Queen Of The Ring (2025)

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

• Fans of professional wrestling have a film that pays respect and genuine homage to the unique nature of the sport and performance.

• Mildred Burke is a historic figure who has been ignored and disregarded for the sport she competed in. Her’s is a story well worth telling.

• Surpasses its budgetary constraints and gives a glossy, visually appealing viewing experience that is a true labor of love from writer/director Ash Avildsen.

NO

• Avildsen’s passion for his subject and main character often gets in the way of his writing and dialogue. At times, he is too impassioned and the film is overlong at 139 minutes.

• Feels forced and heavy-handed at times, and makes some strong fabrications with the truth in the interest of a more effective narrative.

• Though Burke is an important historical figure and worthy of being known by a wider audience, if you are not a fan of professional wrestling, then Queen of the Ring will likely remain of little interest to you.

OUR REVIEW

Earnestly and passionately made, Queen of the Ring seeks to garner attention with the renewed mainstream popularity of professional wrestling. Specifically, WWE’s surge in popularity the last couple of years has led to record revenue, near constant sell-outs, and massive broadcasting rights deals for the company’s three brands - Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.

With WWE as hot as ever, and several wrestlers now earning multi-million dollar paychecks per year, it feels like the perfect time to revisit the story of the first female athlete to earn $1 million in a calendar year. Mildred Burke was that woman - a female pro wrestler who helped establish women’s wrestling as a legitimate attraction. Her commitment to the sport and dedication to the performance broke down rules and regulations that barred women from competing in the squared circle in the 1930s and 1940s.

Even in some places, women were not allowed to wrestle until the 1960s and early 1970s, a wild notion to consider when you look at today’s wrestling product. Women have multiple matches on television every week. They have been the main event on weekly wrestling television programs. And both WWE and their main rivals, AEW, have had women headline pay-per-view and premium live events in recent years. 

But before there was a Charlotte Flair, a Bianca Belair, a Rhea Ripley, a Trish Stratus, or even a Wendi Richter or Fabulous Moolah, there was Burke. A single mother who defied a male-dominated industry and never let obstacles or personal struggles overcome her desire to try and become the greatest female wrestler of all time. 

Charting her career from the 1930s to the 1950s, Burke is played convincingly by Emily Bett Rickards (“Arrow”), whose muscular frame seemed at odds with how women were perceived in the 1930s. After meeting G. Bill (Tyler Posey), the son of promoter and wrestler Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), Millie, as she is known, becomes “smartened up” to the business. Wolfe, believing her passion to become a wrestling star, makes her something of a circus sideshow and dubs her “the Kansas Cyclone.” Claiming Burke could beat anyone who challenges her, Wolfe pays off men and women to “work” with her, hiding the predetermined nature of the sport and furthering her notoriety as a major athlete and a star.

Written and directed by Ash Avildsen, son of Rocky and Karate Kid director John G. Avildsen, Queen of the Ring wears its heart and admiration for Burke squarely on its sleeve. A lifelong fan of the sport, Avildsen takes great care in depicting professional wrestling as an extension of live theater. He somewhat blurs the lines of what decisions are made in the locker room and what are, in essence, “shoot fights.” As a result, viewers may become confused as Avildsen complicates his own narrative a bit. Playing with that ambiguity may make for an engaging movie, but in reality nearly all of Burke’s matches had winners and losers already decided before the public saw those fights play out before them. 

A number of recognizable women wrestling stars pop up in the supporting cast. Fans of WWE and AEW will recognize stars like Naomi (Trinity Fatu), Kamille (Kailey Latimer), and Toni Storm (Toni Rossall), while former wrestling manager and current podcaster and wrestling historian Jim Cornette pops up in a cameo as a commissioner. For the most part, the women all convincingly inhabit legendary female wrestling stars effectively. As Burke gained in popularity, she and Wolfe hired a number of women to work as part of a stable of talent that traveled with the duo. Once their marriage dissolves because of Wolfe’s abusive behavior and constant womanizing, they agree to remain business partners and Burke establishes herself as the Women’s World Champion, a title she would hold for nearly 15 consecutive years.

As much respect and admiration Avildsen has for Burke and this era of professional wrestling, Queen of the Ring suffers from a lot of heavy-handed dialogue and obviousness in the storytelling. At 139 minutes, the film is simply too long and spins its wheels in several moments where Burke’s story could accelerate with a tighter, more effective edit. 

From a technical standpoint, Andrew Strahorn’s camera is crisp, clean, and polished, making the film look like a more robust production than one might anticipate. Even if some of the terminology used by the actors would have likely never existed in the timeframe the movie takes place in, the performances remain intriguing. Rickards digs deep and finds a determination in Burke that is believable. Latimer’s performance as June Byers, an early foe who comes back to compete for the championship is also quite effective. Lucas is appropriately smarmy and Posey embodies a bit of a manchild who is caught up in a world that both fascinates and overwhelms him.

Queen of the Ring, for all of its storytelling stumbles, nonetheless wins you over. The performances are solid, it offers a respect and deference to the sport of professional wrestling that few films have considered. And in an era where many people have reconnected with the larger than life characters and outlandish stories commonplace in the sport, a story like Burke’s uses an underdog’s spirit to resonate with those willing to hear what it has to say.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Tyler Posey, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kailey Farmer, Toni Rossall, Trinity Fatu, Cara Buono, Gavin Casalegno, Adam Demos, Deborah Ann Woll, Kelli Berglund, Damaris Lewis, Martin Kove, Jim Cornette

Director: Ash Avildsen
Written by: Ash Avildsen
Based on the novel “The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, and Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend” by Jeff Leen
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Sumerian Pictures