RIP--The Fabulous Moolah

Sadly, there has been another death in wrestling. This time, fortunately however, there were no steroids, no double murder/suicides, no overdoses. Natural causes is the exception, not the rule, in this industry and, on Friday, legendary female wrestler Lillian Ellison, aka The Fabulous Moolah, died at 84 years old. Her career in the ring was groundbreaking, practically unmatched by anybody of either gender. Her career began sometime in the '50s as "Slave Girl" Moolah (classy, I know) seconding "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, where she was almost instantly popular as a cheating bad girl. There had been female wrestlers as long as males, but rarely was there somebody with the combination of charisma and athleticism, especially at the time. She beat Judy Grable for her first championship in 1956 and, while she was beaten for the belt time and again, she continued to hold it periodically until she lost it for the last time in 1987. There is only one other wrestler who could legitimately claim to have been in the picture for so long: Lou Thesz. While Moolah's title reigns ceased, her involvement in the business did not, and she made regular comedic appearances, some funny, some strange, and some downright disgusting, and wrestled a few matches against some of the younger women in the industry as late as last year.

Very few can claim to have been viable in their respective industries for half a century. Even fewer can claim this in an industry based around athletics and look. Fewer than that can claim this in an industry that has treated her gender with such blatant disrespect. In fact, only one can claim that. Moolah was an inspiration for generations of women who wanted to be wrestlers, and almost single-handedly legitimized what is otherwise a misogynist entertainment. Every female wrestler who has cared more about her performance than her breasts owe Moolah a debt of gratitude for blazing the path, and if there was one person who would never let them forget that, it was Moolah herself.