8 Ups & 4 Downs From Beyond The Mat

2. "They're Just Like You And Me..."

It's a documentary about wrestling so, er, there's no shortage of bumps. Beyond the Mat has a fair share of in-ring footage, but not too much as to stifle the movie's true intent.

It's fair to consider Beyond the Mat as a portal into the earnest human element of professional wrestling, that had both sceptics and fans perplexed for decades prior. It juxtaposes on-stage characters with the real-life people portraying them. It shows wrestlers navigating the difficult path between job and family, how they cope in the aftermath of their most prolific episodes, and what drove them to take that unique and dangerous line of work in the first place.

Standards and styles have changed ten-fold in the 21 years since this documentary hit screens, but the 'people' element of Beyond the Mat is timeless. It's a raw exposé that by default, can hardly be bested. Therefore, by its nature, it's sometimes hard to watch, but the viewer,s emotional response is part of the magic. The closing "They're just like you and me... except they're really different" says it all.