‘Beyond the Mat’ director Barry Blaustein passes away at 72
Barry Blaustein, the filmmaker behind one of the most popular and well-received pro wrestling movies of all time, has passed away at 72 years old.
His death was announced on Tuesday following a battle with pancreatic cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Blaustein was the writer, director, producer, and narrator of “Beyond the Mat” — a documentary that was released in 1999 during wrestling’s Attitude Era pop culture heights. A comedy writer with experience working on “Saturday Night Live” and collaborating with Eddie Murphy, Blaustein was able to make “Beyond the Mat” a documentary that balanced comedy with respect for the wrestlers putting their bodies on the line, while offering an inside look into the traditionally closed-doors industry.
Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and New Jack were some of the performers that “Beyond the Mat” focused on. WCW refused to grant Blaustein access for the project. WWE and ECW both gave their permission, but Vince McMahon ultimately regretted doing so and refused to promote it.
The climax of the film is Foley’s “I Quit” match against The Rock from Royal Rumble 1999, where Foley takes repeated chair shots to the head as his wife and children watch on from the crowd. Foley is later shown watching the footage and says he feels like a bad person for making his family experience that.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blaustein described “Beyond the Mat” as “the favorite thing he had ever done.” The film was not nominated for an Academy Award but was among the 12 finalists for best documentary.
Blaustein was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017 and found out last month that he had stage four pancreatic cancer.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.