Beyond the Mat

I don't like professional wrestling. Not because of the violence, the mayhem, the contrived nature, the blatant falsehood and lie it is. I don't like it because it makes such a mockery of true drama.

Understand: Professional wrestling could be interesting. But only if the drama were done seriously, instead of with tongue-in-cheek.

"Beyond the Mat", a wrestling documentary, is done as serious tongue-in-cheek, and therein lies its ultimate smackdown at the box office.

I am told, by way of rumors and the likes, Vince McMahon, one of the major forces behind professional wrestling, banned adverstisements for "Beyond the Mat" on his World Wrestling programs. Why? Because it shows the ugly of professional wrestling? No. Because McMahon didn't get a percentage of the film's profits. (Which, I suspect, owing to the construct of the film, aren't much.)

In a way this rumor (factual or otherwise) goes to explain much about professional wrestling and, ultimately, why this documentary was made:

Follow the money.

Professional wrestling is entertainment. Albeit in the extreme. It is entertainment that bloodlust fans are willing to pay big bucks for. And people like Vince McMahon know this.

Yet beyond this basic reasoning there lies the true ugly. The real warts and horrors of professional wrestling. It is this, then, that "Beyond the Mat" is about. Though barely.

McMahon, interviewed, compares the stable of professional wrestlers to the Muppets: They are both family-owned and both have humans playing characters.

Shudder. (Who, dare I ask, within professional wrestling, is Big Bird? Or Bert and Ernie?)

In the course of "Beyond the Mat" McMahon interviews a former pro football player who wants to turn to professional wrestling. Why would McMahon want him? He can puke on command.

Is this drama? As professional wrestling presently exists, yes. But such things go to demonstrate why pro wrestling should not be taken seriously beyond being a cash cow for a few like McMahon.

"Beyond the Mat", as noted, is rather interesting. Much of the reason for this is owed to the professional wrestlers shown. A wrestler named Terry Funk, 50-plus, makes an appearance. He, I think, embodies the old guard of professional wrestling: He should have stopped long ago but can't bring himself to giving up the spotlight, even though his knees are ruined.

"Beyond the Mat", aside from telling these certain horrid truths, tells the obvious as well: This is fiction. But only to a point. When a wrestler named Owen Hart fell to his death fact, truth, and reality came roaring in, and did pro wrestling a body slam.

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