‘Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal’: Petition for WWE to Change Match Name Approaches Signature Goal

Pioneering female professional wrestler wasn’t exact “fabulous” to her colleagues

Fabulous Moolah - WWE.com
WWE.com

A Change.org petition demanding WWE change the name of its upcoming Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal is nearing its 7,500 signature goal.

The event is set for next month’s WrestleMania 34, which is the latest installment in the annual Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Here’s the problem: While Moolah is a huge name in the history of women’s professional wrestling, her reputation as a booker, trainer and mentor to other women is about as bad as it gets, and many wrestling fans think she is undeserving of such an honor.

Moolah’s backstage legacy is anything by “fabulous”: She has been accused by women who wrestled for her of pimping them out to men in the business, as well as skimming large chunks of their pay. Moolah, whose real name was Mary Lillian Ellisor, died in 2007 at age 84.

WWE, which named a 2017 all-female wrestling tournament after fellow in-ring legend Mae Young, did not immediately respond to TheWrap‘s request for comment on the public calls to change the new match’s name.

Vince McMahon’s pro-wrestling league posted the following promotional video during Monday’s “Raw” on USA Network:

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/973375209116807168

The backlash isn’t limited to one petition — see some more of the outcry here:

https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/973616533137014784

WrestleMania 34 will take place April 8 from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It will air on pay-per-view and WWE Network.

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