In theatres this weekend is the biopic about the ‘first million dollar female athlete’, as Emily Bett Rickards portrays the indomitable Mildred Burke in Queen of the Ring. Starting out in the 1950′,  when female wrestling was banned across the majority of the United States, Mildred Burke became one of the biggest draws in wrestling. She frequently and rightfully took the main event away from the men. Breaking down the barriers that relegated women to the carnivals and sideshows instead of the arenas where the men wrestled, Mildred became a force for change and she did it all as a single mother.

After a meeting in the restaurant where she waitresses, Mildred Burke (Rickards) insists that Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas) train her in the ring to become a wrestler. After wearing down Billy, and impressing his son G.Bill (Tyler Posey) who also works the shows, Billy starts to take Millie on the road, where she quickly starts making more money than he does, forcing him to retire to focus on managing her career. But as laws are repealed and women can start to participate, Billy starts his own roster of female wrestlers and his own organization for them. Among the women that eventually join are the fiercely loyal Mae Young (Francesca Eastwood), the feisty yet tragic Gladys Gillem. Others include the beauty of the ring Nell Stewart and the first African American female star Babs Wingo (Damaris Lewis). Eventually Mildred starts working opposite Southern Champion Clara Mortensen (Toni Rossall), but when it comes time for Clara and her management to drop the belt to Mildred, they refuse, daring Mildred to do something about it. So Mildred goes out and, like her old carnival days, has a ‘shoot’ match with Clara (i.e., a real match where they actually fight and don’t follow the script) that Mildred promptly wins. Mildred would go on to hold that belt for almost 20 years, but the film leads up to her most infamous match, another shoot versus the foreboding June Beyers (Kailey Farmer), which is the basis for its big finale.

Queen of the Ring will draw comparisons to other wrestling biopics, 2023’s The Iron Claw being the most recent. However, I think that budget and the era of wrestling in which this story takes place need to be taken into account when discussing Queen of the Ring. During the 50’s and 60’s, wrestling was a much more grounded affair, where ‘shoots’ would naturally occur and wrestlers had to actually be as tough outside the ring as they were in. So the in ring action is nowhere near as polished or flashy as it would become in the 70’s, 80’s and light years from what wrestlers do in the ring today. But director Ash Avildsen channels his father John G. Avildsen, director of films like Rocky, Rocky V, and the first three Karate Kid films, with the way he stages the action, and the film is better for it. Plus the art department has done a good job here with the period set decorations and stages.

But the main reason the film works better than a simple movie of the week is solely because of some of the performances. Emily Bett Rickards is very good here. Her version of Mildred is a fierce and independent woman who knows what she wants and what she has to do to achieve it. After her marriage of ‘professional convenience’ to Billy Wolfe starts to fall apart due to his philandering and abuse, Mildred sets out on her own, not taking a dime from him in defiance. It’s very good work that anchors the film. But when talking about performances I’d be remiss not to highlight the sheer insane work of both Francesca Eastwood and Deborah Ann Woll. Eastwood fully engulfs Mae Young in her portrayal, tough as nails and ferociously loyal to her friend Mildred, Eastwood shines here.

And Woll takes through the range of emotions with her portrayal of Gladys Gillem. And despite the sad ending, she infuses Gladys with so much life during the course of her performance. As with most films or TV shows set in the ring, the filmmakers usually bring in actual wrestlers to play parts as well. And while most of them ended up as non verbal cameos, the two that do get substantial roles here deserve some recognition. Toni Rossall (aka Timeless Toni Storm from All Elite Wrestling) does an admirable job as Mortensen, but Kailey Farmer (aka Kamille, also from AEW) has a lot more to do in this script, and uses her own ring persona as a more stoic ass kicker to perfection here, as Beyers has a similar mystique.

A lightweight script gets watered down when trying to tell all these stories of other women Mildred worked with as the focus struggles to stay on Mildred at times. However, some strong and memorable performances help steer the film where it needs to go. While I’m not sure the budget, lack of a big name on screen or even the time period aspect of the story are conducive to a major box office take, I could easily see Queen of the Ring finding its audience on VOD. And perhaps, maybe, Mildred can get some of the recognition she richly deserves.