‘This is my house now!’: Fighting with My Family, the female underdog and constructing a public history of WWE

Abstract

ABSTRACT Fighting with My Family (2019) details the rags-to-riches story of British professional wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis (Florence Pugh), who became the youngest winner of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Divas Championship in 2014 under the ring name ‘Paige’. Co-produced by WWE Studios, the biopic conforms to the underdog trajectory associated with sports films, visualising the obstacles Saraya encounters: her struggles to craft a wrestling identity different from the sexualised ‘Divas’ mould, her participation in military-like training regimes, and her development of the ‘promo skills’ necessary to cultivate a close relationship with WWE fans. The film depicts Saraya securing the respect of peers, coaches, and fans via her perseverance and suggests the goal of stepping into the ring is available to all, regardless of gender, class, and nationality. Yet this emphasis on the underdog’s journey towards acceptance serves to marginalise those criticisms which have blighted WWE’s public image: allegations of misogyny and a broader devaluing of women’s wrestling, alongside damaging revelations concerning wrestler exploitation. The film’s omission of any reference to WWE’s controversial past illustrates that the ‘public history’ constructed in biopics can function like a wrestler’s ringside ‘persona’: a larger-than-life fabrication which masks a complex reality.