Mary Lillian Ellison didn't just want to be famous. She wanted to be rich.
When a promoter asked why she was getting into the ring, she supposedly snapped back that she was doing it "for the moolah." The name stuck. For better or worse, The Fabulous Moolah became the face of women’s wrestling for half a century. But if you look past the glittery robes and the 1990s comedy sketches with Mae Young, you find a story that is honestly pretty dark.
She was a pioneer. She was a gatekeeper. Some say she was a monster.
The 28-Year Reign That Wasn't Quite Real
If you check the WWE record books, you'll see a stat that looks impossible. They credit The Fabulous Moolah with a title reign lasting 10,170 days. That is nearly 28 years. On paper, she won the NWA World Women's Championship in 1956 and didn’t let go until 1984.
The truth is messier.
She actually lost the belt several times during those decades—to wrestlers like Bette Boucher and Yukiko Tomoe—but those changes weren't always recognized by the promotions back home. Moolah didn’t just win the title; she eventually bought the legal rights to it. Basically, she owned the championship she was defending. It’s hard to lose a belt when you own the physical strap and the trademark.
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This iron grip on the division made her the most powerful woman in the industry. She helped overturn the ban on women’s wrestling in New York and became the first woman to headline Madison Square Garden in 1972. You can't deny that she broke down doors. However, many wrestlers who followed her claim she only opened those doors so she could stand in the doorway and charge admission.
Life at the Camp: Training or Exploitation?
Moolah ran a legendary training school out of her estate in Columbia, South Carolina. For a long time, if a woman wanted to be a professional wrestler in North America, they had to go through her. There was no other way.
"Girl wrestling" back then was a niche, often traveling circus. Moolah acted as the trainer, the booker, and the landlord. She would take a 25% to 30% cut of her trainees' pay as a booking fee. Then she’d deduct travel, food, and rent for the apartments she owned on her property. Some women, like Debbie Johnson, claimed they worked for two years and barely saw a cent.
It wasn’t just about the money, though. The stories that came out after her death in 2007 are chilling.
In the Dark Side of the Ring documentary and various interviews, former trainees have accused Moolah of much worse than just being a "tough boss." There are allegations of "pimping"—sending female wrestlers to promoters for sexual favors to secure bookings. The son of the late Sweet Georgia Brown (Susie Mae McCoy) has spoken publicly about how his mother was drugged and abused under Moolah’s watch.
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Wendi Richter, the woman who finally ended Moolah's 28-year "official" reign at The Brawl to End It All in 1984, famously left the company because of Moolah’s backstage politics. Richter was the face of the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" with Cyndi Lauper, but she found herself fighting a system that felt rigged against the talent.
The Spider Lady Incident
If you want to understand how protective Moolah was of her spot, look at 1985. Richter was the champion and was in a contract dispute with Vince McMahon. During a match against a masked wrestler called "The Spider Lady," the referee counted a fast three-pin even though Richter’s shoulder was up.
Richter unmasked the attacker to find a 62-year-old Moolah.
It was a real-life betrayal in a scripted world. Moolah took the belt back, and Richter walked out of the arena in her wrestling gear, hopped in a cab, and didn't speak to Moolah or the WWE for decades.
Why This Matters in 2026
For years, WWE treated Moolah as a saintly matriarch. They put her in the Hall of Fame in 1995. They featured her in "Puppies" segments during the Attitude Era.
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But things changed in 2018. When WWE announced a "Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal" for WrestleMania 34, the backlash was instant. Fans didn't just tweet their anger; they reached out to sponsors like Mars, Inc. (the makers of Snickers). The company quickly dropped her name from the event.
It was a rare moment where the "wrestling history" written by the winners was corrected by the voices of the victims.
Today, Moolah is a complicated legacy. She was a woman who survived a brutal, sexist industry by becoming more ruthless than the men running it. She mentored stars like Sherri Martel and Leilani Kai, but she also arguably held back an entire generation of female athletes to keep herself on top.
What You Should Know About the Legend
If you're looking into the history of the "Great Moolah" wrestler, keep these specific points in mind to separate the myth from the reality:
- The Reign: It wasn't 28 years straight. It was a series of reigns that were "unified" for marketing purposes when she sold the rights to the belt to Vince McMahon.
- The Business: She was a legitimate promoter. She wasn't just a performer; she was a business mogul in a time when women were rarely allowed to own anything in sports.
- The Allegations: The sexual and financial exploitation claims are not just "internet rumors." They have been backed by multiple former trainees, including Mad Maxine and the family of Sweet Georgia Brown.
- The Hall of Fame: While she remains in the WWE Hall of Fame, the company has largely stopped mentioning her on modern broadcasts.
To really understand the history of women's sports, you have to look at the people who were "first." Often, they weren't the nicest people. They were the ones tough enough—or mean enough—to survive. Moolah was definitely both.
If you want to dig deeper into this era of wrestling, I highly recommend watching the "The Fabulous Moolah" episode of Dark Side of the Ring or reading Wendi Richter’s rare interviews about her time in the WWF. Seeing the contrast between the shiny TV product and the reality of the South Carolina training camp is eye-opening. It changes how you see the "divas" and "superstars" of today who finally get to keep 100% of their own moolah.
Practical Next Steps
- Research the "Screwjob" before Montreal: Look up the Spider Lady vs. Wendi Richter match on YouTube to see the first major "double-cross" in wrestling history.
- Support Modern History: Follow the Cauliflower Alley Club or similar organizations that help retired wrestlers, many of whom didn't have the financial protections modern stars enjoy.
- Check the Sources: Read Mary Lillian Ellison’s autobiography, First Goddess of the Squared Circle, but take it with a grain of salt—she was always "working" the audience.