Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000

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I have a confession to make: I'm a closet Pro Rasslin' fan ["Rasslin'", by the way, is a different creature than "wrestling". The latter is what high school, college, and Olympic grapplers, do; the former is what crazy men and women dressed in tights of various fit and style and in cahoots with one another, do for little to no pay, or for crazy amounts of money, depending on many factors, some of which will be addressed below. But yet again, I digress]. Ahem. I repeat: I'm a closet Pro Rasslin' fan - or at least, I used to be. I watched it a lot as a kid back in the days of "The Sheik" and "BoBo Brazil", and like most of America, lost interest in it, until the heyday of the likes of "Hulk Hogan", Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and my personal favorite, "The Ultimate Warrior". But though I've glanced at a few current World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) shows from time to time with my son, I've lost interest in the spectacle that is Pro Rasslin', because in its current incarnation, it's way too raunchy, soap opera-ish (and bad soap opera, at that), blatantly stereotypical and misogynic (all part of the soap, I'm sure they'd say), and when you get down to it, unabashedly aimed at the lowest common denominator. Most people know, and even accept, that these "fights" are pre-ordained in their outcome - boxing promoter Don King would be a natural in this business - but the big question remains: is it fake? And if is not, who are these fools and why would they subject their bodies to the pain? THE STORY The documentary Beyond The Mat takes a look at the Sports Entertainment industry of Professional Wrestling from the viewpoint of three of its major players: Terry Funk, a 53-year-old wrestler nearing the end of his career; Mick Foley, a gentle father and husband, but an all-out lunatic within the ring; and Jake "The Snake" Roberts, formerly a "golden boy" with the WWF, but now a crack addict whose glory days have come and gone. It also addresses the differences between the minor, independent leagues and the "big three" of Pro Rasslin': the WWF, WCW, and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), itself a controversial entity because of its high violence content. THE UPSHOT There was one overwhelming emotion that hit me as I was watching this documentary: sadness. Above all else, I felt incredibly sad for each of the characters - make that, each of the three main people - being discussed, and even more, for their families. Of the three, Mick Foley (aka "Mankind", "Dude Love", and "Cactus Jack") seemed the most centered and stable outside of the ring, and clearly he loved his family as much as they loved him. But the kinds of horrific punishment he puts himself through for love of his (pseudo) sport was sickening to watch for me as an outsider; I shudder to think what his young children dream of every night, after they saw it up close and personal. Terry Funk's mindset was just beyond my comprehension; why he would continue to, basically, slowly kill himself, is something I do not understand. I do give him props, though, for being able to swallow such punishment at his age - and compared to Muhammed Ali in his degenerative state, Funk is not so bad off. But then again, say the name "Ali", and you get instant recognition. Say "Funk", and most people think of a righteous bass groove... But by far, my heart went out most to Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Foley is one of the new(er) kids on the block; Funk is from the *original* Old School - but The Snake was from back in my rasslin'-fan day. Jake's trademark move, the DDT, was something to watch. His sneer would quickly turn into a smile that you knew hid teeth that would just as quickly bite you. And though those huge pythons he carried to the ring never seemed to a real threat, you went along with the charade when he tossed them on his opponent, because, after all, Jake wasn't The Snake without them. But like many of the older WWF (and then later, WCW) characters, Jake took a back seat to the new, younger guys - and then one day, he was gone. And by then, I'd gotten older, and my interest in Rasslin' faded, so I hadn't thought much about Roberts, until this documentary. That he had gotten older and fatter was no real surprise; it happens to the best of us. But to hear that he was a crack addict...man, that threw me for a loop. I'm glad that filmmaker Barry Blaustein got Roberts to open up to him, but unfortunately, the viewer never really gets as much of Roberts as we do of Blaustein talking about Roberts' problems. Along with the three featured athletes (and clearly, these folks are athletes; though their moves are choreographed, they are real...and real scary to watch when the mask is pulled off and you see it for what it is) and their families, Blaustein interviews some veterans in the profession as well as some up-and-comers. Among these are: WWF owner Vince McMahon, whose family has been in the business for a very long time, and is very, very rich; Darren Drozdov, a former NFL player (as are many Pro Rasslers) who has the distinct "talent" of being able to vomit on command; female Rassler "Chyna", built like a man but made like a woman; Paul Heyman of the ECW, a league that has little respect for the WWF or WCW, but with all of their violence, seems to respect the individuals within its own organization; Tony Jones and Mike Modest, part-time Rasslers trying to get into the WWF with the help of their promoter, Roland Alexander; and current WWF heartthrob Duane "The Rock" Johnson, shown here competing against Foley as a Bad Guy (though last time I watched, The Rock is now a Good Character). As interesting a documentary as it is, I wonder why Beyond The Mat was released in theaters instead of on TV; there have already been quite a few "Pro Wrestling Expose" types of documentaries on the small screen, so why this one here, now? And I have to wonder about something else, too. Stay with me here: writer/director Blaustein makes no bones about his love for the pseudo-sport, and it's clear that the athletes involved are pretty comfortable, even chummy, with Blaustein. The official Beyond website proclaimed that this documentary is something that WWF President Vince McMahon "Doesn't want you to see!" - but isn't that something you would expect someone involved with the likes of McMahon, to say? Hmmm...and didn't this documentary beat the WCW's theatrical "comedy" debut, Ready To Rumble, to the theaters? Hmmm...and weren't there an awful lot of WWF "superstars" in this documentary, and no WCW stars to speak of? Say it with me now: HMMMMM... There were many issues that weren't addressed in this documentary that I wish had been: namely, the blatant misogyny, stereotype characters, the history of the pseudo-sport (highlighting the way it's changed over the years), the way the fans are manipulated, the oodles of money gleaned from said fans (McMahon's WWF was reported to be worth almost a billion dollars, true, but a closer examination could've been done), the raising of the violence bar (namely, with the ECW) and what its logical progression will be, and especially the athletes' reactions to the death of WWF star Owen Hart last year. Perhaps that's another documentary for another time - by another filmmaker not so in love with the world of Pro Rasslin'. THE "BLACK FACTOR"    [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] And speaking of "stereotype characters"... For as long as Pro Rasslin' has existed, at least in the United States, there have been stereotype characters involved, but as time has gone on, things have become more and more blatant. For every average joe "The Rock" characters out there, there are a dozen shameful characters like "Razor Ramon" (a greasy Latino caricature, formerly from the WWF), and "The Godfather" (a "pimp daddy", also from the WWF, who struts down the aisle with skanky hoochies in tight dresses; he calls them his "Ho-Train" - rarely, if ever, doing any actual Rasslin'). While I can ignore, for the most part, everything else about the three-ring circus known as Pro Rasslin', these types of characters are intolerable. There is one up side to the "Godfather" character and his "Ho-Train", though: there haven't been any Black women on it. So far. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE I've flip-flopped on my final rating on this, but in the end decided on a greenlight, primarily for all the millions (ObRock: and millions) of Pro Rasslin' fans who think it is something to be emulated. They really need to go see this one. And that's my final answer, Regis; now take your rooty-poot candy ass outta here, ya jabronie, 'fore I send you to the Smackdown Hotel! Uh... BEYOND THE MAT:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/