Related
monition : SPOILERS ForFighting With My Family
InFighting With My Family , writer - theater director Stephen Merchant leans into many of the definitive tropes of theRockyfilms to recount the news report of how Paige ( Florence Pugh ) became a WWE Superstar - and it works ! Highlighting the similarities between the 18 - year - sometime pro - wrestler from Norwich , England and the underdog fighter aircraft from Philadelphia helped turn Merchant ’s celluloid into acritically - acclaimedcrowd - pleaser , and Paige into a Modern movie heroine .
It ’s no surprisal thatFighting With My Familyevokes the spirit of Rocky Balboa ; Sylvester Stallone ’s innovation is arguably the most influential sports picture of all - time . The firstRockywon the 1977 Academy Award for Best Picture and not only spawned 5 sequel and theCreedsoft reboots , but it has also inspired legion films likeThe Karate Kid . The Rocky template of an foreigner who chases after an impossible goal and overcomes on the face of it out of the question odds to win is a proven formula that ordinarily provide audiences cheer up . It ’s also fitting thatFighting With My Familyis produced byDwayne Johnson , who is one of the biggest WWE sensation ever as The Rock ( and before he took on the moniker of The Rock , Johnson ’s pack name was Rocky Maivia ) .
Related : All 8 Rocky And Creed Movies Ranked
Of course , Paige ’s narrative is uniquely her own and her rising slope to the top of WWE is because of her singular personal appeal , her in - annulus prowess , and the fact that she has that " extra spark " that make a WWE Superstar . However , oppose With My Familystill hits many conversant beats that fans of theRockyfranchise straight off recognize :
Like Rocky, Paige Gets A Once-In-A-Lifetime Shot At Her Dream
Paige grow up in a syndicate of pro - grappler and she stargaze of making it toWWE , the biggest wrestling company in the earth . She really gets two opportunities to agnise her aspiration : the first was when she was the only person to pass her WWE tryout . Unfortunately , her senior brother Zak ( Jack Lowden ) did n’t get tapped by Hutch Morgan ( Vince Vaughn ) , the WWE ’s talent scout and trainer , but Hutch saw"a spark"in Paige that was miss from all of the other hopeful , include Zak . Despite her initial reluctance to move to WWE ’s developmental arm , NXT , in Orlando , Florida without Zak , Paige , of course of action , takes the golden opportunity to help out her family unit as well as herself .
Paige ’s second large chance hail after she evidence herself in NXT . When she ’s wing atWrestleMania 30 in New Orleans , The Rock invites her to his private rooms specifically to give her the news program that would change her life-time : Paige would not only debut on the WWE main roll live onMonday Night RAWthe next dark , but would also be gain the WWE Divas Championship from the prevalent titleholder , A.J. Lee ( Thea Trinidad ) . Paige even enters the empty arena before her match and take it all in , just like Rocky did the night before his conflict with Apollo . The film ends with Paige ’s moment of triumph as she come through the patronage and proclaims to the WWE fans that"This is my house now!“This was the fulfillment not only of her dream , but also of Zak ’s and their entire family ’s as well .
Paige ’s story ca n’t help oneself but repeat Rocky Balboa ’s , who was a no - name club fighter in South Philadelphia handpicked byApollo Creed(Carl Weathers ) . The heavyweight admirer of the earthly concern needed a last - minute antagonist for a fight to celebrate America ’s Bi - Centennial . With no suitable ranked contenders , Creed hatch a plan to give a once - in - a - lifetime shot to a nobody to prove America was still the earth of opportunity . Apollo chose Rocky plainly because he liked Balboa ’s nickname " The Italian Stallion " . Rocky did n’t kill Apollo in their first fight but the underdog did prove his own self - Charles Frederick Worth by taking the wiz to a 15 - circle snag decision . Balboa was also interviewed after the fight but he screamed for his girlfriend Adrian ( Talia Shire ) rather of answer questions .
It was only in theirRocky IIrematch that Rocky beat Apollo to become the heavyweight champion . However , fight With My Familydoesn’t hold off for a continuation to give Paige her bad profits ; the movie follows Paige ’s real - liveliness events where she defeated A.J. Lee and became champion in her first Nox in WWE .
Page 2:Fighting With My Family Is An Underdog’s Rags To Riches Story
Fighting With My Family Is A Rags To Riches Story
BothPaigeand Rocky Balboa come from working - class background and their stories are about underprivileged outsider who become earth champions . Balboa comes of eld in the grimy street of 1970s South Philadelphia and Paige develop up as Saraya - Jade Bevis in Norwich , UK . When he was n’t oppose in seedy clubs , Rocky made ends meet as a ( loath ) hatchet man for a local ring honcho , Tony Gazzo ( Joe Spinell ) . He also trained in Mickey Goldmill ’s ( Burgess Meredith ) Gym , which was a far cry from the WWE Performance Center , the res publica - of - the - artistic production facility which was Paige ’s NXT rest home base .
Unlike Rocky , whose father say him he would never amount to much , Paige was golden to grow up with a loving family that thought of her as their princess . Of course , her very unusual family play their own local grappling promotion , World Association of Wrestling , and regularly cause in the tintinnabulation and ticktock each other up . Paige did n’t engage in any criminal activeness , unlike their half - blood brother Roy ( James Burrows ) , who expend time in prison , but she and Zak helped direct underprivileged stripling to be matman and go on them off the street and away from the local drug dealers . However , Paige ’s beginner " Rowdy " Ricky Knight ( Nick Frost ) is a reformed criminal ( he drop time in prison"mostly for violence " ) and her mother " Sweet " Saraya Knight ( Lena Headey ) had issues with drugs and genial illness . It was their share making love of professional wrestling that brought Ricky and Saraya together .
interrelate : Every WWE Cameo In Fighting With My kinfolk
The Knights and their wrestling company were in regular fiscal risk and the family ’s fortunes were riding on Paige ’s WWE success , which was force per unit area that Paige keenly felt when she was alone 4,000 Swedish mile from home enduring NXT bang pack . Amusingly , the Knights cashed in on Paige ’s WWE status and deal more tickets and merchandise ( Paige Barbie doll and post-horse ) by leveraging her fame . likewise , Rocky ’s succeeding brother - in - natural law Paulie ( Burt Young ) also ascertain the chance to make money off the Italian Stallion ’s fight with Apollo Creed and he set up for his meat - packing caller to advertise on Rocky ’s ring robe .
Fighting With My Family Makes Paige An Underdog Worth Cheering For
Crucially , Paige becomes an inspiring heroine because she overcame immense betting odds to get to the top of her industry , just like Rocky . They are even similar in where they lived and how they were handle by people in their hometown : Paige ’s sleeping room is adorned with poster of her WWE idols The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin , while Rocky had a poster of boxing image Rocky Marciano in his flat . Paige ’s genuine name Saraya comes from her female parent ’s ring moniker , just like Rocky is named after Marciano . Paige and Rocky even dress likewise ; both care to wear pitch-black leather jackets , and they are misunderstood and insulted by locals . Rocky gets made fun of and called"a bum"by people in his neighborhood and Paige is call a"freak"by other girls .
Both Paige and Rocky benefited from suffer tough but fair mentors . Hutch Morgan is basically Paige ’s interpretation of Rocky ’s managing director , Mickey ; they are both wash - up former pro in their sports who regretted never quite making it and Hutch is as backbreaking on Paige as Mickey was a austere mentor to Rocky - but only because they fancy great electric potential , and feared that their protégés teetered on throwing away their gilded opportunities . At first , Rocky refused the fight with Apollo for reverence of being humiliated . likewise , Paige nearly walked aside from NXT because preparation was too hard and she was homesick . They both had to find whatRocky IIIdefined as the " Eye of the Tiger"to become champions , though Paige needed a Skype confab and prod from Zak to give her the confidence to front A.J. Lee the same way Adrian would soothe Rocky ’s self - doubt and goad him on to"win ! "
In the last , Paige achieved her dreams by being " the first you " -she stopped doubt her ability and test to fit into a WWE Diva cast . She stay straight to herself and it was her unequaled talent , singular wit , and charisma that convey her to the top of WWE . Fighting With My Familyclimaxes with Paige emerge as an inspirational underdog who overcame the odds to become a world star - just like Rocky Balboa .
Next:The True Story of WWE’s Paige (And What Fighting With My Family Changed)
