The Fabulous Moolah - Biography

Lillian Ellison was born on July 22th 1923, the youngest of 13 siblings and raised in South Carolina. At age eight, Lillian's mother died and her father took her to wrestling shows as a way to cope. Her father's love for wrestling became her own and she aspired to become a wrestler, that of the likes of Mildrid Burke. After a short marriage to wrestler Johnny Long of Charlotte-based Crockett Promotions and giving birth to her daughter Mary Ellison (who later wrestled as Darling Pat Sherry), she embarked on a road to becoming a wrestling legend.

Lillian was trained by Johnny Long and Billy Wolfe however Wolfe, the top Women's wrestling promoter at the time didn't think that Lillian could make it as a wrestler because of her small size. She however didn't quit and began to work for promoter Jack Pfefer. Under the name Slave Girl Moolah, she became a valet for The Elephant Boy Tony Olivas and "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. As a valet, she was mainly eye candy however her interferences proved to be a huge factor in matches. During this time, she was married to wrestler Buddy Lee, who helped train her. Mae Young can also attest to having a hand in training Moolah in her early days.

She later took on the name Fabulous Moolah and won the Women's World Title on September 18th 1956 after defeating Judy Grable, beating out many women's wrestlers at the time. Her then husband Buddy Lee and herself opened a wrestling school and began training future wrestlers. Training future female wrestlers gave her extreme leverage, she held Women's wrestling in the palm of her hands and arguable the main reason she was able to reign as champion for the lengths of time that she did. Among top female athletes trained by Moolah were Luna Vachon, Vivian Vachon, Wendi Richter, Lelani Kai, Judy Martin, Patty Bray, Margaret Garcia, Rita Cortez, Joyce Grable and more.

The monopoly didn't take away from the fact that she was one of the most vicious woman of her time. Her underhanded tactics, flamboyant costumes and knack for working the crowds catapulted her to Mildred Burke status and beyond. Indeed she is one of the most celebrated wrestlers for the length of holding a title, however it came with controversy. The World Wrestling Entertainment recognizes her as Women's champion for 28years from the period of winning the title in 1986 to the point of her losing the title to Wendi Richter on July 23rd 1984 at Madison Square Garden. The fact of the matter is, Moolah lost and regained the title numerous times after 1956 and the actual champion had been disputed.

It was only until 1964 that Moolah was recognized as the NWA Women's champion, which made her the Undisputed Women's titleholder. Two years later on September 17th 1966, Betty Boucher defeated The Fabulous Moolah for the title and Moolah regained it weeks later on October 14th 1966. On March 10th 1968 Yukiko Tomoe defeated Moolah in Osaka, Japan. Moolah then regained the title on April 2nd 1968 in Hamamatsu, Japan. The title then changed hands two more times to Sue Green and Evelyn Stevens. When she defeated Evelyn Stevens to regain the title, it made her a 5-Time champion. Thought she was defeated for the title, she always regained it in a matter of days. Moolah having the rights to the title made her invincible.

In 1983 Fabulous Moolah sold the rights of the title and the Women's Tag Team Championship titles to the WWE, (World Wrestling Federation at the time) after they withdrew from NWA. The titles were then known as the WWF Women's Championship and the WWF Women's Tag-Team Championship. This was a new era in wrestling, the "Rock `N Wrestling" era, and Moolah signed to work exclusively with the WWF.

Wendi Richter defeating Moolah for the title brought the Women's Division national attention, with celebrity manager of Wendi Richter; Cindy Lauper in her corner. Moolah later regained the title by defeating Wendi on November 25th 1985 as the "Spider Lady." A very controversial match being that there were contract disputes between Richter and Vince McMahon, the referee was told to make a fast count and Wendi Richter unknowingly lost the belt to Moolah. The incident is known as the "The Original Screwjob." Moolah went on to drop the title to Velvet McIntyre and Sensational Sherri. By the late 1980's the Women's Championship was vacated and Moolah only made special appearances throughout the 90's.

On June 24th 1995, The Fabulous Moolah was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame. She was the first woman to be inducted.

In 1999, the newer generation of wrestling fans were introduced to Moolah. In the generation where Sable and Chyna were the top names synonymous with female wrestlers at the time, Moolah's role was comic relief, which for many was tasteless. On the September 9th 1999 episode of SmackDown in the midst of a Chyna vs. Jeff Jarret feud, The Fabulous Moolah accompanied by Mae Young had her 2 cents on the inter-gender feud, her siding with Chyna led to a guitar being smashed over her head. At Unforgiven 1999 Fabulous Moolah & Mae Young interfered in the Chyna vs Jeff Jarrett "Good Housekeeping" Intercontinental title match. Both ladies suplexed Jeff however he ended up getting the better of them by clotheslining them both. Earlier that night on Heat, the WWF Women's Champion Ivory had some disrespectfully comment towards Moolah which led to Moolah slapping Ivory. In a backstage segment after the Chyna vs Jeff match Ivory continued her disrespectfully comments which resulted in her being attached by The Fabulous Moolah & Mae Young. This led to a Moolah vs Ivory feud. After a series of segment and matches in the weeks after, Moolah defeated Ivory at No Mercy 1999, holding the WWF Women's title once again. Just days later, Ivory regained the title.

From the period between 2000 throughout 2007, The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young were recurring personalities on WWE television. They were used primarily for comic relief. Moolah was still tough as nails and was able to take vicious bumps from much younger superstars, male and females. Highlights include September 15th 2003 where she defeated Victoria in a match and then received a vicious RKO from "Legend Killer" Randy Orton.
In 2003 her Autobiography was released Lillian Ellison, The First Goddess of the Squared Circle and she was inducted into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF).In 2004, The Fabulous Moolah stared in the film "Lipstick and Dynamite" a documentary about the women wrestlers from the 1950s era. The film had many viewings at independent theaters. In 2006, a Fabulous Moolah action figure was released by Jakks Pacific for their Classic Superstars series.

On November 3rd 2007, WWE.com announced that Lillian Ellison passed the night before...

Fabulous Moolah passes away:
WWE is saddened by the passing of Lillian Ellison, who was known to sports-entertainment fans as Hall of Famer Fabulous Moolah. She passed away last night in Columbia, S.C. In the world of women’s wrestling, there will always be one irrefutable legend that stands head and shoulders above the rest: The Fabulous Moolah. She was the longest reigning champion in the history of her chosen sport, or any sport for that matter. And with more than 50 years in the business to her credit, she established a legacy that will never be forgotten, making her name synonymous with female wrestling.