The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family (2012)
A raw documentary about a close-knit English family, The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family, highlights their dedication, love for one another, and hopes of making it to the WWE.
In 2019, a movie called Fighting With My Family was released. It stars Florence Pugh and covers a time in professional wrestler Paige’s life before she joined the WWE. This documentary is what that film is based on.
The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family is a short documentary about the Bevis family, a close and loving group of people who keep the dream of professional wrestling alive in Norwich, England. Mom, Julia (professional name: Sweet Saraya), dad, Patrick (professional name: Rowdy Ricky Knight), younger brother, Zak (professional name: Zak Zodiac), older brother, Roy, and sister, Saraya (professional name: Paige) all live and breathe wrestling. Julia and Ricky run a wrestling company that performs for audiences, and the entire family participates as wrestlers. The ultimate dream for both Zak and Saraya is to get into the WWE.
I watched the fictional Fighting With My Family before this documentary, and I think that was a good choice (although you can watch them in any order, it doesn’t matter). What I liked was that I knew the ideas behind what really happened before meeting the real people, so I already had a familiarity with them. I had a warmth going in because I was already interested in learning more.
This is a brash and colorful group of people who love each other fiercely. You can see it in every step they take, that being together is almost a life force. It gives them all confidence and makes them each feel like they can be their best. They see each other for who they really are and would clearly do anything for each other. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.
The first thing I thought when meeting Ricky was that he looked just like Bob Hoskins. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so if they ever make another film about this family, Bob Hoskins needs to be offered the role.
Another takeaway was how physical wrestling is. You see things on television and, of course, I had seen it in the fictional movie about this family, but everything you hear is about how it’s a performance. It is fake. So the idea that knees get blown out, fingers get broken, or discs get herniated is almost news. It shouldn’t be a surprise – we can see with our own eyes that people are jumping off the sides or throwing each other – but it is.
Another striking realization that Saraya has and communicates to the camera is that image is such a huge thing in professional wrestling. Your body structure is important, and people have surgeries to enhance their figures, whereas, for the Bevis family, wrestling is mostly about being a really good wrestler. Performing your character, but also really knowing the moves and doing them well.
The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family is a really enjoyable 47 minutes. These are interesting people with a story to tell, and they aren’t cookie-cutter humans. They have flair, they love what they do, and they love each other immensely. I’m glad they got this platform to tell their story, and I congratulate them all on inspiring a motion picture to flesh it out even more.
Runtime: 47 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on YouTube
