Review - Fighting with My Family (2019)

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and a few years ago, I looked at one of the worst movies surrounding the world of professional wrestling, Ready to Rumble. But today, I'm taking a look at a good movie based on professional wrestling: Fighting with My Family.

           Based on a real life story, Fighting with My Family tells of the Bevis family, a British family of professional wrestlers that includes Patrick "Rowdy Ricky Knight," Julia "Sweet Saraya Knight," Zak "Zodiac Knight," and Saraya. Now, while the family primarily wrestles for their own local group, both Zak and Saraya dream of one day wrestling for the WWE. Luckily, they are informed of an audition at an upcoming WWE live event at The O2 Arena in London. After a brief encounter with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Zak and Saraya go on to their audition with a WWE coach named Hutch Morgan, where Saraya is the only one to pass the audition, and she goes on to develop herself in WWE's developmental territory NXT under the ring name of Paige. 

           Unfortunately, most of other women training with Paige at NXT were previously models and cheerleaders with no real wrestling experience, thus making it impossible for her to showcase her real wrestling skills. Also, she struggles with things like choreographed promos and Morgan's criticisms. And, at an NXT live event, Paige freezes, and attempts to change her appearance because of it. And after she fails an obstacle course, and lashes out at her fellow trainees, Morgan reveals the truth on why her brother Zak didn't pass his audition. It turns out that WWE would only have used Zak as a jobber, which would have taken a toll on Zak's health; Morgan once gave up his own wrestling dreams for similar reasons, or so it's implied. 

        Paige returns home for the Christmas holidays, and initially decides to give up her wrestling dreams, as they aren't worth it. But, after getting into an impromptu wrestling match with Zak, who is upset by her wanting to quit, Paige goes back to Florida, reasserts herself by returning to her signature look, improves her training, and even begins encouraging her fellow trainees to really develop themselves as wrestlers. Morgan then takes the trainees to WrestleMania XXX, where The Rock informs Paige that she'll make her debut on Monday Night Raw against then-current Divas Champion AJ Lee. 

         The night the big Raw debut arrives, and Paige freezes while in the ring facing AJ, who gives Paige one hell of a beating. But, after a while, Paige begins to turn the tables on the Champion, fights back, and eventually gets the pinfall for the Championship, asserting "this is MY house now!" All the while, her family and friends are watching back in England and cheering her on. 

         Okay, so while the story of Fighting with My Family is fairly accurate to real history, a number of things were made up exclusively for the movie. For instance, The Rock never met Paige or Zak backstage at The O2, and Paige spent most of her training at Florida Championship Wrestling, which was the name of WWE's developmental territory went under before the rebranding to NXT. The movie also skips over Paige's reign as NXT Women's Champion, and makes no mention of it. And, Hutch Morgan was made specifically for the movie, and isn't a real person. Also, the climactic Divas Championship match between Paige and AJ was also altered from the actual match, from the changing of ring attire for both, to the exclusion of Tamina Snuka being in the ring with AJ that night on Raw. Other than that, however, writer-director Stephen Merchant does a really good job with being accurate to the real story of Paige. 

        Now, the performances of the cast were absolutely fantastic. And, although I had already enjoyed Florence Pugh in such films as Black Widow, Dune: Part Two, and Oppenheimer, this was really her breakout movie, and she portrays the former Divas Champion Paige extraordinarily well. Vince Vaughn as the fictitious Hutch Morgan was also absolutely fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Lena Heady, Nick Frost, and Jack Louden as Paige's family, all three being extremely entertaining. And, I thought it was fantastic to see WWE personalities like Sheamus, The Miz, and Big Show (currently wrestling for AEW) appear backstage at WrestleMania XXX. Also, one of the current women's wrestlers in WWE, Thea Trinidad (Zelina Vega) takes on the role of AJ Lee, and does a really decent job, as well. And, of course, Dwayne Johnson appearing as himself was just fun. 

          Overall, as a wrestling fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I, especially, enjoyed it because I was a fan of Paige back when she got started in WWE, and it was nice to see her real story of her start in WWE told on screen. So, I'm giving Fighting with My Family a rating of 4.85/5. Now, I should mention that currently, both Saraya and Zak Bevis are wrestling for AEW, under the ring names of Saraya and Zak Knight, respectively. 

         Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.