This week’s reaction to the first ever Memorial Battle Royal for the women’s division being named after The Fabulous Moolah has forced WWE’s hand.
According to an exclusive report by The Wrap, the WrestleMania 34 match will now just be called the “WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.”
“After further consideration, we believe it’s best to proceed with the name ‘WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal,’” WWE told TheWrap on Thursday. “What remains most important is that this historic match is part of WWE’s unwavering commitment to the Women’s Division.”
On Monday’s Raw (March 12, 2018) it was announced as a milestone event for the women – a match like the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal for the men.
Public outcry on social media was immediate. Accusations from former students of Moolah’s include sexual exploitation and shady business practices that included skimming large chunks of her female trainees pay.
A statement was issued to Pro Wrestling Sheet by Jeannine Mjoseth, who got her start in the business with Moolah as Mad Maxine/Lady Maxine that corroborated these accounts.
“The Fabulous Moolah was a real-life heel. A lot of women paid to train at her school and then went out on the road. They risked life and limb in their matches and she repaid them with the worst kinds of abuses. She skimmed their money, she ignored women who were badly hurt, she pimped women out to creepy men and on and on. She was not a mother figure. She was more like Kali, the Indian Goddess of Destruction. I met her in my early 20s and I had never met such a monstrous person.”
A petition was made shortly after to get WWE to remove Moolah’s name from the Battle Royal.
The video showcasing the announcement also had its comments section disabled after public outrage.
Sean Ross of fightful.com also disclosed that advertisers began voicing their displeasure with associating Moolah’s name with the match:
I was told that Snickers, the sponsor of WrestleMania was very unhappy about the negative publicity associated with The Fabulous Moolah name
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) March 15, 2018
It looks like WWE actually listened and is making changes.
We’ll keep you posted on anymore updates.
What do you think of this development? Are you relieved? Sound off in the comments below.
