Fabulous Moolah passes away

[krazysane]

Didnt expect this, R.I.P

[Sajoa Moe]

Wow. I thought she was going to live forever. RIP.

[molson5]

am90 said:

RIP Moolah, provided great comedic relief over the past few years. Plus, longest Women's Champion ever!

The WWF actually marketed her as the longest reigning champion of any kind, in any sport - a 30-year reign. That wasn't technically accurate, as the belt wasn't active all those years, and there was a few other very quick reigns, but it was pretty close.

[royboy8]

man, i'm kind of sad now... There will be a HUGE tribute for her on raw at least...

[MCMGM]

Aww man, this sucks.

[MCMGM]

royboy8 said:

man, i'm kind of sad now... There will be a HUGE tribute for her on raw at least...

I don't know, they didn't even mention Sherri when she died. I hope they do something for her though.

[molson5]

royboy8 said:

man, i'm kind of sad now... There will be a HUGE tribute for her on raw at least...

I think she'll get a tribute video coming back from a commercial (possibly with a Vince narration), and then a quick JR/King mention going into the next match.

[voiceboxisback]

Not to sound morbid, or anything, but I'm totally not surprised....

[phenomphan]

She'll be missed. I send my prayers and condolences to her family. R.I.P.

[Steveweiser]

shannonfans said:

royboy8 said:

man, i'm kind of sad now... There will be a HUGE tribute for her on raw at least...

I don't know, they didn't even mention Sherri when she died. I hope they do something for her though.

The Sherri one was handled badly, as it came when they were trying to tell everyone that Vince had died. Sherri only got a mention before the women's match. I think Moolah will get a bigger tribute, possibly even a magazine like Blassie got.

[mothership]

Well, no disrespect to Sherri...but I think Moolah was a little more important in the history of WWE. So I would assume she'd get more than the pic with the dash between the dates (which Sherri did get). I wouldn't expect a 2 hour Moolah tribute by any means...but I do hope they at least do one good video documenting her career and contributions to the business. And I'm sure there will be a womens match in her honor.

[randomranter]

I usually don't agree with the IWC. No matter who dies, we get the standard drivel of "You will be missed" (even though nobody talked, heard about, or cared about them in months or years), "One of the greats" (even for those who never went above the lower-mid card), and "A real pioneer" (Even if they never accomplished anything noteworthy). I just wish people would save these kind of statements for those wrestlers who really did matter in the sport, so they'd keep their meaning.

Like Moolah.

She really was a pioneer of ladies' wrestling. If it weren't for her, we'd have no Candice Michelle. No Trish Stratus. No Beth Phoenix. Every lady on the roster should be bowing their heads in a moment of silence for the lady who virtually singlehandedly put ladies wrestling on the map. Her accomplishments........too many to mention. And yes, she will be missed. We'll never be able to look forward to skits involving mystery women and partially expecting to see Moolah standing there to give us a moment of comic relief. I actually enjoyed those.

I hope that we get more than the standard 20 second "In memory of......" blurb at the beginning of Raw. I'm not expecting a whole tribute show, but a 10 minute retrospective on her in-ring accomplishments would be nice. And a non-Kayfabe title match between Beth and someone who can actually wrestle in her honor. She deserves a real memorial.

RIP Moolah. You really were a pioneer, and us old-school wrestling fans all over the world will miss you.

[Avalanche Alvarez]

RIP.
Definitely one of the best female wrestlers to ever grace the ring.

[The Thread Barbi]

RIP Moolah. Too bad your pioneering work now means women's wrestling involves Diva Search contests in today's WWE.

[Avalanche Alvarez]

coksf said:

RIP Moolah. Too bad your pioneering work now means women's wrestling involves Diva Search contests in today's WWE.

Quoted for truth.

[metylerca]

RIP.. she was on camera not too long ago IIRC. She lived a long life and seemed happy to be involved with the business.

[Steveweiser]

ALL-TIME GREAT THE FABULOUS MOOLAH PASSES AWAY
by Mike Johnson @ 11:38:08 AM on 11/3/2007

World Wrestling Entertainment announced this morning that long-time WWF Women's champion The Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison) has passed away. The WWE website did not list a cause of death. By my records, she was 84 years old.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Moolah was Women's Champion nine times, including the period before it was a WWE Title and "forgotten" switches not acknowledged in official WWE history books. She may be best remembered for having the longest running championship reign (28 years) of any champion ever in professional wrestling history and maintained a close relationship with the McMahon family through the years.

Originally breaking in as "Slave Girl Moolah" in the 1950s, she was christened the Fabulous Moolah after winning the championship in a Battle Royal. Although she lost the title several times, she always regained it and history will remember her as having one long, uninterrupted reign.

Moolah was at the forefront of the WWF's national expansion during the "Rock N' Wrestling" era, managing Leilani Kai against Cyndi Lauper's charge, Wendi Richter. Moolah was a regular top character for the company during that time period, translating her in-ring career to action figures, an animated appearance on the WWF cartoon series, a cameo in a Cyndi Lauper music video and more. When WWF had contractual issues with Richter, they sent Moolah into the ring to win the title back as the masked "Spider Lady", perfecting a screwjob years before Montreal became part of the wrestling jargon.

When Moolah finally dropped the WWF Women's title to Sherri Martel towards the end of 1987, it marked the end of a true era, although Moolah maintained a presence with the company until her passing. In October 1999, Moolah returned to the ring at the age of 76 to capture one last championship win from Ivory at the No Mercy '99 PPV, for a short eight day title run.

Moolah was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995 and returned alongside Mae Young to make a number of comedic cameos through the Attitude era, up until this past year's Summerslam, during a backstage vignette with Vince McMahon, William Regal and Mae Young which ended up being her final public appearance.

Moolah's career was recognized in the 2004 documentary "Lipstick and Dynamite", which looked at the pioneering days of women's professional wrestling, featuring Mollah, Mae Young and Penny Banner, among others. She also released an autobiography via WWE in 2004 and was a regular at a number of wrestling conventions.

Moolah had recently undergone an eye transplant and was scheduled to have her shoulder replaced. Moolah had suffered the passing of her brother, the last of 12 siblings (she was the youngest), this past August, which forced her to pull out of several scheduled appearances.

Moolah was living in Columbia, SC at the time of her passing.

[ChitownKnight]

So the last time we saw Moolah was in the bikini contest on Smackdown a few months ago?

[Deleted]

RIP Moolah, you lived one hell of a life.

[MCMGM]

mothership said:

Well, no disrespect to Sherri...but I think Moolah was a little more important in the history of WWE.

That shouldn't matter, Sherri worked for the company as well and was a big part of it when she was in her prime. Anyone who has worked for the company and passed should get equal treatment.

I understand having bigger things like what they did for Eddie and Chris, when people are on the main roster up and die.