After days of online backlash over the use of Fabulous Moolah in association with a first ever Women’s Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, WWE confirmed in a statement issued to the wrestling media on Thursday that they were dropping Moolah from the name.
The match will now be called the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal going forward.
“After further consideration, we believe it’s best to proceed with the name ‘WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.’ What remains most important is that this historic match is part of WWE’s unwavering commitment to the Women’s Division.”
Former Fabulous Moolah trainee Mad Maxine/Lady Maxine (Jeannine Mjoseth) spoke at length with Pro Wrestling Sheet this week about Moolah’s troubled past after the WWE announcement, accusing her of skimming people on “their money, she ignored women who were badly hurt, she pimped women out to creepy men and on and on.”
The family of former pro wrestler Sweet Georgia Brown (Susie Mae McCoy) made similar accusations against Moolah back in 2006 adding “she refused to have sex with men Moolah would send to her hotel room. They also claim Brown was drugged/raped under the WWE Hall of Famer’s watch and stiffed on a majority of the money she made.”
Snickers, the official corporate sponsor of WrestleMania 34, became aware of the accusations against Moolah this week and issued this statement to WrestlingInc.com:
“We were recently made aware of the World Wrestling Entertainment Inc’s (WWE) decision to honor a former wrestler during the upcoming WrestleMania 34 event. As a principle-based business that has long championed creating inclusive environments that encourage and empower everyone to reach their full potential, this is unacceptable. We are engaging with the WWE to express our disappointment.”
WWE continued to push Moolah’s background history and involvement with the match as late as Tuesday night’s broadcast of Smackdown Live despite online backlash after the initial announcement took place 24 hours earlier during RAW.
WWE has yet to issue a formal press release or announcement on WWE.com regarding dropping Moolah’s name from the match, but have deleted the match listing.
Sources: The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, PWInsider.com