1999 saw an amazing spectacle as Barry W. Blaustein unlocked and opened the door to a room that fans around the world wanted to see: the backstage of professional wrestling. Six years later, Michael Moody took fans on an actual tour of that room. Show you what you’re missing by not watching this documentary? It better. 101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestlert is not a sequel to Beyond the Mat, for those wondering, but to be honest, you can’t help but draw the thought that it is in an murky way. Beyond the Mat started the in-depth look of wrestling back in 1999, and 101 Reasons continued the saga in a more personal, blunt, candid, and emotional way. 101 Reasons basically did everything that Beyond the Mat didn’t do, and did it in a way that will surely give wrestling fans all around the world the answers they always wanted to know about every little obscure incident.
The documentary by promising director, producer, and interviewer Michael Moody started off a little screwy showing some clips to lighten the mood such as New Jack talking about a baby he did not father and Joanie Laurer singing about the color green. No, I was not joking, she really did in fact sing about the color green. It is, apparently, her favorite color. The documentary then goes right into it with introductions of all the wrestlers, and from that point on, the movie does not skip one beat. From introductions, the long list of stars, including Diamond Dallas Page, Joanie Laurer, Konnan, New Jack, Vampiro, Sean O’Haire, and more, began to “shoot” on many different topics. They didn’t sit down and explain everything. No wrestler at any point in this movie sits down and says “This is how you blade. This is how we fake punches.” New Jack actually parodies kayfabe and the Secrets of Pro Wrestling TV special at one point. Instead, the wrestlers, in a very open way, talk about everything that fans already have some knowledge about, just shining a completely new light on the subjects. WCW, ECW, WWF/E, politics, backstage auras, unions, drugs, Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, Eric Bishcoff, internet, fans, “shoot” fighting, ribs, and more. All of this was talked about in three hours. All of this was picked apart in three hours. In the history of wrestling, there has not been such an in-depth look at such topics from the point of view of the people who actually witnessed them. Now there has.
This documentary, quite frankly, was amazing, from start to finish. You really got to know more, not just about the wrestlers themselves, but about the business. From the toilet that some things fall into to the elation the fans give, each wrestler gives a personal account of things in a very entertaining way. Rikishi, upbeat and happy throughout the whole movie, actually looks like he is going to lose his composure when he talks about his near-death. Despite being criticized publicly for so long, people like Diamond Dallas Page and Sean O’Haire came off as two of the most positive wrestling figures today. Vampiro sits there and basically talks about the bullshit of the business for the whole movie, but even reminds us at the end that he loves what he does. All of this made for a more personal approach to wrestlers, a more personal approach to the subjects, and an overall better connection that fans will have with the business itself after watching this. Don’t get me wrong, the movie has a lot of negative aspects about it like Joanie Laurer talking about Triple H and Tylene Buck talking about the politics that some tried against her; but overall, it is all comes together for a more enlightening, and thus positive, look at the business.
