Beyond The Mat - What Happened Next?
In 1999 it changed the industry. But where are its stars now?
When filmmaker Barry Blaustein began filming 'Beyond the Mat', he was best known for his work in comedic Hollywood movies. After writing with Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live, Blaustein would go on to create scripts for Coming to America, Boomerang, and both Nutty Professor movies, to huge box office success. Despite Blaustein's natural ability for humour, when he showed Vince McMahon his final cut of the documentary, the boss wasn't laughing.
Bruce Prichard states the WWE was misled about the nature of the film, with the goalposts continually changing. Ron Howard, once of Happy Days fame and now one of the world's leading directors, was an Executive Producer and his star power helped sell the idea to the WWE. With his blessing, McMahon agreed to Beyond the Mat as a documentary that showcased his company and profession by a Hollywood insider who was a huge fan of sports entertainment.
McMahon felt he was in safe hands and the opening of the film clearly displays Blaustein being given unprecedented access to a world we are usually not allowed to see, especially during this period in its history.
Beyond The Mat ended up showing more than Vince McMahon wanted, going far beyond the polished end product of the WWE. Blaustein showed us wrestlers at every level, from stars at the top of their game to those chewed up and spat out by the industry.
But what happened next? Here's ten of the key players and where they are now...
10. Roland Alexander
Though Alexander was unknown at the time of filming, he became infamous after the film debuted. A wrestling promoter who'd founded All Pro Wrestling in 1991, Alexander features heavily in the movie's first half. After the 'glitz and glamour' of the WWE, the viewer comes crashing down to earth to Hayward, California where we meet an independent promotion at the opposite end of the scale to the titans of Stamford, Connecticut.
With Blaustein's help, Alexander secures a tryout for two of his guys with the WWE and we quickly learn that he hopes to receive a 20% cut of their contract if successful. Ultimately this never happens and at the end of the film, we're told that though he was still running his wrestling school in California, the monthly shows had been closed down due to building violations.
Tragedy would strike the APW on 28 May 2001 when trainee Brian Ong was killed while practicing with fellow pupil Dalip Singh (later known as 'The Great Khali'). His family sued and the APW was forced to pay out $1.3 million. Though an incredible blow to the promotion, Roland Alexander would continue with the APW promotion right up to his death on 5 November 2013 due to heart and diabetes issues. The company continues under head booker Markus Mac.