97-458: The Oz Academy Openweight Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Oz Academy promotion . The reigning champion is referred to as the " Wizard of Oz ". The championship, which is situated at the top of Oz Academy's championship hierarchy, was introduced on March 10, 2007, when Aja Kong defeated Chikayo Nagashima in the finals of a tournament to become
194-626: A Bra and Panties Gauntlet match attacking Victoria and stripping her of her top. She also made brief appearances at WrestleMania 23 and the 2007 Draft Lottery on June 11, 2007. 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 . Ellison and her second husband Johnny Long began training women to become female wrestlers, including Ella Waldek , Daisy Mae, and Katherine Simpson. Long later contacted promoter Jack Pfefer , who agreed to book some of
291-519: A Winner Takes All triple threat match for the Raw and SmackDown Women's championships in what would be the first time that female superstars would main event WWE's flagship event. Nikki and Brie Bella, twin sisters who were inducted into WWEs Hall of Fame is 2021, came out of retirement for 2022 Women's Royal Rumble. Brie was the first to win a WWE Championship, but Nikki held the championship twice and held that reign longer than Brie. Promotions such as
388-442: A 2002 interview, Luna Vachon claimed that when she was sixteen years old and training at Ellison's camp, Ellison sent her out of state to be photographed by an older man. Although she remained clothed during the photo shoot, Vachon stated she felt taken advantage of by Ellison and the older man. Vachon also stated that her aunt, Vivian Vachon , witnessed Ellison abusing alcohol and having sex with her female trainees. Sandy Parker ,
485-595: A Cell match. At the 2017 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, the first-ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match was held with the winner receiving a contract for a SmackDown Women's Championship match. The following month, WWE would hold a women's wrestling tournament called the Mae Young Classic , named after the late Mae Young . In 2018, the January Royal Rumble pay-per-view would feature
582-610: A comeback for her, which resulted in Patterson contacting WWF Chairman Vince McMahon about the possibility. In 1999, Moolah and Mae Young re-emerged in the WWF (later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE). The WWF women's division, however, had since moved away from the traditional athletic match-ups of the past and now featured women competing in sexually-themed bikini contests and strip matches . Upon returning, Moolah and Young began appearing regularly in comedic roles. On
679-491: A controversial finish to a high-profile match between Burke and Byers that year. Upon Byers' retirement in 1964, The Fabulous Moolah , who won a junior heavyweight version of the NWA World Women's Championship (the predecessor to the original WWE Women's Championship ) in a tournament back in 1958, was recognized by most NWA promoters as champion by default. In WWE, female professional wrestlers are members of one of
776-436: A couple of pay-per-view matches for the WWF in 1985, but demanded she receive half of Sing's pay check; a stipulation Sing was unwilling to accept. 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. Moolah’s career spanned over 5 decades. She
873-414: A daughter. A few months after the birth of her daughter, she divorced Carroll., leaving her daughter with a friend and setting out on a wrestling career of her own. Ellison began her wrestling career with Mildred Burke 's husband Billy Wolfe , the dominant women's promoter of the time. She competed with many established female wrestlers, like Mae Young , Cecilia Blevins and Mildred Burke . Wolfe
970-687: 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. Parker says this enraged her, because "(Moolah) was two-faced because she had her own little dalliances that we all knew about." However, several former co-workers have spoken out in Ellison's defense. Professional wrestler Shane Douglas said he never heard anybody speaking against Moolah during his career. Former female wrestler Beverly Shade also defended Moolah, claiming "Moolah wasn't that kind of person." Jerry Lawler also said he "never heard or saw anything like that when I
1067-469: A lineage with the NWA World Women's Championship . 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. After the match, Vince McMahon, Sr. dubbed Ellison with a new ring name – The Fabulous Moolah. Subsequently, June Byers came out of retirement to challenge Moolah to a match for
SECTION 10
#17328008239121164-475: A lot from the girls of GWE, including that they had to keep their hair and make-up done, act like a lady, and not date men who were in the professional wrestling business. In addition to women, Ellison also trained midget professional wrestlers , including Katie Glass in the 1960s. Ellison founded the Ladies' International Wrestling Association, a non-profit organization to help retired professional wrestlers, in
1261-448: A man, who thought that Olivas was a black man, attempted to stab Ellison with a knife for kissing him. Moolah later left Pfeffer's promotion and began wrestling under Boston promoters Tony Santos and Paul Bowser . In 1955, she began working for Vince McMahon, Sr. 's Capitol Wrestling Corporation . On September 18, 1956, Moolah defeated Judy Grable in a 13-woman battle royal to win the vacant World Women's Championship, which shares
1358-407: A men's promotion, had a small women's division that competed with women wrestlers from other promotions. All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (est. 1968) was the dominant joshi puro organization from the 1970s to the 1990s. AJW's first major star was Mach Fumiake in 1974, followed in 1975 by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda (the "Beauty Pair"). In the early 1980s, Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami became
1455-798: A number of independent promotions with women's wrestling divisions and championships. TNA's female wrestlers are branded as the Knockouts , while ROH's female talent were formally known as the Women of Honor , and WWE's female talent were known as the Divas until 2016. Three notable women-only promotions are Shimmer Women Athletes (est. 2005) in Illinois ; the World Wrestling Network 's Shine Wrestling brand (est. 2012) in Florida , which
1552-526: A recognized world champion since 1937, when Mildred Burke won the original World Women's title . She then formed the World Women's Wrestling Association in the early 1950s and recognized herself as the first champion, although the championship would be vacated upon her retirement in 1956. The National Wrestling Alliance however, ceased to acknowledge Burke as their Women's World champion in 1954, and instead acknowledged June Byers as champion after
1649-575: A result, Ellison began selling cosmetics door-to-door and Lee opened a service station to make enough money to pay their bills. They later began to book their wrestlers, including Judy Grable in Boston, under promoter Paul Bowser . In the late 1950s when the once-dominant promoter of women's wrestling, Billy Wolfe , was out of business, Ellison and Lee began to book their female wrestlers for more and more shows. They began calling their promoting business Girl Wrestling Enterprises (GWE). Ellison demanded
1746-599: A short time later. 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. Also in the 1970s, Moolah held the NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship twice with Toni Rose . In 1983, Vincent Kennedy McMahon began expanding the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) nationally, and Moolah sold him
1843-404: A street named after her. 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. Meltzer said that although women "used to headline and they were successful", "during the period Moolah controlled women's wrestling, the popularity and product didn't evolve." However, Meltzer noted that Moolah herself "stood
1940-752: A tour of Japan in 1968. On July 1, 1972, Moolah became the first woman allowed to wrestle at Madison Square Garden , which had previously banned women's wrestling. In fact, Moolah helped overturn the ban on women's wrestling in the entire state of New York, which the New York State Athletic Commission lifted in June 1972. During her quest to overturn the ban, she flipped football player Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier onto his back on The Mike Douglas Show . Moolah continued an uninterrupted eight-year reign before losing to Sue Green at Madison Square Garden in 1976. Moolah regained her title
2037-590: A women's division. The top of the division is the CMLL World Women's Championship . Keiko "Bull" Nakano won the first CMLL championship in 1992. That same year, wrestling promoter Antonio Peña left the CMLL to form a new promotion called the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In addition to the annual Reina de Reinas Championship (Queen of Queens Championship), AAA also organizes
SECTION 20
#17328008239122134-453: A wrestling ring in a barn that lacked heating and air conditioning or fans. Mad Maxine said that due to owing Moolah both rent and training fees amounting to $ 1,500, the trainees "went into debt to [Moolah] and she controlled their lives... It was an environment ripe for abuse." Maxine also said that when she went to work for WWF, Moolah was taking at least half of her earnings. Debbie Johnson, another former trainee of Ellison's, stated that she
2231-554: Is a sister to Shimmer; and Women of Wrestling (WOW) (est. 2000, 2012) in Los Angeles . Shimmer is recognized as the earliest and most prominent promotion to take women's wrestling more seriously. In addition to Shine, Rise Wrestling is another one of Shimmer's sister promotions and was founded as a developmental program for the latter company. In 2018, they began a partnership with Impact Wrestling, which saw Impact talent compete at Rise events. Women's wrestling has maintained
2328-517: Is overall an eight-time women's world champion and to this day holds the record as the longest reigning world champion in combination of all her reigns. In the 1980s, she joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) 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
2425-526: Is the current champion in her first reign. As of November 24, 2024. Women%27s professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport . As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling is organized by wrestling federations called promotions . Some promotions are exclusively for women, while others have separate divisions for women. Among
2522-451: Is unquestionably the most influential and famous female wrestler in history." The Post and Courier columnist Mike Mooneyham described her as "one of the greatest female performers to ever step into a professional wrestling ring and the most powerful woman outside the squared circle." She was the only female performer to be included in WWE's Top 50 Superstars of All Time DVD, placing 27th on
2619-586: The 2019 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view . Impact's women's championship is the Knockouts World Championship , which debuted on October 14, 2007. Its inaugural champion was Gail Kim , who won the title at Bound for Glory 2007 . The promotion's tag team championship is known as the Knockouts World Tag Team Championship . The title was introduced at No Surrender 2009 and its inaugural champions were
2716-603: The Naked Women's Wrestling League showcased nude females "battling" in the ring for titillation. The NWWL broadcast shows around the world, and its wrestlers were featured in magazines such as Penthouse , Playboy , and Maxim . In Japan, women's professional wrestling is called joshi puroresu ( 女子プロレス ) , or joshi puro for short. Women's wrestling is usually handled by promotions that specialize in joshi puroresu , rather than by divisions of otherwise male-dominated promotions. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ,
2813-606: The Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance (PWWA) in 2007. This independent promotion is affiliated with Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia , as well as with Shimmer Women Athletes . They also had affiliations with Global Force Wrestling of the United States while the latter was active. It is the only all-female wrestling promotion in Australia. In Bolivia , female wrestlers called Fighting Cholitas dress in
2910-525: The SmackDown Women's Championship . Becky Lynch would become the inaugural champion at Backlash after winning a Six-pack elimination challenge . The following month, at Hell in a Cell , Charlotte would face Sasha Banks in a match for the Raw Women's Championship in what would be the first time a women's match was the main event of a WWE pay-per-view, as well as the first-ever women's Hell in
3007-766: The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship , the NXT Women's Championship and NXT Women's Tag Team Championship for the NXT brand, and the NXT UK Women's Championship for the NXT UK brand. The Fabulous Moolah is recognized as WWE 's first Women's Champion , with her reign beginning in 1956. In 2002, WWE began what was called the WWE brand extension , where wrestlers and championships became exclusive to one of WWE's brands. At first,
Oz Academy Openweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-592: The Women of Honor banner, culminating in the creation of the Women of Honor World Championship in December 2017 and the announcement at Final Battle 2017 of a tournament to crown the first champion. Stars from Japan 's World Wonder Ring Stardom also participated in the tournament. Sumie Sakai became the inaugural Women of Honor Champion when she won the title at Supercard of Honor XII in 2018. In 2015, WWE revamped its women's divisions by hiring mainly independent wrestlers as opposed to models, initially known as
3201-873: The World Mixed Tag Team Championship , in which tag teams of one woman and one man compete. In 2000, businessman Luciano Alberto Garcia de Luna started an all-woman promotion company called Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) in Monterrey . Current notable independent promotions include Pro-Wrestling: EVE , Bellatrix Female Warriors , The British Bombshells, and Fierce Females. Notable British women wrestlers include: Lady Blossom , Xia Brookside , Nikki Cross , Blair Davenport , Sadie Gibbs , Jamie Hayter , Laura James , Jetta , Klondyke Kate , Katie Lea , Dani Luna , Millie McKenzie , Tegan Nox , Paige , Jemma Palmer , Kay Lee Ray , etc. Pro wrestler Madison Eagles and her husband Ryan co-founded
3298-426: The " Diva's Revolution " and later known as the "Women's Revolution". NXT TakeOver: Respect , held on October 7, 2015, saw then- NXT Women's Champion Bayley defend her title against Sasha Banks in a 30–minute Iron Man match in the main event . This was the first women's match to headline a major WWE event, and the first time in WWE history that a women's match had this stipulation. A new WWE Women's Championship
3395-504: The "dishonest, greedy" practices established by her mentor Billy Wolfe. Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy, in their book Sisterhood of the Squared Circle , wrote that Moolah's "tactics could be just as ruthless and cutthroat as" Don Corleone , from The Godfather . Wendi Richter and Mad Maxine both claimed that Ellison did not actually train the wrestlers at her wrestling school. According to Richter, Ellison accepted payment of
3492-402: The "junior heavyweight" class in men's wrestling. Arsion 's Sky High of Arsion Championship (est. 1999) and NEO Japan's High Speed Championship (est. 2009) are two such titles. In 2010, former Arsion and JDStar promoter Rossy Ogawa, retired wrestler Fuka Kakimoto , and veteran wrestler Nanae Takahashi started a new joshi puro promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom . Stardom, considered
3589-537: The 1990s include Manami Toyota , Bull Nakano , Akira Hokuto , Cutie Suzuki , Aja Kong , Megumi Kudo , Shinobu Kandori , Kyoko Inoue , Takako Inoue (who is unrelated to Kyoko), Dynamite Kansai , and Mayumi Ozaki . Some joshi have a high-flying style that precedes the X Division of men's wrestling in North America. Since, for cultural reasons, women wrestlers are not divided into weight classes , these wrestlers compete for special titles comparable to
3686-663: The Divas Championship was retired and subsequently replaced with a new WWE Women's Championship , which has a separate title history from the original. WWE then reintroduced the brand extension in July 2016 and the Women's Championship (now Raw Women's Championship) became exclusive to Raw. In August 2016, SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title. In WWE's NXT brand, women compete for
3783-607: The NXT Women's Championship, which was established in 2013. The NXT UK brand would create its counterpart title, the NXT UK Women's Championship , in 2018. The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was announced on the December 24, 2018 edition of Monday Night Raw . The inaugural champions were The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Sasha Banks & Bayley) who defeated The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay), The Riot Squad (Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan), Nia Jax & Tamina, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville and Naomi & Carmella at
3880-525: The September 9, 1999, episode of SmackDown! , Jeff Jarrett invited Moolah, 76, into the ring and smashed a guitar over her head. On the September 27, 1999, episode of Monday Night Raw , Moolah and Young defeated Ivory in a Handicapped Evening Gown match, which led to a title match at No Mercy on October 17. The match saw Moolah defeat Ivory to regain the WWF Women's Championship, thus becoming
3977-432: The Squared Circle , that she formed friendships with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis . After June Byers retired in 1964, Moolah was subsequently recognized as official NWA Champion, thus making her the undisputed Women's World Champion. Nevertheless, Moolah dropped the belt on September 17, 1966, to Bette Boucher , although she regained the title just weeks later. She also traded the belt with Yukiko Tomoe during
Oz Academy Openweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-556: The WWF phased out the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. In a later shoot interview, Leilani Kai told that had things gone as the WWF originally planned, The Glamour Girls would have had a title match against the Jumping Bomb Angels at WrestleMania IV and that Ellison's actions had cost the four girls what would have been ultimately their biggest ever payday. Women that chose to continue allowing Ellison to work as their booker were kept under tight control. Velvet McIntyre
4171-483: The WWF promoted Moolah as holding the championship for the previous 28 years. After losing the title to Richter, Moolah aided Leilani Kai in defeating Richter for the title in February 1985. 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. Richter
4268-763: The Women's Championship could be defended on any brand, but later that year, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. In 2008, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship as a counterpart title for the SmackDown brand. The two titles were eventually unified in September 2010. The Women's Championship was then retired in favor of keeping the Divas Championship, which became briefly known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship. The brand extension ended in 2011. In April 2016 at WrestleMania 32 ,
4365-619: The Women's Championship for a final time at age 76. During her lifetime, Moolah was lauded as a leading figure in women's professional wrestling and was considered one of the industry's greatest wrestlers. 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 . However, her legacy has since been damaged in
4462-493: The allegations of exploitation against Moolah resurfaced. Two days after the announcement, WWE renamed the match " WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal ", removing Moolah's name from the event. A 2019 episode of Dark Side of the Ring broadcast on Viceland examined the allegations against her in the aftermath of the battle royal name controversy. The episode repeated many of the allegations against her but also featured comments from
4559-450: The couple to go separate ways. She further claimed that he wanted Ellison to quit her wrestling career, which she did not want to do. Two months after the breakup, Williams died due to an overdose. Later, Ellison met a wrestler named Buddy Lee, whom she regarded as the "love of her life." They were eventually married, and after divorcing in 1970 after nine years of marriage, they remained friends until Lee's death in 1999. The divorce
4656-574: The duo while they were touring Japan. Martin stated that Ellison contacted Japanese promoters and informed them that the Jumping Bomb Angels were supposed to drop the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship to The Glamour Girls before Martin and Kai returned to the United States. This was contrary to the booking decision made by Pat Patterson before the Japanese tour began. Unable to reach Patterson by telephone, Kai and Martin agreed to win
4753-672: The first women to wrestle in Madison Square Garden . For her impact, longevity and contributions, she became the first female inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995 and eventually Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. At the time of her death, Kevin Eck wrote in The Baltimore Sun : "The Fabulous Moolah didn't just dominate women's wrestling for parts of four decades, she was women's wrestling. Moolah ...
4850-489: The first-ever women's Royal Rumble match in the main event, which would be the longest women's match in WWE history. The following month, at the 2018 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view , the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match took place. Later that year, WWE would present its first all-women's pay-per-view event: WWE Evolution . The Women's Evolution would culminate at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, where Charlotte Flair , Becky Lynch , and Ronda Rousey would compete in
4947-459: The hospital, she again slipped into unconsciousness in the bathroom at her home, crushing several vertebrae . She underwent successful back surgery in mid-December. Ellison died on November 2, 2007, at the age of 84 in Columbia, South Carolina. According to her daughter Mary, the possible cause of death was a heart attack or blood clot related to a recent shoulder replacement surgery. Ellison
SECTION 50
#17328008239125044-497: The inaugural Survivor Series . Her team (Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin , and the Jumping Bomb Angels ) defeated champion Martel and her team (Leilani Kai, Judy Martin , Donna Christanello , and Dawn Marie ). On September 3, 1988, Moolah wrestled AWA World Women's Champion Madusa Miceli to a double DQ on an independent card in Medina, Ohio. Afterwards Moolah would retire from wrestling. During her retirement Moolah
5141-424: The inaugural champion. Aja Kong was the first champion in the title's history. She also holds the records for most reigns, with three. Akino holds the record for the longest reign, at 537 days, achieved on her first reign. Mio Shirai 's only reign of four hours and two minutes is the shortest in the title's history. Overall, there have been twenty-nine reigns shared among eighteen different wrestlers. Mio Momono
5238-653: The late 1980s. In the 1990s, she spent most of her time training female wrestlers at her school in Columbia, South Carolina . She also began training men, including Del Wilkes , and in 1995 trained more men than women. She also spent time training in Los Angeles at Verne Langdon's Slammers Gym. Journalist Dave Meltzer wrote an obituary for Moolah in which he stated that "different promoters had very different ideas of what being professional meant." Wrestling historian Tim Hornbaker said that Moolah "chose not to" break
5335-497: The list. WWE describe her: “Moolah was recognized as the true pioneer and biggest legend in the history of women's wrestling.” In 2016, after allegations against Moolah had become more prevalent, Luke Winkie of Sports Illustrated listed Moolah as the 69th greatest wrestler of all time because of her lengthy title reign but wrote that he "didn't feel great about it". Her house was located at Moolah Drive in South Carolina,
5432-431: The main event of The Brawl to End It All in 1984. Moolah regained the Women's Championship on two further occasions before entering semi-retirement towards the end of the decade. She continued to make sporadic appearances for WWF/WWE until her death, often in comedic roles with longtime friend Mae Young . In 1999, she became the oldest champion in the history of professional wrestling, up to that point in time, when she won
5529-538: The mid-1970s meant Ellison had to pull out of the Bill Cosby movie Mother, Jugs & Speed , which had a role written specifically for her. In 2002, Moolah wrote her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle . The book has been criticized for keeping kayfabe (the stance that wrestling storylines are real) and did not reveal a lot about her time controlling women's wrestling. Defending herself against these claims, Ellison retorted it
5626-533: The nations that have women's professional wrestling are Australia , Bolivia , Canada , Japan , Mexico , the United Kingdom , and the United States . In the United States, there are currently four major professional wrestling promotions that have a unified division with a title: WWE , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in addition to
5723-466: The physical constraints of the training camp unless she was accompanied by someone else. Over the years, various female wrestlers have come forward with stories accusing Ellison of being a pimp who often provided various wrestling promoters with unsuspecting female wrestlers that would be used as sex objects. Penny Banner directly described Moolah as a pimp who "in return for money," rented her female trainees out "in bulk" to wrestling promoters so that
5820-474: The premier joshi promotion in modern times, was purchased by New Japan Pro-Wrestling parent company Bushiroad in 2019. In April 2024, Rossy Ogawa (formerly of AJPW and Stardom) founded a new women's promotion called Dream Star Fighting Marigold or Marigold . In Mexico, professional wrestling is called lucha libre ("free fight"), and women wrestlers are called luchadoras . The Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), or World Wrestling Council, has
5917-538: The profession. Ellison had six grandchildren. Ellison and Carroll divorced shortly after their daughter's birth. Later, Ellison married wrestler Johnny Long. Marital conflicts developed when Long wanted Ellison to be a housewife instead of a career woman. In addition, Ellison accused Long of being a "womanizer". Ellison and Long divorced. Ellison also says that she dated country singer Hank Williams for four months in 1952. According to Ellison, Williams proposed to her, but Williams's drinking and heroin abuse forced
SECTION 60
#17328008239126014-526: The promoters and the male wrestlers could have sex with them. Banner said the women who were "sent on these tours were not told of this 'arrangement' ahead of time," and that "those who refused to have sex with wrestlers and promoters were raped." One of the most notorious accusations is from the family of Sweet Georgia Brown (Susie Mae McCoy), who was trained by Moolah and her husband, Buddy Lee. The Columbia Free Times reported allegations made by her daughter in 2006, in which she said her mother told her that she
6111-403: The promotion and even continued teaming with Young. In 2000, while working for WWF; LIWA shut down. Moolah would continue working for WWF. Throughout the early 1990s, she made appearances in video packages and at live WWF events. On June 24, 1995, she was the first female wrestler to be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame . In the late 1990s, Pat Patterson and Ellison began jokingly discussing
6208-531: The promotion's four women's divisions who compete in both singles competition and tag teams . WWE has six active women's championships: the WWE Raw Women's Championship (which is the successor to the WWE Divas Championship , which in turn succeeded the original WWE Women's Championship created in 1956) for the Raw brand, the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship for the SmackDown brand,
6305-434: The rights to her Women's World Championship. Moolah agreed to appear exclusively for the WWF, and thus became the first WWF Women's Champion . 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." When it
6402-406: The ring in 1999, Ellison began experiencing occasional dizziness, and as a result, her doctor requested that she begin to wear a heart monitor. A few days later, Ellison was admitted to the hospital for what turned out to be two clogged arteries and viral pneumonia . She stayed at the intensive-care unit of the hospital for 24 days, during which she was unconscious for fifteen days. After leaving
6499-586: The ring while providing eye candy for the male audiences and assisting Rogers against his opponents. Ellison broke up the partnership because Rogers kept pushing her to begin a sexual relationship. She then served as the valet for the Elephant Boy (Tony Olivas). Olivas was Mexican, but had very dark skin, which caused controversy when Ellison, a white woman, would kiss him on the cheek during their ring entrance routine. At one show in Oklahoma City ,
6596-530: The son of Sweet Georgia Brown and wrestlers Selina Majors and Beverly Shade, who defended her. "If I choose not to like her because of what she did to me, that's fine," Princess Victoria stated. "But Moolah needs to be remembered. She was an icon in this business. You can't take away her history because she was an asshole!" An animated version of Moolah was included on Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling . In addition, she appeared in one of Cyndi Lauper 's music videos, " The Goonies 'R' Good Enough ". An illness in
6693-623: The stars of a second wave of women wrestlers who succeeded the glamor-oriented generation defined by the Beauty Pair. That decade later saw the rise of the " Crush Gals " Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka , a tag team who achieved a level of mainstream success as women wrestlers that not only was unprecedented in Japan, but unheard of in the history of women's professional wrestling. The Crush Gals' long-running feud with Kaoru "Dump" Matsumoto and her Gokuaku Domei ("Atrocious Alliance") stable
6790-501: The team of Sarita and Taylor Wilde . The titles were initially deactivated on the June 20, 2013 episode of Impact! , but their return was announced at Bound for Glory 2020 . At Hard To Kill , Fire N Flava ( Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz ) won a tournament to become the tag team champions. ROH's has sporadically featured women's wrestling matches at its shows, dating back to a former working relationship with Shimmer. By 2017, ROH had been regularly featuring women's wrestling under
6887-426: The test of time" to remain culturally relevant long after the Japanese female wrestlers of the 1980s (more popular at that time) had faded from relevance. 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. The decision to hold a battle royal in honor of Moolah drew controversy after
6984-485: The then-oldest champion ever, though she lost the title back to Ivory eight days later. On the September 15, 2003, episode of Raw , Moolah won a match against Victoria . Moolah had been promised the match for her eightieth birthday and became the first octogenarian to compete in a WWE ring. After Moolah's victory, the "Legend Killer" Randy Orton came out and performed an RKO on her. Moolah and Young made another appearance at New Years Revolution in 2006, during
7081-425: The title. During the match, Moolah acted as the aggressor and pinned Byers to retain the championship. Moolah's first World Championship reign lasted over ten years. Moolah successfully defended the belt against the top female wrestlers in the world, such as Judy Grable and Donna Christanello , while also purporting to befriend some of the biggest celebrities of the day. Moolah claimed in her book, First Goddess of
7178-460: The titles from the Angels since Ellison had already misinformed the Japanese promoters. Martin stated that upon returning to the United States, Patterson was angry with them and confirmed that nobody within the WWF made the decision for the title change and that due to her long-standing relationship with the company, the WWF refused to listen to their explanation of Ellison's deceit. Shortly thereafter,
7275-679: The traditional clothing of the Aymara people . They were the inspiration for the comic book Super Cholita , which premiered in 2007. NCW Femmes Fatales is an independent promotion founded in 2009; its headquarters are in Montreal . In 2023, wrestler Nikki Cross completed her master's degree in history; her dissertation was on the subject of women's wrestling. The Fabulous Moolah Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Mary Lillian Ellison (July 22, 1923 – November 2, 2007)
7372-702: The training fee (which at the time of Richter's training was $ 500) and had other female wrestlers within her camp (including Leilani Kai , Judy Martin , Winona Littleheart , and Joyce Grable ) train the new recruits; these women did not get paid for their additional work as trainers. 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. Trainees were also required to rent duplex apartments on Ellison's property and they were responsible for paying her for rent and utilities. The training lasted six months and took place up to five hours per day inside
7469-437: 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. Martin stated that shortly before Ellison left the WWF in 1988 (shortly after falling out with Martin and Kai due to Ellison no longer receiving their booking fees), she sabotaged
7566-430: The women's wrestling scene and ensure that other women did not gain greater recognition. 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 protégé Mad Maxine on the animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling . Maxine was about to receive a big push by Vince McMahon but left the WWF shortly afterwards, as Ellison
7663-439: The wrestlers at his shows. After marrying wrestler Buddy Lee, he began helping Ellison train the female wrestlers. After she left Pfeffer's promotion in the 1950s, Ellison found it difficult to book her trainees in shows due to Pfeffer's influence over other National Wrestling Alliance promoters. Ellison claimed Pfeffer would threaten to reveal the pre-planned nature of wrestling if any other promoters did not do as he liked. As
7760-675: The years following her death, when allegations surfaced that she had exploited female wrestlers under her tutelage both financially and sexually. Mary Lillian Ellison was born in 1923 in Kershaw County, South Carolina , and grew up in Tookiedoo, 12 miles from Columbia . The youngest of five children, Ellison was the only daughter of Henry Lee and Suzann Atkinson Ellisor. 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. At age 10, Ellison
7857-426: Was an American professional wrestler , promoter and trainer better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah . She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife, wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke , as well as working alongside professional wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers . She won the NWA World Women's Championship in 1956 and was the most prominent holder of the title for 28 years. She
7954-727: Was attributed to Lee's affair with Rita Cortez, one of the wrestlers the duo was training. In the early 1980s, Ellison opened Moolah's Hideaway, a bar and grill which was operated by her daughter Mary and frequented by André the Giant . Beginning in 1991, Ellison lived with Mae Young in a house in Columbia, South Carolina . Her estate was located on a road named Moolah Drive. A midget professional wrestler named Katie Glass also lived with Moolah for over forty years. Another wrestler, Donna Christanello , also lived with Ellison on-and-off for forty years, ending in May 1999. During her return to
8051-581: Was extremely popular in Japan; their televised matches were some of the highest-rated broadcasts in the history of Japanese television, and the promotion regularly filled arenas to capacity. In the 1990s, US wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer rated several joshi puroresu matches five stars —a rarely-awarded perfect score on the Cornette scale—in his periodical the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Prominent joshi wrestlers of
8148-469: 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 protégé, Wendi Richter . After much buildup and hype, the Fabulous Moolah lost the championship to Richter on July 23, 1984, in the main event of The Brawl to End It All , which was broadcast live on MTV . Prior to the match,
8245-515: Was forced to compete against Ellison (whom McIntyre stated she didn't care for) at WrestleMania 2 instead of competing during an all-women tour of Kuwait with a group of Ellison's other female wrestlers. Their WrestleMania 2 match lasted less than two minutes with the referee ignoring McIntyre's leg being on the ropes while she was being pinned. Women that did not agree to Ellison's booking fees faced limited options. Rhonda Sing stated that Ellison contacted her and offered to let her wrestle Richter in
8342-465: Was hard to fit all of her almost five decade career into one book. Moolah and Young, along with several other female wrestlers, starred in the 2004 film Lipstick and Dynamite , a documentary about the female wrestlers from the 1950s era. They also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien promoting the film. Ellison's first husband was Walter Carroll, who became the father of her daughter Mary. Mary wrestled briefly but decided against pursuing
8439-481: Was in the business around Moolah and her girls." Former trainee Princess Victoria said Moolah never pimped any women or used drugs, but she did take money from them. Michael McCoy, Sweet Georgia Brown's son, refuted allegations made by his sister, stating that she has an agenda and that the allegations are false. However, on the Dark Side of the Ring episode about The Fabulous Moolah, Michael McCoy stated that she
8536-406: Was indeed made to have sex with paying promoters. Bruce Prichard said she was protecting herself from the promoters and the only negative thing he heard of her was "took a percentage of their pay, which was laid out in their contract clearly before they even started training, day one." As well as allegedly exploiting female wrestlers sexually, Ellison was accused of using her influence to control
8633-407: Was never told she would be losing the title and fell victim to a real-life " screwjob " finish known as " The Original Screwjob ". Richter promptly quit the WWF afterward, while Moolah continued to be champion for another two years—excluding a six-day reign by Velvet McIntyre during a tour of Australia in 1986—before losing the belt to Sherri Martel on July 24, 1987. She later captained a team at
8730-452: 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. She, however, soon began a romance with wrestler Johnny Long. Long later introduced Ellison to Jack Pfefer who gave her the moniker "Slave Girl Moolah". By the early 1950s, Moolah was a valet for "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers , accompanying him to
8827-485: Was often raped, given drugs, and made an addict in an intentional attempt by Ellison and Lee to control her. Ida Martinez , who wrestled during the 1960s, also recalls that many of the regional promoters " demanded personal services " before they would pay the female wrestlers. Mad Maxine described Moolah as an "evil person," saying Moolah made money by sending trainees "out to this guy in Arizona and pimped them out." In
8924-654: Was overall an eight-time world champion and is still widely recognized as the longest reigning champion of any wrestler in the wrestling business, holding the NWA / WWE Women's Champion for 10,775 days. Her last reign made history when she became the oldest female in WWE history to win the WWE Women's Champion at the age of 76. She was considered as an important figure and the forefront of women's wrestling from 1960s-1980s. Some of her notable trainees were Wendi Richter , Sherri Martel , Leilani Kai , Mad Maxine and Donna Christianello . On July 1, 1972, she and Vicki Williams were
9021-421: Was required to give Ellison 30% of her booking fee, and her paycheck was further reduced as Ellison deducted travel expenses, food, rent, and utilities before paying her. As a result, Johnson worked for Ellison for two years before she received any money. Johnson stated that Ellison would refuse to book certain women in her training camp if they angered her, and that Ellison monitored her and refused to let her leave
9118-435: Was still deeply distraught over her mother's death; to cheer her up, her father took her to the local wrestling matches. 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. Ellison returned to the Columbia home of her father and brothers. She graduated from Columbia High School , and married L. Walter Carroll. They soon became parents to
9215-547: Was the promoter for Ladies International Wrestling Association (LIWA) in 1990 based in North Carolina. Also the shows were held in Las Vegas . She started wrestling again in 1993 at the age of 70 when she defeated Sunny Brook. On June 21, 1996, she teamed with Mae Young at LIWA Golden Girls Extravaganza event in Las Vegas where they wrestled Liz Chase and Lori Lynn to a no contest. Moolah continued wrestling for
9312-454: Was unveiled and contested at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, 2016, between then- Divas Champion Charlotte Flair , Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a triple threat match. After Wrestlemania, the Diva's Championship and the "Diva's" branding would be retired. Following the 2016 WWE Brand Extension , the new Women's Championship would become exclusive to the Raw brand, resulting in the creation of
9409-539: Was unwilling to provide her with additional bookings. Maxine said that Moolah never told her about the WWF's plans to include her in the cartoon. Numerous other former trainees defected from Ellison after growing tired of sharing their paychecks with Ellison. Women wrestlers including Vivian and Luna Vachon, Ann Casey , and Darling Dagmar moved into other regions where Ellison had less control and negotiated their own payouts with promoters. Both Judy Martin and Leilani Kai told in later interviews that Moolah would collect
#911088