“Queen of the Ring” is the true story of the woman at the colorful center of a wrestling revolution
Queen of the Ring
Starring Emily Bett Richards, Josh Lucas & Francesca Eastwood
Directed by Ash Avildsen
Rated PG-13
In theaters Friday, March 7
Unless you’re a deep-dish wrestling fan, you probably don’t know about Mildred Burke, who dominated the sport for some 20 years as the “Kansas Cyclone.” This is her story, based on the 2009 book by Jeff Leen, The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend.
That title pretty much says it all—sensuality, brawn and glamour wrapped in wrestling tights. Emily Bett Richards, best known for her role as brainy Felicity Smoak on the CW series Arrow and its DC spinoffs, slips convincingly into the starring role of Burke, a single mom raising her baby boy while slinging hash in a small-town diner and dreaming of a way out of the boonies.
“I’ve always loved being feminine and tough,” Mildred says, hooked on the rough-and-tumble razzle-dazzle of seeing her first wrestling match, as a hyped-up crowd boos a hissable “heel” putting the hurt on a handsome “babyface.” The stars align when she meets a dashing wrestling promoter, Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), who gives her a shot in his traveling wrestling sideshow. Soon she’s grappling in carnivals with big sweaty guys from the crowd—and beating them.
And she finds herself falling for Billy Wolfe, several years older. Their “complicated” on-again/off-again relationship is a major crux of the movie, especially when she finds out he’s a cad, canoodling with other girls as he grooms them for the ring.
Mildred becomes a ticket-selling draw, a wrestling superstar, a heroine to little girls, and a big part of the mainstreaming of “lady wrestlers” at a time when female wrestling was illegal in much of the country. As a tagline for the movie notes, she becomes the first female million-dollar athlete in history—long, long, long before Venus Williams, Simone Biles or Coco Gauff came into the sports spotlight.
Director Ash Avildsen knows a thing or two about sports flicks. You might say they’re in his blood. He’s the son of Oscar-winning director John Avildsen, who made Rocky and three Karate Kid movies. Queen of the Ring certainly makes the most of its modest budget, and the wrestling scenes have the wallop and wham of authenticity. You’ll spot some familiar faces playing real people from the wrestling world. Walton Goggins (currently on HBO’s season three of The White Lotus) is East Coast wrestling mogul Jack Pfefer. Hey, isn’t that Francesca Eastwood (Clint’s daughter) as wrestler Mae Young, who has a thing for other girls in tights? And there’s Martin Kove, who played the original antagonist in The Karate Kid, as promoter Al Haft. Adam Demos (from the Netflix series Sex/Life) is “Gorgeous George” Wagner, who became a strutting superstar with a flair for flamboyant showmanship and a head topped with bountiful, blonde-dyed hair.
The movie strikingly recreates scenes and settings from its era-spanning story, from the 1930s into the ’60s, when television catapulted wrestling into dens and living rooms across America. (There must have been a separate line item on the budget for men’s fedoras and porkpie hats). And it gets a some further bona fides with appearances by real-life female wrestlers, like Toni Storm (an All Elite Wrestling world champion) and Kamille (nee Kailee Dawn Latimer), making her film debut as the towering, tough-as-nails June Byers, who would become, like Mildred, a Professional Wrestling Hall of Famer.
Throughout the movie, we’re reminded that wrestling is highly physical—and sometimes dangerous, as wrestlers can be seriously injured, or even killed, in the ring. But it’s also a show, a spectacle, a piece of stagecraft with characters, personas and plotlines. “I want to entertain people,” Mildred says. “I can’t sing, and I can’t dance. But I can tell a story.”
Stay for the credits and you’ll learn that Mildred Burke died, at the age of 73, in 1989. But her story is one of force, determination, reinvention and perseverance, and Richards digs in with a vigorous intensity to flesh out her character’s multilayered persona as a mother, breadwinner and savvy businesswoman who found success, fame and riches in a “man’s world.” This wrestling tale about the queen of the ring has a rousing ring of truth, especially for anyone who wants to learn more—in this Women’s History Month—about a woman at the center of a colorful chapter of wrestling history.
—Neil Pond
The Media Tourist 