8 Ups & 4 Downs From Beyond The Mat

1. A 'No' From WCW

It's not Beyond the Mat's fault, and this is therefore not a criticism on their part. It's just a darn shame.

Ted Turner refused to sign over any involvement with this documentary, and so World Championship Wrestling gets zero mention in the film. Keep in mind that during Beyond the Mat's production, the ratings war between WCW and WWF was one of the hottest stories in wrestling!.

At that exact time, the war had also hit a crucial turning point. WWF had cemented itself as the undisputed victor, and was continuing to excel in strength and popularity. In turn, WCW was headed in the polar opposite direction, slowly collapsing under the weight of its own ridiculousness before an outright takeover.

Ultimately, Beyond the Mat draws its strength from documenting individual people, but it also strove to cover two giants of the business and not just one. That opportunity was missed. It's easy to imagine how many wrestling fans would have been deeply dissatisfied at this exclusion when the film was released in 1999. At least we got The Monday Night Wars series... eventually.