Oh So Geeky

As a once fervently loyal WWE fan, who struggles with her love of wrestling versus its controversial state of affairs, I never thought I'd wake up to see John Oliver deliver a 23-minute hot-take about WWE’s abhorrent work conditions for its wrestlers. Even at the dawn of the #TimesUp movement, I often said to myself it was only a matter to time before someone put WWE owner's Vince McMahon's ego (or head) up on the chopping block. But this is where we are, it was only a matter of time before attention turned its spotlight on WWE. For those not in the know, on a recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , the tv host and self-proclaimed wrestling fan revealed that the independent clauses wrestlers “sign up for” to work for WWE is nothing but unconscionable. Performing 200+ nights a year away from their families and traveling the world, their wrestlers work so tirelessly they barely have a life to save up for when they're not in the ring. Contracted as pract...

Universal Pictures Thousands of screaming fans. Electrifying feuds. Bold outfits. Audacious athleticism. Wrestling is larger than life. Taking the glitz and glamour down a notch, Fighting with My Family shows what happens when fans dare to walk the path their heroes paved and become icons themselves. Based on the real life story, eighteen year old Saraya-Jade Bevis - popularly known as Paige - (Florence Pugh) who aspires to be a wrestler, is discovered by the WWE and becomes their youngest champion ever. Hailing from a small town in Norwich, England, Paige's dreams are not entirely her own. She shares them with her family - dad Ricky (Nick Frost) and mom Julia (Lena Headey) who runs their own wrestling association, and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) who misses out on making his own fantasies as a WWE Superstar come true.

Except for the occasional tweet, my fangirling life as a WWE fan isn't that well-known. I became a fan when I was twelve years old, finding one of their televised programs Smackdown on a whim and becoming obsessed with everything wrestling. Since to 2002, World Wrestling Entertainment has been in and out of my sphere. There was a good five years where we went through a rough patch, and I honestly didn't think I'd be going back to a wrestling event anytime soon. I was super surprised to find myself at Smackdown Live to kick off 2018 with one major goal in mind: seeing Shane McMahon in person.