On a night that saw a predictable title win, WWE also gave us a rather pleasant surprise last night announcing that Wendi Richter will be just the fourth woman inducted into the Hall of Fame in April. No doubt an extremely classy move by WWE; I know we ride them a lot but this should be commended. Although, it’s interesting that the announcement of a female Hall of Famer who gave her blood, sweat and tears to the sport falls on the same night as a boob bouncing competition as Erin dubs it.
Watch WWE’s profile piece that aired on Raw last night, below:
It seems 2010 is a year of healing as following in the footsteps of Bret Hart, who has rebuilt bridges with WWE and returned to television — Richter has mended her own bridges with the company. Richter controversially left the WWE in 1985 after what is considered the ‘original screwjob’. Wikipedia describes the screwjob as:
In 1985, after losing and then regaining the title from rival Leilani Kai at the inaugural WrestleMania, Richter was scheduled to defend her women’s title at Madison Square Garden on November 25 of that same year against a mysterious masked opponent known only as The Spider Lady. Moments into the match, The Spider Lady broke from the pre-scripted events and pinned Richter’s shoulders to the mat. The referee—who was in on the plan—delivered a swift three count, despite Richter kicking out after a count of one. Richter ignored the bell and continued to attack the Spider, unmasking the new champion to reveal that it was The Fabulous Moolah in disguise.
It was reported that the plan to rid Richter of the title was concocted by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon, who brought in Moolah after Richter refused to sign a new contract with the WWF. Richter, however, claims she was still under her original five year contract, but that she regularly had disagreements with McMahon about her compensation. She also claims that when she arrived at the arena that day, she was surprised to find Moolah backstage, as she never showed up to events for which she was not scheduled to wrestle. After the match, an infuriated Richter left the arena in her wrestling gear, took a cab to the airport, and booked herself on a flight out of New York. Afterward, she never spoke to either McMahon or Moolah again.
Watch below:
