WWE just can’t seem to get out of its own way when it comes to the checkered history of a carnival-based industry.
The Fabulous Moolah became the latest controversial subject of lionization as, during Monday’s broadcast of Raw, WWE announced that the first-ever Fabulous Moolah Women’s Battle Royal would take place at WrestleMania 34.
During WrestleMania weekend in 2018, Moolah will now join The Ultimate Warrior—the subject of the annual Warrior Award at the WWE Hall of Fame despite coming under fire for historically cruel and bigoted views—as beacons of immortality whose legacies certainly didn’t age well.
Pro wrestling Twitter made sure to issue a reminder of why honoring the Fabulous Moolah could be considered upsetting:
Does a Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal mean that Moolah gets 35% of everyone’s Mania payoff? #RAW
— Tom. (@NotThatTomGreen) March 13, 2018
“On the heels of the Warrior award and the Fabulous Moolah battle royal, WWE is pleased to announce the Fritz Von Erich Father of the Year trophy.”
— Trevor Dame (@TrevorDame) March 13, 2018
For real tho I’m gonna need a much longer video explaining how feeding young women drugs and using them as sexual currency is revolutionary and empowering for women #FabulousMoolah #WWERaw
— Danielle Matheson (@prograpslady) March 13, 2018
Twitter after hearing about the Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. pic.twitter.com/D4X1VopllT
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 13, 2018
Despite an otherwise incomparable professional wrestling career, former trainees of the Fabulous Moolah have accused her of everything from sexual exploitation to financial impropriety. In 1961, the Augusta Chroniclereported the former four-time women’s champion made $125,000 which, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent to just over one million dollars in 2018.
Unfortunately, one would be hard-pressed to find glowing stories of Moolah sharing the wealth.
Former trainee Mad Maxine, real name Jeannine Mjoseth, described a torturous environment within Moolah’s compound to Bill Fernow of SLAM! Sports. Under the so-called tutelage of the then-living legend, whose influence dominated women’s wrestling at the time, women were charged rent in addition to training fees of $1,500.
The accounts only became more horrific as Mjoseth went into further detail: “The girls went into debt to her and she controlled their lives,” claimed Mjoseth. “I made sure I had a job so I could have a phone and a car. The others were kind of marooned. It was an environment ripe for abuse.”
The alleged abuse was especially rampant for former trailblazing Texas state champion Sweet Georgia Brown, real name Susie Mae McCoy, who is credited as the first African-American woman to hold a singles championship in pro wrestling.
An article penned by Murfee Faulk of the Free Times profiled McCoy’s brother, Michael, who embarked on a harrowing search for the dark truths of his sister’s turbulent wrestling career. In addition to familiar accounts of financial exploitation from Moolah and common-law husband Buddy Lee, Michael provided particularly troubling details of apparent sex trafficking:
“On the road, Susie Mae received odd knocks on the door at strange hours. Then, she told [her sister] Barbara, she would begin taking off her dress. When she didn’t comply, she was beaten, often brutally. Sometimes her eyes swelled shut. She had a tooth knocked out. And she was threatened with worse.”
WWE self-editing its history, and that of others, for the sake of convenience is nothing new. In fact, based on the very nature of pro wrestling as a whole, it’s often difficult to determine where kayfabe ends and reality begins.
But anyone even remotely interested in researching the unabashed history of Mary Lillian Ellison will quickly discover how women’s history in 2018 is still being haunted by its past.
