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,

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.

Wrestling biopics, while rare, are not new. Late 2023 saw the release of The Iron Claw, about the famed Von Erich family. That story is beyond tragic, but although Queen of the Ring does have some sad moments, it's also a story of unwavering passion. As the final credits roll, you're going to feel a renewed strength thanks to such a powerful icon.

Queen of the Ring is a sports biopic about Mildred Burke, the pioneering female pro wrestler. Starring Emily Bett Rickards as Burke, the film gained s

The story of pioneer “lady wrestler” Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards) finally hits the big screen in “Queen of the Ring." Most films about history inflate the drama and narrative

GLOW,” a series from Netflix that ran for three seasons in the late 2010s — before, frustratingly, seeing its announced fourth season canceled during the pandemic — showed that women’s

Emily Bett Rickards ("Arrow") stars in the new movie "Queen of the Ring," which will be released to theaters this Friday, March 7th.