Queen of the Ring is now in theaters and tells the enthralling true story of Mildred Burke, a professional wrestler who made her debut in 1935 and ultimately made a name for herself in the male dominated world of grappling. The movie’s director, Ash Avildsen was a childhood wrestling fan himself. Having no contact with his own father until adulthood and relying on his mother, this filmmaker was able to identify with the plight of a young single mother trying to meet her parental responsibilities while paying the bills.
Ahead of the film’s premiere, Avildsen sat down with M&F to explain how he directed this historical tale, blending the rigged with reality, and why his own life helped inform this critically acclaimed piece of cinema.
Ash Avildsen was born in 1981, five years after the original Rocky movie, directed by his father John G. Avildsen hit the big screen — but he didn’t actually meet his dad until he was 34 years of age. “It was very challenging,” he shares. “Because I loved his movies.” Not only did John direct Rocky, but other popular culture classics like the first three Karate Kid movies and later Rocky V. While Avildsen loved his father’s work, it also opened-up wounds. “People knew about (my famous dad) at elementary school and would ask ‘What’s Mr Miyagi like?’ and I would answer, ‘Dude, I’ve never met him.’”
Ash reflects that the public’s interest in his absent dad was tough on him psychologically during his developing years but thankfully, around ten years ago, father and son connected and were able to build a positive relationship boosted by a shared love of film, before John passed away in 2017. “I had just gotten the rights to the book Queen of the Ring,” Ash says. “And we were both reading it and independently highlighting our favorite scenes and moments and then exchanging notes on it. We had a lot of the same beats, like, ‘Yes! That’s a movie scene!’ So, hopefully, he’s looking down and he’s happy with what we made.”
Ash Avildsen Perfectly Mixes Pro Wrestling’s Passion with the Preposterous
Despite pro wrestling having a primary focus on entertainment, those who think that the matches are always perfectly pre-planned would be shocked at how often things get real between the ropes. “So, when the talent and the promoters and the managers couldn’t agree on the finish to a match, you’d have to fight for real in the ring,” he explains of the era in which Mildred Burke ruled the mat.
If you think such things would never happen in WWE, the so-called “Montreal Screwjob” in which then owner Vince McMahon genuinely duped Bret Hart out of his world title, forcing him to lose to Shawn Michael’s as recently as 1997 illustrates that pro wrestling often has an element of the wild west.
“So, in Queen of the Ring, a lot of the matches are scripted, but multiple, very pivotal matches, including the grand finale of the movie, was a shoot,” says Avildsen. In wrestling terms, a “shoot” means something that goes down for real. “It wasn’t in the locker room, deciding who has dominance backstage,” explains Avildsen. “When June Byers wrestled Mildred Burke on August 20, 1954, in Atlanta, Georgia, they had a shoot and it was arguably the biggest women’s wrestling match of all time, probably up until now in the modern era.”
Avildsen’s love of pro wrestling was cemented in 1991 when his mom took him to see WWE at Madison Square Garden. The young boy found that his eyes lit up as The Undertaker battled The Ultimate Warrior in a “Bodybag Match” in the summer of 1991. Now as an accomplished director, Avildsen wants viewers to see the same magic that he saw every time he looked on in awe at the squared circle, but he also had to work with a low budget to build an atmosphere that was less glitzy and more attuned to its era than the bright lights of WWE. “It is some of the most fascinating drama you will ever find,” he explains of the pro wrestling business. “In a lot of ways, it’s more brutal than a lot of other combat sports just because of the consistency of wear and tear on the body.”
Queen of The Ring features a number of familiar faces from todays pro wrestling scene including Mickey James and Toni Storm but while the star, Emily Bett Rickards, had no previous experience as a wrestler, she has won fight fans over with her commitment to delivering a realistic physique. “She was very committed to the point of having protein shakes between takes and having weights always on set,” reveals Avildsen. Rikards began working out before heading to Ohio Valley Wrestling to learn the ropes. In Queen of the Ring, Mildred Burke’s rival, the aforementioned June Byers, is played by Kailey Latimer, the wrestler known as Kamille in AEW. With Latimer being so much larger than Rikards, Avildsen explains that as a director, he was inspired by the size difference between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and wanted a similar juxtapose.
Ash Avildsen Has Been Inspired to Get Fitter After Working With Pro Wrestlers
While Avildsen is unlikely to become a pro wrestling superstar himself, he’s long appreciated their ability to stay fit in such a demanding industry. He says that he’s lost a significant amount of body fat in recent years by identifying bad habits such a “stress eating,” and explains that in addition to the obvious physical benefits, the director finds that hitting the gym is also great for his mind.
“I always tell my friends that are trying to get back into fitness to just go to the gym once. You can kind of rip the Band-Aid off,” he enthuses.
As a result of ripping the Band-Aid off himself, Avildsen says that he now goes to the gym four or five times per week. “Now, when I stop going for a while, I start going through withdrawal and I don’t like how it feels,” he shares of his love of the process. “I need to go lift weights, I need to go work my muscles, I need to go break a heavy sweat, you know? Going in the sauna is another big thing that’s been life changing for me.”
With the movie earning Avildsen multiple awards in 2024, he will certainly need to keep those biceps pumped if he’s going to carry away some of the additional trophies that critics say could be in his future. As we near the end of our interview, Ash takes a call from his son. “I love you,” whispers his son down the line. “I love you too,” answered the proud dad right back. After a difficult relationship with his own father, The Queen of the Ring director is orchestrating a loving bond with his own child — and that is a worthy Hollywood ending in its own right.
The Queen of the Ring is in cinema’s now.
