When I was
much younger, I was a pro wrestling fanatic. I bought the action figures,
the CDs, the t-shirts, the posters (the fact that I had posters of half-naked
men on the walls of my bedroom must have disturbed my parents, but once
puberty set in, the posters were replaced with half-naked women, much to
their delight, I'm sure), and I even had "The Hulkamania Workout Set."
Pathetic, huh? I eventually got bored of it, and lost interest completely.
Years went by, and then a funny thing happened. Last year, I was bored and
watched a few minutes of a WWF (World Wrestling Federation) pay-per-view
show called "Royal Rumble." Wow. Times had really changed. Wrestlers
were spitting and cussing, yelling at fans, beating up on the referees...
and those were the GOOD guys! The sex and violence was all over the place,
and it was more of a silly soap opera for guys than some kinda pseudo-sport.
Needless to say, I was hooked instantly.
During "Royal Rumble," there was one match in particular that
got to me. It was an "I quit" match (the only way to win is by
making the opponent say "I quit") between "The Rock"
(whose real name is Dwayne Johnson) and "Mankind" (whose real
name is Mick Foley), neither of whom were familiar to me. "The Rock,"
who had long sideburns at the time, looked like what Elvis would look like
if he was half-black and went into professional wrestling. "Mankind"
wore a strange leather mask and was missing his two front teeth. When you
added that to his shaggy beard and long, scraggly hair, he looked like a
biker who escaped from a mental ward. The wrestling match was brutal. Very
brutal. At the time, it was the most violent wrestling match I'd ever seen
(considering some of the "Mankind" matches I've seen since then,
the "I quit" match against "The Rock" seems tame). Towards
the end of the match, "The Rock" whacked "Mankind" over
the head with a steel chair a few times. And they weren't soft hits, nor
were the hits guarded by his hands or arms. They were full-on, unguarded
hits to the head. And "The Rock" did it over and over again. "The
Rock" ended up winning (he cheated, though... "Mankind" never
really said "I quit"), and "Mankind," who had blood
all over him, was carted off by medical people. After watching that match
(which left me completely stunned), I wondered if "Mankind" was
really okay. I knew that wrestling matches were choreographed, but those
hits looked too painful to endure. A little over a year later, I would find
out exactly how "Mankind" felt after the match. I would also find
out that his wife and kids were there, and that they cried their eyes out
as they watched him get the crap beaten outta him. I found out by watching
an excellent documentary called "Beyond the Mat," a movie that
takes a look at what goes on behind the scenes in the world of professional
wrestling, and folks, it isn't pretty.
"Beyond the Mat" doesn't insult your intelligence by telling you
that pro wrestling is real. On the contrary, it actually shows wrestlers
choreographing matches, and the fact that the outcome is predetermined is
made very obvious. Also, some of the secrets of pro wrestling are revealed,
and the wrestlers are totally out of character. All this made "Beyond
the Mat" utterly fascinating to me.
This documentary features quite a few personalities in professional wrestling,
including the notorious Vince McMahon (owner of the WWF), "Chyna"
(a popular female wrestler in the WWF who wrestles men rather than wrestling
in female competition), and a few others, but most of the focus is on three
wrestlers: "Mankind," Terry Funk, and Jake "The Snake"
Roberts.
Out of the ring, "Mankind" is Mick Foley, loving husband and father.
It's so weird to see this beastly-looking guy having fun with his kids and
curling up in a hammock with his wife. In the movie, he says that he wants
to be known as "the world's most polite wrestler." He probably
is. Since I've started watching wrestling again, "Mankind" is
my favorite wrestler. Incidentally, "The Rock" is a close second.
Terry Funk is an old man in professional wrestling. He's over 50 years old,
and very well-respected, but he takes even more beatings than "Mankind."
His injuries are abundant, and his knees are withering away, but he keeps
wrestling. The guy won't give up, and it's really sad to see.
Finally, there's Jake "The Snake" Roberts. When I watched wrestling
all those years ago, Jake "The Snake" was a superstar. Now, he's
a crack addict, and he looks like shit. He wrestles independently for very
little money, but he still has his fans. In the movie, he tells these chilling
stories of the kinda life he's had, and it's horrifying. Then you see for
yourself how it's affected his relationship with his daughter. The darkest,
most depressing parts of "Beyond the Mat" are the parts with Jake
"The Snake."
"Beyond the Mat" was written, directed, and narrated by Barry
W. Blaustein. He helped write "Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment,"
but is best known for helping to write Eddie Murphy movies, in particular,
"The Nutty Professor," "Boomerang," and "Coming
to America." His comic flair is apparent during certain instances in
"Beyond the Mat." Blaustein has been a closet pro wrestling fan
for most of his life, and this documentary is his way of coming outta the
closet.
I really believe that those who aren't into wrestling would enjoy "Beyond
the Mat," though perhaps not as much as the average wrestling fan.
One thing I can guarantee, though. Wrestling fan or not, anyone who walks
outta this movie will look at pro wrestling completely differently.