Professional wrestling is referred to as a "Rope Opera." Say what you will about its scripted outcomes, the body slams and plummeting from tall ladders are real. There's no faking the effects of gravity.
Into this world stepped Ricky Knight, a man thrice sentenced to prison for bank robbery and armed robbery, with his wife Julia. The latter had been on the verge of suicide after a lifetime of various forms of abuse and drug addiction, when Ricky found her.
Wrestling became their way of leaving behind their tormented pasts.
Together, they have 3 children. All of whom became wrestlers as well. The movie is about the youngest, their daughter Saraya; who went on to become known as the WWE star "Paige."
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was so taken by her family's story (hailing from a wrestling family himself) he developed the idea, became the producer of the movie, and appears as himself.
The cast of relative unknowns put in the work of acting out the dramatic comedy as well as the wrestling moves. There are recognizable names like Vince Vaughn (always awesome) and Lena Headey, of The Terminator series, 300, and most recently (and nefariously) Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.
You get to see how Paige was recognized, and trained at the WWE boot camp. While some of the script is embellished for the sake of the "underdog wins the championship" effect, the history is mostly on point.
One of the most endearing real life elements of the story is how the Knight family dedicated its meager resources but boundless good nature to teach kids in their hometown of Norwich, England in order to keep them off the streets and off drugs. They even have a blind student.
No joke.
I really enjoyed the film. I plucked it out of the $5 bin at Walmart but could have easily paid $20 without regret. I'll be watching again with friends.
For reference, the link below is the real life WWE debut of Paige against my crush AJ Lee.
https://youtu.be/iUzV60cUH9I