The 'Pimping' Accusations, Explained", "Rock 'n' Wrestling best left in the past", "Mary Lillian Ellison, 84, the Fabulous Moolah, Is Dead", "Sat. Throughout the early 1990s, she made appearances in video packages and at live WWF events. In 1999, she became the oldest champion in the history of professional wrestling, up to that point in time, when she won the Women's Championship for a final time at age 76. [14][48] The divorce was attributed to Lee's affair with Rita Cortez, one of the wrestlers the duo was training. In the 1980s, she joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as part of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection storyline, feuding with Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter, the latter of whom defeated her for the WWF Women's Championship in 1984. "[81], An animated version of Moolah was included on Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.
[87], Later, Ellison met a wrestler named Buddy Lee, whom she regarded as the "love of her life. [8] After marrying wrestler Buddy Lee, he began helping Ellison train the female wrestlers. [89], Beginning in 1991, Ellison lived with Mae Young in a house in Columbia, South Carolina. [90] A few days later, Ellison was admitted to the hospital for what turned out to be two clogged arteries and viral pneumonia. With Moolah's guidance, Kai beat Richter for the Women's Title, setting up a match between the two at the first WrestleMania in 1985. "[61] Jerry Lawler also said he "never heard or saw anything like that when I was in the business around Moolah and her girls. Richter won it back at the inaugural WrestleMania, but when Richter's relationship soured with the WWF, Moolah donned a mask as "The Spider Lady" and regained the belt on November 25, 1985, in a controversial decision. [72] Penny Banner stated that her retirement was due in large part to Ellison refusing to allow any of her female wrestlers to accept bookings against Banner, which severely limited the number of bookings that Banner was offered by promoters. Vachon also stated that her aunt, Vivian Vachon, witnessed Ellison abusing alcohol and having sex with her female trainees. [26] They also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien promoting the film. [12], Ellison returned to the Columbia home of her father and brothers. Still only fifteen, she left her daughter with a friend and set out on a wrestling career of her own. The match saw seventy-six-year-old Moolah defeat Ivory to regain the WWE Women's Championship, thus becominga record-breaking 8 time andoldest WWE Women's Champion ever, though she lost the title to Ivory eight days later. However, her legacy has since been damaged in the years following her death, when allegations surfaced that she had exploited female wrestlers under her tutelage both financially and sexually. Trainer Columbia, South Carolina At age 10, Ellison was still deeply distraught over her mother's death; to cheer her up, her father took her to the local wrestling matches.
[84] In 2002, Moolah wrote her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. Inducted by then-Women's Champion Alundra Blayze, Moolah was recognized as the true pioneer -- and biggest legend -- in the history of women's wrestling. On June 24, 1995, she was the first female wrestler to be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame. Ellison returned to the Columbia home of her father and brothers. Richter would regain the gold, and it would be Moolah herself, under a mask as the "Spider Lady," who would finally take back the championship from Wendi not long after. Weight Legend Penny Banner", "Full list of WWE's "Top 50 Superstars of All Time", "Ranking the top 101 wrestlers of all time", "WWE Raw Live TV Review: Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns meet face-to-face, all roads lead to WrestleMania", "WWE face fans backlash after they announce the 'Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal', "WWE changes name of Fabulous Moolah battle royal", "Why Is Pro-Wrestler The Fabulous Moolah So Controversial? Height
According to Ellison, Williams proposed to her, but Williams's drinking and heroin abuse forced the couple to go separate ways. She won the NWA World Women's Championship in 1956 and was the most prominent holder of the title for 28 years. [28] Moolah continued an uninterrupted eight-year reign before losing to Sue Green at Madison Square Garden in 1976. [66] Maxine said that Moolah never told her about the WWF's plans to include her in the cartoon. [13][14] Ellison and Carroll divorced shortly after their daughter's birth. Richter promptly quit the WWF afterward, while Moolah continued to be champion for another two yearsexcluding a six-day reign by Velvet McIntyre during a tour of Australia in 1986before losing the belt to Sherri Martel on July 24, 1987. Wolfe was notorious for advising his wrestlers to enter into sexual relationships with either himself or competing promoters to ensure additional bookings, a practice with which Ellison refused to go along. Her estate was located on a road named Moolah Drive. In 1983, Vince McMahon, Jr. began expanding the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) nationally, and Moolah sold him the rights to her Women's World Championship. [4][16][21][22] She was not immediately recognized by everyone as the NWA Champion because Billy Wolfe, with whom she had conflict earlier in her career, still controlled the promotion. A midget professional wrestler named Katie Glass also lived with Moolah for over forty years. [42], On the September 15, 2003, episode of Raw, Moolah won a match against Victoria. Moolah agreed to appear exclusively for the WWF, and thus became the first WWF Women's Champion. [36] Afterwards Moolah would retire from wrestling. Ellison also says that she dated country singer Hank Williams for four months in 1952. In 2010, WWE recognized her as the 27th best wrestler ever. Her first match was on May 26, 1949 against June Byers at the Boston Arena. They soon became parents to a daughter. Both Judy Martin and Leilani Kai told in later interviews that Moolah would collect the women wrestlers' pay from promoters and, after taking out her own pay, would only give the girls half of the money they were owed (keeping half of their pay for herself, plus her own pay) and telling them that was all the promoter gave her to give them. Columbia, South Carolina
[90] She stayed at the intensive-care unit of the hospital for 24 days, during which she was unconscious for fifteen days. "[25] They were eventually married, and after divorcing in 1970 after nine years of marriage, they remained friends until Lee's death in 1999. The Columbia Free Times reported allegations made by her daughter in 2006, in which she said her mother told her that she was often raped, given drugs, and made an addict in an intentional attempt by Ellison and Lee to control her.
[58] Sandy Parker, a lesbian former pupil of Ellison's, also claims that Ellison forbade her from going to any gay bars and tried to press her to date men. [77], Dave Meltzer described that women's wrestling "went way way down" under Moolah's "tutelage", but he also said he did not know if it was her fault. Ellison died on November 2, 2007 at the age of 84. [43] Moolah and Young made another appearance at New Years Revolution in 2006, during a Bra and Panties Gauntlet match attacking Victoria and stripping her of her top. [5] She later captained a team at the inaugural Survivor Series. On September 3, 1988, Moolah wrestled AWA World Women's Champion Madusa Miceli to a double DQ on an independent card in Medina, Ohio. [27] She also traded the belt with Yukiko Tomoe during a tour of Japan in 1968. [5] Richter was never told she would be losing the title and fell victim to a real-life "screwjob" finish known as "The Original Screwjob". Moolah was trained for the ring in the 1940s by then-Women's Champion Mildred Burke, the sport's biggest female star at the time. [20], On September 18, 1956, Moolah defeated Judy Grable in a 13-woman battle royal to win the vacant World Women's Championship, which shares a lineage with the NWA World Women's Championship. [13][14][15], Ellison began her wrestling career with Mildred Burke's husband Billy Wolfe, the dominant women's promoter of the time. Ellison's first husband was Walter Carroll, who became the father of her daughter Mary. [49] Ellison founded the Ladies' International Wrestling Association, a non-profit organization to help retired professional wrestlers, in the late 1980s. She then served as the valet for the Elephant Boy (Tony Olivas). "[32][33] When it was finally time for Lauper and Albano to settle their differences in the ring, a match-up was scheduled with Albano representing Moolah against the challenge of Lauper's protg, Wendi Richter.
[46][47] Her last WWE appearance before her death was at SummerSlam in August 2007, in a backstage segment with Vince McMahon and Raw General Manager William Regal. She became the first woman to be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995 and is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. [51] She also began training men, including Del Wilkes, and in 1995 trained more men than women.
As 1987 came to a close, it seemed that the queen of women's wrestling had finally come to the end of her run. [25] She further claimed that he wanted Ellison to quit her wrestling career, which she did not want to do. Longest reigning Women's Champion in sports-entertainment history; 1995 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee. In 1995, her career was punctuated when she became the first female inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Ellison liked the matches, but it was not until she saw Women's Champion Mildred Burke wrestle that "they began to mean much more" to her. Moolah is unquestionably the most influential and famous female wrestler in history.
[31] The following year, singer Cyndi Lauper began a verbal feud with manager "Captain" Lou Albano, who long had a reputation of being a villain, that brought professional wrestling into mainstream culture in a storyline that became known as the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Richter was never told she would be losing the title and fell victim to a real-life "screwjob" finish known as "The Original Screwjob". Moolah and Young then began appearing regularly in comedic roles. In addition to being a key participant in the original screwjob on Wendi Richter, Ellison used her influence to take over the spot originally held by her protg Mad Maxine on the animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. Moolah regained the Women's Championship on two further occasions before entering semi-retirement towards the end of the decade. American professional wrestler (19232007), Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection (19831987), Ladies International Wrestling Association (1990-2000), Manipulation of the women's wrestling industry in the United States, Ladies International Wrestling Association, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, List of oldest surviving professional wrestlers, "Women's World Champion Wrestler "Fabulous Moolah" Dies in Columbia", "Moolah:Twenty-eight years was the reign", "Hall of Fame Inductee: The Fabulous Moolah", "History Making Female Wrestler, The Fabulous Moolah, Dead at 84", "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database", "Fans Are Revolting Against WWE Honoring Fabulous Moolah, With Good Reason", "LadySports: Shooting with Debbie Johnson", "Gangrel and Luna Vachon Shoot Interview", "Shane Douglas Addresses Allegations Against Fabulous Moolah, Claims He Never Heard Allegations That She Prostituted Female Talents", "Former Wrestler Beverly Shade Doesn't Believe Accusations Against Fabulous Moolah", "Son of Sweet Georgia Brown Refutes Fabulous Moolah Pimp Allegations", "Biggest, Smallest, Strangest, Strongest", "The Phantom of the Ring: Lipstick, Dynamite and Glowworms, Part 31 The Vachons", "Darling Dagmar re-enters the wrestling world", "SLAM! She didn't hold the title gold for long, but it was a testament to her amazing tenacity and ability that she was able to make such a miraculous comeback in the first place. Unable to reach Patterson by telephone, Kai and Martin agreed to win the titles from the Angels since Ellison had already misinformed the Japanese promoters. [19] At one show in Oklahoma City, a man, who thought that Olivas was a black man, attempted to stab Ellison with a knife for kissing him. During the match, Moolah acted as the aggressor and pinned Byers to retain the championship. [25] Moolah claimed in her book, First Goddess of the Squared Circle, that she formed friendships with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. She later captained a team at the inaugural Survivor Series. [22] Subsequently, June Byers came out of retirement to challenge Moolah to a match for the title. She also bought the legal rights to the championship in the late 1970s, and after losing the championship for two days to Evelyn Stevens in 1978, began another long reign, defending her title for another six years. However, on the Dark Side of the Ring episode about The Fabulous Moolah, Michael McCoy stated that she was indeed made to have sex with paying promoters. Later, Ellison met a wrestler named Buddy Lee, whom she claims was the "love of her life." Birth Place Following the loss, Moolah began phasing out her in-ring exploits, choosing instead to manage protg Leilani Kai, one of the many future Superstars she had trained during her time as champion. [90] After leaving the hospital, she again slipped into unconsciousness in the bathroom at her home, crushing several vertebrae. Ellison and Long divorced. [18] She then served as the valet for the Elephant Boy (Tony Olivas). "[53] Wrestling historian Tim Hornbaker said that Moolah "chose not to" break the "dishonest, greedy" practices established by her mentor Billy Wolfe. [13] Ellison had six grandchildren. The episode repeated many of the allegations against her but also featured comments from the son of Sweet Georgia Brown and wrestlers Selina Majors and Beverly Shade, who defended her. Richter also claimed that Ellison required all women that received training at her camp to sign a contract that allowed Ellison to function as their booker and receive 25% of their booking fee. [54], In March 2018, WWE announced "The Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal", a battle royal for the female wrestlers of the company scheduled for WrestleMania 34 named in honor of Moolah. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) alumni, Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni. [11], When her mother died of cancer, eight-year-old Ellison went to live with her paternal grandmother and worked on her cousin's cotton farm to make money. [51] A midget professional wrestler named Katie Glass also lived with Moolah for over forty years. "If I choose not to like her because of what she did to me, that's fine," Princess Victoria stated. [45] She also made brief appearances at WrestleMania 23 and the 2007 Draft Lottery on June 11, 2007. [86], Ellison's first husband was Walter Carroll, who became the father of her daughter Mary. [17] She, however, soon began a romance with wrestler Johnny Long. [23] After the match, Vince McMahon, Sr. dubbed Ellison with a new ring name The Fabulous Moolah. She underwent successful back surgery in mid-December. Nevertheless, Moolah dropped the belt on September 17, 1966 to Bette Boucher, although she regained the title just weeks later. [49] In addition to women, Ellison also trained midget professional wrestlers, including Katie Glass in the 1960s.