“I can’t sing and I can’t dance,” Mildred Burke tells her future manager, husband, business partner (and later ex-husband and rival) Billy Wolfe. “But I can tell a story and beat some ass.”
What a story, and what an ass-beating. “Queen of the Ring” is a wide-eyed and inspirational biopic about Burke, born Mildred Bliss, who defied gender norms, broke arbitrary laws separating and limiting the participation of all genders in sports, and shattered the glass ceiling. She was a single mother, an entrepreneur and I hope I never get punched as hard as she can punch. At a time when women’s wrestling was outlawed throughout much of the United States, she not only proved it could be done, but also that it could be profitable as hell.