Beyond The Mat (DVD)

Barry Blaustein has produced/written some big films during his career (Police Academy 2 and a number of Eddie Murphy films); he is also a massive wrestling fan. He decided back in the late 90's to put together his two loves and make a documentary that delved into the business he loved. He took the approach of concentrating on wrestling in general, around the United States, as opposed to the WWE. So what we get to see in Beyond The Mat is some inside looks at not only the WWE but also ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) and even local state wrestling organisations as Blaustein tracks down some of his idols and interviews them about their careers. ...  Read the complete review

My title is taken from a line almost at the start of Beyond The Mat, and it's a common and I feel stereotypical view of non-wrestling fans. What sort of a person enjoys a 'sport' where people beat each other up, except they don't really because it's scripted, choreographed, rehearsed, and fake? Beyond The Mat is a gritty documentary about the lives of some of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) stars both in and outside of the wrestling ring. You see the real people outside of their character castings, and the dedication it takes to make it to stardom. Beyond the mat, behind the scenes, an eye opener for the critics ...  Read the complete review

If you always wanted a peek inside the real world of wrestling, then this movie is for you. It focuses on three Hall of Fame Wrestlers (in my book) Mick Foley, Terry Funk and Jake The Snake. It also shows scenes of up and coming wrestlers like the people's champ "The Rock". This movie is one of the best documentaries on wrestling next to "BretHart?s: Wrestling with Shadows" and the biography on Owen Hart both available through A&E home video. The movie shows what sacrifices and punishment these guys go through to put a show for us wrestling fans. We see Mick Foley get hit hard with a chair from the Rock when he was a bad guy while ...  Read the complete review

When Vince McMahon Jr. bought his father's wrestling company, the WWF in 1984, he turned a onetime regional wrestling promotion into a world-wide phenomenon. Vince wasted no time in building the reputation of the entertainment driven WWF. He soon forged links with the world of Rock music, thus kicking off the era that perhaps made the WWF, the "Rock 'n' Wrestling" connection. The appearances of music stars such as Alice Cooper and Aretha Franklin created media interest that normally would seem unbelievable for wrestling. But this connection pushed WWF to great heights, and earned itself millions of followers all across the world. The tip of the ...  Read the complete review

Beyond The Mat is a video documentary which tells it how it really is inthe world of wrestling. of course most of us intelligent minded adults will immediately turn up our noses and laugh at this kind of thing, we grew up with it being fake and looking at it now, it looks even worse than ever. Interesting to note when watching this video then that its not all quite as fake as we all first thought. I have to say that I am not a fan of wrestling, and I only really came across this video because someone else inmy household decided that they might like to watch it. They are a fan and I sometimes get to sit through the ridiculous pagaentry which is WWF. This video ...  Read the complete review