hero that Blaustein and a good number of his generation grew up with. The much younger Mick 'Mankind' Foley is a creation of the media driven World Wrestling Federation, a syndication leap years away from the Amarillo, Texas of Terry Funk. The deeply hurting Jake the Snake has fought so many battles in his long and troubled life that his only solace is crack cocaine and fighting in the ring. But the blood that Funk and Mick and Jake spill is the same blood of wanton brutality. It is the spectacle of harm and harming others. And yet in a cruel and twisted way, "Beyond the Mat" reminds us that wrestlers are as normal as anyone, just different. 'Mankind' and 'The Rock' can talk pleasantries before a match, before each tries to pulverize the other in front of their stunned wives and children. Terry Funk, as a gesture of forgiveness, repeatedly begs an old nemesis to referee his supposedly final match - a match in which he knows he will lose and will get brains bashed in. "Beyond the Mat' is a well made chronicle of wrestlers who care less if they win or lose (the promoters see to that) but more on how they play the game.