Queen Of The Ring Director Credits Jim Ross With Telling Him About Midred Burke

Ash Avildsen says that his Mildred Burke biopic Queen Of The Ring owes a major debt to Jim Ross, who told him about Burke. The film releases on March 7th in theaters and was written and directed by Avildsen, with Emily Bett Rickards playing Burke. Avildsen appeared on Busted Open Radio and said that he called Ross to talk about doing an “’80s fictional love letter” to wrestling, only to have Ross tell him about the book that the film is based on.

“When I called JR to work with him, I asked him to be involved to make it as authentic as possible,” Avildsen recalled (per Wrestling Inc). “He said, ‘Hey, do you know who Mildred Burke is?’ I said, ‘No, I never heard of her,'” Avildsen explained. “He said, ‘You should read this book, ‘Queen of the Ring,’ it really feels like a movie.'”

He continued, “I read it that weekend. I was completely enchanted by the story. I called him back on Monday and said, ‘Forget about the 80s fictional thing, we gotta tell this woman’s story.’ None of my die-hard friends, I’m sure we all have our group chats with our pro wrestling buddies, no one knew about her.”

The film also stars Josh Lucas, Tyler Posey, Francesca Eastwood, Walton Goggins, Gavin Casalegno, Cara Buono, Deborah Ann Woll, Marie Avgeropoulos, Martin Kove, Kelli Berglund, Damaris Lewis, Kailey Latimer, Toni Rossall, Adam Demos and Trinity Fatu. It is described as follows:

Based on the true story of Mildred Burke. In a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country, a small town single mother embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America’s most masculine sport to become the first million dollar female athlete in history.