The topic of women’s wrestling has been an interesting one for several decades. If you are a fan of modern wrestling in the context of the last 30 years, then you have seen a lot of change in the way that women have been perceived in the pro wrestling bubble.

 In the 80s and the 90s, it was very difficult for women to get in popularity on the same plane as men.  With the rise of such superstars as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock, there just wasn’t a place for women on the mainstream wrestling circuit.

Women’s wrestling was at an all-time low point in the mid to late 1990s, when most major wrestling organizations didn’t even have a women’s division. but the one thing that has always worked in its favor is that female wrestling has always been seen as a feature of the male main card. One paper that sounds like a negative is, in reality, all it takes is one female star to set the tone for everyone around her. Thanks to the recent contributions of women such as China, Trish Stratus, and Mickie James, and Charlotte Flair, women’s wrestling has much more prominence within modern wrestling circles as a result.

But that was not the case in a bygone era. To find out how women’s wrestling started, we have to go back to the days of carnivals in the 1940s to understand how we got to this point. The first big-name female wrestling superstar that the industry widely accepted was Mildred Burke, who became the first million-dollar female wrestling act during a time when women’s wrestling was banned in many US states.

That brings us to the story of Queen of the Ring, Emily Bett Rickards. Stars as Burke, who is a single mother working at a diner who attends a very early prototype of a pro wrestling show at the local carnival and falls in love with the industry. She meets a man named Billy Wolfe who runs the circuit. Wolf is a womanizer with a violent temper, but he is credited for being the man who gave women’s wrestling the biggest platform to succeed. As a result, he makes Burke his top draw in the duo, showcasing themselves around the country, and putting women’s wrestling on the map.

With Burke’s popularity growing, more female wrestlers from around the country began to join their team; however, the legal and financial aspects of their partnership drove a wedge between the two with the future of female wrestling in the balance.

Queen of the Ring is a film that plays up to people with a more historical background in the history of pro wrestling. Fans of wrestling will notice many cameos in the film, mixing in both real-life female wrestlers and wrestling personalities. The more hardcore wrestling fans will notice that the film takes a few more liberties with the real-life events that took place, but nothing is too jarring to take you out of the story.

 For a more casual audience, the film is a peel behind the curtain of just how difficult it was for women to find acceptance in a male-dominated industry without the eye-rolling melodrama that comes with modern films portraying women as the victims. The film showcases the difficulty of the promotion side of the business, not just when it comes to selling women’s wrestling to an audience but also selling them to senators and congressmen in hopes that overzealous athletic commissions of the state will overturn their bans on women’s wrestling, most of which did not get lifted until the 1970s.

As a film, the movie is very entertaining by showcasing the colorful collection of characters.  Just like modern pro wrestling, the story is only as interesting as the characters that are presented on screen, and Queen of the Ring does a good job of mixing persona and personality; they keep audiences engaged for a runtime of almost two and a half hours. 

While the film isn’t quite as emotionally strong as 2023’s Iron Claw, Queen of the Ring is a film that is going to hit right with every major demographic it is trying to market with. The acting from the cast is brilliant as the film balances the performances from the real-life actresses with the believability of the real-life female wrestlers, creating a strong balance in the story’s narrative.

 What sets this film apart from its predecessors is that you can tell this was made by people who care about the wrestling industry and wanted to showcase it in a way that both gives flowers to the pioneers of the business while showing respect to the traditions of it as well. 

Queen of the Ring is an enjoyable and entertaining film. Whether it ends up on the Best Movies of 2025 list is too early to tell, but you will be hard-pressed to find many films stronger than this well-crafted drama. 

4/5

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