As I’ve stated before in previous posts, my husband is a WWE wrestling fan. Not something that I parade out in front of a lot of people, because quite frankly I don’t want them to form preconceived, incorrect notions about my husband’s intelligence. 

 The fact is, a lot of people grew up watching what was once called the WWF. They worshipped heros like Hulk Hogan, the recently deceased Macho Man Randy Savage, and Bret the Hit Man Hart (on whom there is also a decent documentary out there). 

I’ll admit, since knowing my husband, he has gotten me more into the behind the scenes stuff of this strange industry where men fight in predetermined matches with a lot of hoopla, a lot of ceremony, and crazy outfits, along with big personalities.

The behind the scenes stuff, to me, is far more interesting and watchable than the actual sport itself, although I do occasionally enjoy watching some of the pageantry and effects of a show. 

The documentary “Beyond the Mat” takes a look at just that. It shows popular wrestler’s lives outside of the ring, and exposes what has happened to some of the biggest stars in an industry that attracts drug use and excesses because of the incredibly demanding schedules that the professionals have to adhere to and the amount of damage that they do to their bodies over the years. 

Mostly in the spotlight was the lives of three particular wrestlers (this is an older documentary, it was filmed in the 90′s). Terry Funk was a large part, Jake the Snake Roberts, and my personal favorite Mick Foley aka Mankind.  You really get a glimpse into how abused their poor bodies are, and how addictive the crowds can be to even the men who should really be out of the business due to age and amount of injuries. 

I can see that Darren Aronofsky must have gotten a lot of his inspiration for his hit movie “The Wrestler” from the story of Jake the Snake Roberts, who believe it or not, is still alive today.  In the documentary Beyond the Mat, he seemed on the verge of suicide.

He was estranged from his family, hooked on crack cocaine, and broke, travelling from show to show, seeming to be a totally lost soul. To hear his life story, it’s amazing that he achieved the popularity he did. But his fall was even harder, and you really felt truly sorry for this guy who couldn’t even seem to express his love for his own daughter after an abusive life with his own father.

Beyond the Mat is a great documentary. It’s a little depressing, but it really does give you a glimpse into the behind the scenes lives of these pro wrestlers and what a hard life it is for them.

My husband and I were flipping through our Netflix Instant options last night, and we came across a documentary that instantly piqued both of our interest. Especially mine, since I’d been interested in the Mothman legend since I read the crazy-suspenseful real life documentation story by John Keel, who has since passed away.

It’s a shame the author passed, since an interview with him could have been extremely revealing for this documentary, and he would have surely been a more credible interviewee than some of the questionable characters they had intereviewed. 

Overall, the Eyes of the Mothman documentary is well done. It accurately portrays a lot of the stories that were share din the Keel book Mothman Prophecies, and it also shares some interesting and plausible theories, seeming to be open to various theories other than the strictly super natural.

For anyone who has never heard of the legend of the Mothman, “it” is a creature that was spotted hundreds of times in the town of Point Pleasant, in West Virginia, and some surrounding communities for a year’s period of time by the townsfolk, reputable law enforcement, airplanes, and in short, way too many people to be just a mass hysteria or strange coincidence.

The stories will chill you to the bone, even if you don’t believe in that kind of stuff.  When I read the book over a year ago, I actually had the creeps for a while, so it’s a story that really gets to the root of human fear of the unknown. I think this story is probably one of the most compelling of the unexplained, simply because there are so many corroborated reports.

Not only were ther sightings of the mysterious, terrifying creature called the Mothman, but there were also massive reports of UFOs, flashing red lights, “men in black” who tried to tell the townsfolk not to share their sighting stories and seemed to be not of this world themselves, with similar features, and the story of Indrid Cold.

Also interesting is the fact that the Mothman’s “home” seemed to be a toxic dump that had once been a weapons manufacturing facility called the TNT area.  Theories ranges that perhaps the toxins seeped out and caused mass hysteria and delusion, to the very same toxins perhaps produced the strange creature called the Mothman by a mutation of some common large bird.

However, the theories that don’t include something otherworldly somehow don’t explain the other effects the sightings had on some people. Many people had inflamed eyes and radiation burns after coming into contact with the UFO’s, the strange beings, and the Mothman himself.

After a year, and the fall of the Silver Bridge, which was the small town’s largest tragedy ever, the sightings inexplicably ceased.  If you’re interest, you should be. The story is fascinating as it literally has hundreds of stories, many of which unfortunately cannot be told directly in a documentary any more because the witnesses have died.

I would recommend this documentary if you are interested in the unexplained – very interesting!