Two whole chapters are focused on the booking “Does it Draw?” and “What’s Good For the Business is Good For…” Matysik begins with the significant problem so many fantasy bookers will ignore in professional wrestling storylines: It is one thing to plan out a series of events and matches, It is quite another to get all the talent to go along with them perfectly. (Matysik, 123-124) Matysik hints on the ups and downs of the professional wrestling business and how Muchnick could use them to build …show more content…
For three years, Blaustein entertained himself with professional wrestling, traveling across the country to film would-be grapplers on their way up. The film also includes former superstars on the skids and legends on their way out. Blaustein’s film is sincere; everything else is up for grabs. Blaustein leaves the footage to draw conclusions and assign significance, always returning to his own question: What kind of man makes a living running another man 's head against a turnbuckle? All kinds, the film argues, although it certainly helps if we are large and enjoy yelling and dressing up in ridiculous …show more content…
As an another example, the camera centers on Foley 's wife, Collette, and their two underage children, who are seated at ringside during a vicious I Quit wrestling match. Despite Foley trying to make sure his children that professional wrestling is predetermined before the match took place, his children burst into tears when Foley 's opponent, The Rock, starts striking their father with a folding chair. Collette, disturbed herself, tries to shield their eyes and eventually rushes the kids from the arena in disgust to the backstage area. "Beyond the Mat" makes clear about professional wrestling, the professional matches may be predetermined, but many of the injuries are not. "I don 't enjoy getting hurt, I could just always handle pain better than most people," says Mick Foley. The trouble for professional wrestlers is that their occupation prepares them for nothing but professional wrestling; when age or injury rears up, professional wrestlers have no other place to go, no other profession to follow. Even if money is not a problem, professional wrestlers are prone to hang on long past the point where they should have retired. Blaustein also captures the brutality of wrestling and the toll it takes on their bodies, as well as the emotional investment wrestlers put in their characters. The film does not insult the audience with the ridiculous question "Is it real or fake?" What professional wrestling does