He then decides to travel the United States over a three-year period, endeavoring to understand the mindset of someone who would voluntarily choose to become a professional wrestler.

He begins by following Funk, a 53-year-old man in need of knee surgery who appears unable to retire, despite the mounting toll wrestling is taking on his body.

Stamp discusses the fact that he has not wrestled in years, but remains in shape just in case he gets the call, and demonstrates his unusual workout regimen: jumping on a trampoline in his backyard while holding hand weights.

Later, in the film's climax, his wife and young children (particularly his daughter Noelle) watch in horror from the front of the audience during Foley's "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble, wherein he takes multiple unprotected shots to the head by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with a steel folding chair.

[7] Drozdov becomes a WWF wrestler, but at the end of the film, it is revealed that Droz was paralyzed in an in-ring accident from a botched maneuver several months later.

[1] WWF chairman Vince McMahon originally allowed Blaustein full access to behind-the-scenes aspects of his company, but later tried to pull out of the deal.

Its consensus reads: "Even if you aren't a fan, Beyond the Mat provides a riveting, perceptive look into the world of professional wrestling by taking a closer look at the people beneath the personas.

"[11] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated the film a B−, stating that "Beyond the Mat is entirely dependent on, and shaped by, the good stuff the director happens to get, rather than driven by hard questions a journalist might want answered.

"[7] Paul Tatara of CNN wrote, "Blaustein seems to think that he's humanizing these guys by showing how "normal" they are out of the ring, but he unintentionally makes their penchant for self-mutilation all the more inexplicable.

[1] Blaustein also stated that McMahon ordered his wrestlers, including Mick Foley, not to speak about the film publicly.

[9] In June 2011, Blaustein undertook an extensive one-hour interview on Review a Wai with John Pollock, in which he discussed the problems of putting the documentary together with Vince McMahon's blessing.

Blaustein also revealed that after the first viewing, it was Linda McMahon who was more upset than Vince, due to the documentary's portrayal of the company, and a lack of emphasis on the "fun" in professional wrestling.

Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013,[12] and maintains a relatively successful circuit of stand-up comedy and speaking tours.

In 2004, Roberts faced a charge of "causing unnecessary suffering" after his snake, "Damien", was allowed to starve to death in the garage of his London Colney home.

In 2013, Scott Hall joined Roberts' rehabilitative efforts by also moving into Page's home, which has been nicknamed the "accountability crib".

[20] However, on January 6, 2014, Roberts returned on WWE television for the first time in almost nine years, as a part of Old School Raw at the end of the CM Punk vs Roman Reigns match, bringing out a new snake with him (an Albino Burmese Python) and aiding The New Age Outlaws and Punk in fending off The Shield.

In 2007, Jim Bell, the former Vice President of Merchandising for the WWF who featured in the film, was sentenced for trying to defraud the company almost $1 million from 1998 to 2002 through illegitimate kickbacks.

[26] He died of lymphoma on March 13, 2017 after which wrestlers including Ted DiBiase and Tommy Dreamer paid tribute to him on social media.