10 Things You Notice Rewatching Beyond The Mat

2. The Longevity Of South Park

South Park Wrestlers
Webjunkie

At the time that Beyond the Mat was filmed, the then-WWF was vying with South Park when it came to who was leading the market for selling merchandise.

As one executive puts it during a boardroom meeting in Beyond the Mat:

"In the reports from retail, we're still one of the top two selling licenses. It's us and South Park, battling it out head-to-head with every retailer right now."

Given how the WWF merchandise shown at this time was all about 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, it suggests that this would be late 1997 or maybe into 1998. Either way, WWF was riding a wave of success, and so too was Comedy Central's South Park.

It's pretty much taken for granted these days just how big a deal South Park is, how successful the show has been for 23 years and counting, and how it has continued to change the game of satirical comedy TV and animation throughout those years - but, in going back to watch Beyond the Mat, it hits home just how massively popular South Park has been for a ludicrous amount of time.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.