"Queen of the Ring" tells the life story of Mildred Burke, and given that her heyday was in the 1930s and '40s, plenty of the wrestlers depicted in it won't be familiar to even die-hard fans of today. So did they get it right?
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00:00Queen of the Ring tells the life story of Mildred Burke, and given that her heyday was
00:04in the 1930s and 40s, plenty of the wrestlers depicted in it won't be familiar to even diehard
00:10fans of today. So, did they get it right?
00:13Burke was a single mother who wowed audiences by doing something women of the time almost
00:17never did — wrestle men. She was trained in Kansas City by her future husband, Billy
00:22Wolfe, who initially instructed a man to body slam her so she would stop asking for instruction.
00:27Burke body-slammed him instead, and by 1935, she started wrestling men at carnivals.
00:32Burke also wrestled women, becoming a three-time women's champion, and for the next several
00:36years fought to work women's wrestling into the territorial promotions of the day. In
00:41the early 50s, she started her own promotion, the World Women's Wrestling Association in
00:45Los Angeles.
00:46We can headline arenas. I know that we can."
00:50By the time she retired in 1956, she had held the NWA Women's World Championship for almost
00:5520 years. She died of a stroke in February 1989 at age 73. Burke was posthumously inducted
01:02into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
01:08In Queen of the Ring, she's played by Emily Bette Rickards, who's best known for her role
01:12in the TV series Arrow. Rickards has also acted in a few films, including a supporting
01:17role in the 2015 film Brooklyn, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
01:22This won't be her first starring role, either. She played the title character in 2024's Calamity
01:27Jane.
01:28Billy Wolfe took up wrestling after being drafted into the military in World War I.
01:32That career led to a Missouri state title in 1923, but soon he had moved on to training
01:37women, including Burke, whom he eventually married. Wolfe was a known womanizer, and
01:42he and Burke separated in 1952, causing Burke to be frozen out of the all-powerful National
01:47Wrestling Alliance. Despite those conflicts, Wolfe did have a positive legacy in women's
01:51wrestling. He helped make it profitable and moved it beyond a sideshow act. He also created
01:56a women's tag team title and helped integrate Black wrestlers into the sport. He died in
02:001963 at age 66.
02:03Josh Lucas plays Wolfe in the film. Lucas has played both villains and love interests
02:07throughout his career, so he fits the bill. His notable credits include American Psycho,
02:12Sweet Home Alabama, Hulk, Stealth, and most recently, The Black Demon and Blood for Dust.
02:18Sarah Mortensen was the first woman Burke defeated for championship gold. Mortensen
02:22lost the Women's World Championship to Burke in January 1937, having held it since 1932.
02:28In their rematch, Mortensen won the championship back, and the pair would feud throughout the
02:32rest of their careers. Mortensen was a major draw in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and
02:37according to Wrestling History, she was also billed as the Women's World Lightweight Champion.
02:42Mortensen retired from the ring in 1951, when she started acting and advising in Hollywood.
02:47It's appropriate that a woman who is herself a multi-time champion and whose wrestling
02:51character is a throwback to Mortensen's era is playing her — AEW Women's Champion Toni
02:56Storm. Storm had championship runs in stardom and indie promotions before making her way
03:01to WWE in 2017. She requested her release there in late 2021, making her AEW debut in
03:082022, and going on to major success there. Despite the cinematic thrust of her character,
03:14timeless Toni Storm, this is her first film role.
03:17It's crazy, isn't it? It's come full circle, really. It really has.
03:22June Byers was another of Burke's in-ring rivals, but when they locked up, it was personal.
03:26Byers was Billy Wolfe's daughter-in-law, and there was genuine heat between them, leading
03:30to a 1954 grudge match turned shoot fight in Atlanta. The referee was loyal to Wolfe
03:36and called the match in Byers' favor. News reports that Byers had defeated Burke led
03:40her to lose some of her prestige. Byers would become the face of women's wrestling for years
03:44afterward, and was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.
03:50Byers is played by The Brickhouse Camille, an AEW talent most recently seen alongside
03:55Mercedes Manet before the pair had a storyline falling out. Camille is probably best known
04:00for her time as NWA Women's Champion, making her a perfect fit for the film, her first
04:05venture into Hollywood.
04:07If there's any wrestler in Queen of the Ring modern fans are likely to recognize, it's
04:11Mae Young, who appeared on WWE television well into her 80s, as late as 2013. While
04:16still in high school, Young approached Burke at a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to challenge
04:20her to a match. Burke offered up a different opponent instead, and Young defeated her in
04:25a shoot in seconds.
04:27Young quickly became a member of Burke and Wolfe's stable. She and Burke were two of
04:31the first women to travel to Japan after World War II to wrestle, and also the first women
04:35to wrestle in Canada. Francesca Eastwood, the daughter of Clint Eastwood and Frances
04:39Fisher, plays Young in the film. In addition to starring in movies including Jersey Boys,
04:43Outlaws & Angels, and Clawfoot, she appeared alongside her mother in an episode of Fargo,
04:48where they played the same character at different ages.
04:51After Burke was frozen out of the NWA, she consulted promoter Jack Pfeffer for help.
04:56Pfeffer would go on to book Burke, Young, and many more women in the decades after Burke
05:00and Wolfe's falling out. Pfeffer often described pro wrestling as more theater than competition,
05:05to the outrage of his fellow promoters, pioneering what would become known as sports entertainment.
05:10Walton Goggins brings considerable clout to the role of Pfeffer. Coming off an Emmy win
05:14for his role in the Amazon series Fallout, Goggins is known for immersing himself in
05:18his many TV and film roles, so there's no doubt he'll find a way to embody the eccentric
05:23promoter.
05:25Why would anyone want to limit the spectacle of competition based on gender?"
05:30With his over-the-top charisma and flamboyance, Gorgeous George was the biggest star professional
05:35wrestling had ever seen to date during the time Burke was coming up. Though not much
05:38is known about their relationship, the pair were close friends early in their careers,
05:43which will be explored in the movie. Gorgeous George was one of the first stars to embrace
05:46pageantry and showmanship ahead of his matches during the first Golden Age of wrestling.
05:51The over-the-top role will be played by Australian actor Adam Dimas. He's only appeared in three
05:56other films thus far in his career, but had success in television, most recently as the
06:00lead in Rescue! High Surf. He's best known for his roles in the Lifetime series Unreal
06:05and the Netflix show Sex Life.