The Other Side of the Ring showcases the difficulties of making a documentary about professional wrestling. The sport is very niche and rarely appeals to mainstream audiences. Filmmaker Jeremy Norrie’s film has the added difficulty of being about women’s pro wrestling. While it has made tremendous strides in recent years, it still has a relatively small following even among wrestling fans.
The documentary follows four wrestlers. The most well known will probably be Shelly Martinez and Katrina Leigh Waters who both will be familiar with to fans of the WWE and Impact Wrestling. That does not mean that Keta Meggett and Delilah Doom get overshadowed, however. The Other Side of the Ring captures what it is like to be a female in a male dominated profession from many different angles.
The biggest difficulty a film (or really anything) about wrestling has is crossing over to a larger crowd. That is certainly the case with The Other Side of the Ring. All the expected topics are covered: questions of real versus fake, how they got involved in the sport, and backstage aspects of the business are discussed
For even casual wrestling fans, there will be little they do not already know. For those who have no interest, there is nothing to draw them in. (Kind of like a worked shoot angle.) In other words, there is not much to capture the attention of anyone whether they are a fan of pro graps or not.
That being said, The Other Side of the Ring will appeal to hardcore wrestling fans. Those who like individual stories about the sport will find something new. The documentary does not rehash the trailblazer motifs that end up being boring.
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