Ash Avildsen adapts Jeff Leen's Pulitzer Prize-winning book following the life of the first million-dollar female athlete, Mildred Burke, in Queen of the

Rather randomly, Mildred stumbles upon a wrestling match in Kansas City and proclaims the sport her destiny. The story continues chronologically, tracking Mildred and her manager turned husband Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas) as they graduate from circus sideshows to professional matches to national renown.

Trinity Fatu has been lighting up crowds as WWE’s Naomi for more than 15 years, but in Ash Avildsen’s new Mildred Burke biopic “Queen of the Ring,” Fatu finally brings her wrestling prowess to the big screen as Black wrestling pioneer Ethel Johnson.

Josh Lucas, Francesca Eastwood and Deborah Ann Wohl co-star in an arch and inspiring film about athlete Mildred Burke.

The same can’t be said about the big screen. With scattered exceptions – “ . . . All the Marbles” (1981), “Fighting with My Family” (2019), “Racket Girls” (1951), and “Below the Belt” (1980), which features an extended cameo by then-retired wrestler Mildred Burke as a trainer — there’s generally been a dearth of films featuring women wrestlers.

The biopic 'Queen of the Ring' chronicles the life of trailblazing female pro wrestler, Mildred Burke, set in a time when women's pro wrestling was il

When she first stepped into the ring in the 1930s, Mildred Burke became one of the very first professional women wrestlers. Director Ash Avildsen's new film The Queen of The Ring explores the rise ...

Emily Bett Rickards knew very little about professional wrestling before signing on to play one of its most important female trailblazers, Mildred Burke, in the biopic Queen of the Ring. But after immersing herself in its history and transforming her body for the role, she came away from the project with a newfound appreciation for the sport.