Former WWE Writer On Whether ‘Fighting With My Family’ Was Actually Based On Real Events

The highly anticipated Paige biopic Fighting With My Family, co-produced by The Rock and WWE Studios, with writing and direction by The Office’s Stephen Merchant, officially opened in theaters this past weekend to rave reviews.

The movie currently has an impressive 91% rating on the film aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, with the movie’s critical consensus reading, “much like the sport it celebrates, Fighting with My Family muscles past clichés with a potent blend of energy and committed acting that should leave audiences cheering.”

The movie also finished number four at the box office in its opening weekend, taking in a modest $7.8 million, slightly ahead of initial projections.

As is the case with most biopics, audiences will inevitably question how true to life the movie story is compared to what might have been fictionalized for entertainment purposes. Most recently, the band Queen offered its blessing to the Oscar-nominated biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and praised the film as authentic to the band’s true past.

Former WWE creative team member Tom Casiello, who wrote for the company from 2011-2016, and primarily focused on the Divas Division which evolved into the Women’s Division, recently took to Facebook and commented on the authenticity of Fighting With My Family from a backstage perspective.

“This movie is far better than a WWE film has any right to be, and if you’ve seen a WWE film in your life, you know what I mean,” Casiello wrote. “But this film truly captures the magic that is professional wrestling so perfectly… and if you’re already laughing at that statement, that’s even more of a reason why you should see it.”

Casiello goes on to point out the film’s only misstep, in his opinion, is during the movie spends at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. “The movie just falls into some obvious tropes,” critiques Casiello. “The training montages. The overcoming of adversity. The mean girls who end up being insecure themselves. The gruff trainer with a heart of gold. It’s done well here but you’ve seen it before.”

Casiello’s film review also heaps much praise on the movie’s lead actors, including Florence Pugh and Lena Headey, who play Paige and Paige’s mother, respectively, and Casiello says the actresses capture the women perfectly.

Casiello concludes that Paige, real name Saraya Knight, should be “very, very proud” of Fighting With My Family, and hopes the WWE star “rides this high for the rest of her life.”

You can read The Floor Seat’s review of the film at this link.