Emily Bett Rickards to play 3-time world champion wrestler Mildred Burke in upcoming biopic Queen Of The Ring

Up-and-coming actress Emily Bett Rickards is cast as the three-time world champion wrestler Mildred Burke in the upcoming biopic Queen of the Ring. This movie is based on Jeff Leen's 2009 novel and explores the story of Burke, a pathbreaker for women in wrestling at a time when wrestling was an illegal sport for women throughout the United States.

The movie is directed by Ash Avildsen and has an added trailer that reveals the struggles and triumphs of Burke within such a male-dominated field. Rickards insists on how relevant Burke's story is now:

"Mildred Burke was a woman who refused to stop dreaming, even in the face of adversity," says PEOPLE.

The movie will try to explain the legacy of Burke who helped trail-blaze women's sports.

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The Mildred Burke story

Born in Kansas, Mildred Burke wrestled her first match in 1935. She eventually achieved three women's world championships throughout her career and played a large part in popularizing women's wrestling to the point where she even brought it to Japan in the 1950s.

For nearly two decades, Burke competed until her retirement in 1956. The WWE said that she was allowed not just to compete against female wrestlers but also many male opponents, defeating the likes of Mae Young and Gladys 'Kill 'Em' Gillem. All these accomplishments marked the way to further generations of female athletes.

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Plot of Queen of the Ring

Queen of the Ring follows Burke through her journey from being a single mother in a small town as she becomes drawn to the danger that would change the cultural landscape in professional wrestling. The movie shows the way she grew into "the first million-dollar female athlete in history."

Burke and her son share an intimate moment where he is reassured about dreams coming true at the start of the trailer; this is an important part of the rest of the movie. The movie also speaks of the other turbulent relationship: that with the trainer Billy Wolfe, played by Josh Lucas.

Their interaction gets highlighted in a trailer where Billy Wolfe tells Burke,

"You will do what I say, or you will find yourself cleaning toilets in some arena after my show comes through."

He reflects all sorts of troubles for Burke, the challenges not merely in her professional life but inside her arena as well.

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Cast and creative team of Queen of the Ring

The movie, Queen of the Ring, has a star-studded cast like Walton Goggins, Tyler Posey, and Francesca Eastwood. Ash Avildsen, the writer-director of the film, admits that he always wanted to bring Burke's story onto the screen as he was a child of a single mother and had always loved pro wrestling in his life.

He said he would have loved to have known the influence Burke had when she was still alive, stating,

"I felt it was my duty to adapt this incredible book into a screenplay."

Rickards also acknowledged her love for Burke, adding,

"Mildred Burke changed my life, and it has been an honor to bring her to the screen"

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Queen of the Ring promises to be an inspiring biopic that will highlight Mildred Burke's groundbreaking achievements in women's wrestling.