The Fabulous Moolah Mary Lillian Ellison ( July 22 , 1923 – November 2 , 2007 ) , better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah , was an American female professional wrestler . She began her career working with promoter Billy Wolfe and his wife , wrestler and trainer Mildred Burke , as well as working alongside professional wrestler " Nature Boy " Buddy Rogers . She won the NWA World Women ' s Championship in 1956 and was the most prominent holder of the title for approximately the next thirty years . In the 1980s , she joined the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) as part of the Rock ' n ' Wrestling Connection storyline , feuding with Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter , the latter of whom defeated her for the WWF Women ' s Championship in 1984 . Ellison was marketed by the WWF ( later World Wrestling Entertainment , WWE ) as holding the record for the longest title reign by any athlete in any professional sport . According to WWE , she was also the first WWF Women ' s Champion and held the title a total of four times . In addition , Ellison was a prominent trainer and promoter in woman ' s professional wrestling . In the 1990s , she returned to the WWF in a comedic role with longtime friend Mae Young . Ellison became the oldest champion in the history of professional wrestling when she won the WWF Women ' s Championship at age 76 , in 1999 . In 2010 , WWE recognized her as the 27th best wrestler ever . Early life . Mary Lillian Ellison was born in 1923 in Tookiedoo , South Carolina , and grew up in Tookiedoo , twelve miles from Columbia . The youngest of thirteen children , Ellison was the only daughter of a part Cherokee father and an Irish mother . Her parents owned a farm , a grocery store , and a service station . When her mother died of cancer aged forty , eight - year - old Ellison went to live with her paternal grandmother and worked on her cousin ' s cotton farm to make money . At age ten , Ellison was still deeply distraught over her mother ’ s death ; to cheer her up , her father took her to the local wrestling matches . Ellison liked the matches , but it was not until she saw Women ' s Champion Mildred Burke wrestle that " they began to mean much more to me . " Ellison returned to the Columbia home of her father and brothers . She graduated Columbia High School , but at age fourteen married 21 - year - old Walter Carroll . They soon became parents to a daughter . A few months after the birth of her daughter , she divorced Carroll . Still only fifteen , she left her daughter with a friend and set out on a wrestling career of her own . Professional wrestling career . Early career ( 1940s – 1950s ) . Ellison began her wrestling career with Mildred Burke ’ s husband Billy Wolfe , the dominant women ' s promoter of the time . Her first match was on May 26 , 1949 against June Byers at the Boston Arena . Wolfe was notorious for advising his wrestlers to enter into sexual relationships with either himself or competing promoters to ensure additional bookings , a practice with which Ellison refused to go along . She , however , soon began a romance with wrestler Johnny Long . Long later introduced Ellison to Jack Pfefer who gave her the moniker " Slave Girl Moolah " . By the early 1950s , Moolah was a valet for " Nature Boy " Buddy Rogers , accompanying him to the ring while providing eye candy for the male audiences and assisting Rogers against his opponents . Ellison broke up the partnership because Rogers kept pushing her to begin a sexual relationship . She then served as the valet for the Elephant Boy ( Tony Olivas ) . Olivas was Mexican , but had very dark skin , which caused controversy when Ellison , a white woman , would kiss him on the cheek during their ring entrance routine . At one show in Oklahoma City , a man , who thought that Olivas was a black man , attempted to stab Ellison with a knife for kissing him . Moolah later left Pfeffer ' s promotion and began wrestling under Boston promoters Tony Santos and Paul Bowser . In 1955 , she began working for Vince McMahon , Sr . ' s Capitol Wrestling Corporation . World Champion ( 1956 – 1970s ) . On September 18 , 1956 , Moolah defeated Judy Grable in a thirteen - woman battle royal to win the vacant World Women ' s Championship , which shares a lineage with the NWA World Women ' s Championship . She was not immediately recognized by everyone as the NWA Champion because Billy Wolfe , with whom she had had conflict earlier in her career , still controlled the promotion . After the match , Vince McMahon , Sr . dubbed Ellison with a new ring name — The Fabulous Moolah . Subsequently , June Byers came out of retirement to challenge Moolah to a match for the title . During the match , Moolah acted as the aggressor and pinned Byers to retain the championship . Moolah ' s first World Championship reign lasted over ten years . Moolah successfully defended the belt against the top female wrestlers in the world , such as Judy Grable and Donna Christanello , while also purporting to befriend some of the biggest celebrities of the day . Moolah claimed in her book , " First Goddess of the Squared Circle , " that she formed friendships with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis . After June Byers retired in 1964 , Moolah was subsequently recognized as official NWA Champion , thus making her the undisputed Women ’ s World Champion . Nevertheless , Moolah dropped the belt on September 17 , 1966 to Bette Boucher , although she regained the title just weeks later . She also traded the belt with Yukiko Tomoe during a tour of Japan in 1968 . On July 1 , 1972 , Moolah became the first woman allowed to wrestle at Madison Square Garden , which had previously banned women ' s wrestling . In fact , Moolah helped overturn the ban on women ' s wrestling in the entire state of New York , which the New York State Athletic Commission lifted in June 1972 . During her quest to overturn the ban , she flipped football player Roosevelt " Rosey " Grier onto his back on " The Mike Douglas Show " . Moolah continued an uninterrupted eight - year reign before losing to Sue Green at Madison Square Garden in 1976 . Moolah regained her title a short time later . She also bought the legal rights to the championship in the late 1970s , and after losing the championship for two days to Evelyn Stevens in 1978 , began another long reign , defending her title for another six years . Also in the 1970s , Moolah held the NWA Women ' s World Tag Team Championship twice with Toni Rose . Rock ' n ' Wrestling Connection ( 1980s ) . In 1983 , Vince McMahon , Jr . began expanding the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) nationally , and Moolah sold him the rights to her Women ’ s World Championship . Moolah agreed to appear exclusively for the WWF , and thus became the first WWF Women ' s Champion . The following year , singer Cyndi Lauper began a verbal feud with manager " Captain " Lou Albano , who long had a reputation of being a villain , that brought professional wrestling into mainstream culture in a storyline that became known as the " Rock ' n ' Wrestling Connection . " When it was finally time for Lauper and Albano to settle their differences in the ring , a match - up was scheduled with Albano representing Moolah against the challenge of Lauper ’ s protégé , Wendi Richter . After much buildup and hype , the Fabulous Moolah lost the championship when defeated by Richter , who had Lauper in her corner , on July 23 , 1984 in the main event of " The Brawl to End It All " , which was broadcast live on MTV . Prior to the match , the WWF promoted Moolah as holding the championship for the previous 28 years . After losing the title to Richter , Moolah aided Leilani Kai in defeating Richter for the title in February 1985 . Richter won it back at the inaugural WrestleMania , but when Richter ’ s relationship soured with the WWF , Moolah donned a mask as " The Spider Lady " and regained the belt on November 25 , 1985 , in a controversial decision . Richter was never told she would be losing the title and fell victim to a real - life " screwjob " finish known as " The Original Screwjob " . Richter promptly quit the WWF afterward , while Moolah continued to be champion for another two years — excluding a six - day reign by Velvet McIntyre during a tour of Australia in 1986 — before losing the belt to Sherri Martel on July 24 , 1987 . She later captained a team at the inaugural Survivor Series . Her team ( Moolah , Velvet McIntyre , Rockin ' Robin , and the Jumping Bomb Angels ) defeated champion Martel and her team ( Leilani Kai , Judy Martin , Donna Christanello , and Dawn Marie ) . Semi – retirement . Throughout the early 1990s , she made appearances in video packages and at live WWF events . On June 24 , 1995 , she was the first female wrestler to be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame . In the late 1990s , Pat Patterson and Ellison began jokingly discussing a comeback for her , which resulted in Patterson contacting WWF Chairman Vince McMahon about the possibility . In 1998 , Moolah and Mae Young re - emerged in the WWF ( later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment , WWE ) . The WWF women ' s division , however , had since moved away from the traditional athletic match - ups of the past and now featured women competing in sexually - themed bikini contests and strip matches . Moolah received a call from McMahon in late 1998 about returning to the company . On the September 9 , 1999 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Jeff Jarrett invited Moolah into the ring and smashed a guitar over her head . Moolah and Young then began appearing regularly in comedic roles . On the September 27 , 1999 edition of " Monday Night Raw " , Moolah and Young defeated Ivory in a Handicapped Evening Gown match , which led to a title match at No Mercy on October 17 , 1999 . The match saw seventy - six - year - old Moolah defeat Ivory to regain the WWE Women ' s Championship , thus becoming a record - breaking 8 time and oldest WWE Women ' s Champion ever , though she lost the title to Ivory eight days later . On the September 15 , 2003 edition of " Raw " , Moolah won a match against Victoria . Moolah had been promised the match for her eightieth birthday and became the first octogenarian to compete in a WWE ring . After Moolah ' s victory , the " Legend Killer " Randy Orton came out and performed an " RKO " on her . Moolah and Young made another appearance at New Years Revolution in 2006 , during a Bra and Panties Gauntlet match attacking Victoria and stripping her of her top . She also made brief appearances at WrestleMania 23 and the 2007 Draft Lottery on June 11 , 2007 . Her last WWE appearance before her death was at SummerSlam in August 2007 , in a backstage segment with Vince McMahon and Raw General Manager William Regal . Personal life . Ellison ' s first husband was Walter Carroll , who became the father of her daughter Mary . Mary wrestled briefly but decided against pursuing the profession . Ellison had six grandchildren , five biological and one adopted . Ellison and Carroll divorced shortly after their daughter ' s birth . Later , Ellison married wrestler Johnny Long . Marital conflicts developed when Long wanted Ellison to be a housewife instead of a career woman . In addition , Ellison claims Long was a " womanizer " . Ellison and Long divorced . Ellison also says that she dated country singer Hank Williams for four months in 1952 . According to Ellison , Williams proposed to her , but Williams ' s drinking and heroin abuse forced the couple to go separate ways . She further claimed that he wanted Ellison to quit her wrestling career , which she did not want to do . Two months after the breakup , Williams died due to an overdose . Later , Ellison met a wrestler named Buddy Lee , whom she claims was the " love of her life . " They were eventually married , and after divorcing in 1970 after nine years of marriage , they remained friends until Lee ' s death in 1999 . The divorce was attributed to Lee ' s affair with Rita Cortez , one of the wrestlers the duo was training . In the early 1980s , Ellison opened Moolah ' s Hideaway , a bar and grill which was operated by her daughter Mary and frequented by André the Giant . Beginning in 1991 , Ellison lived with Mae Young in a house in Columbia , South Carolina . Her estate was located on a road named Moolah Drive . A midget professional wrestler named Katie Glass also lived with Moolah for over forty years . Another wrestler , Donna Christanello , also lived with Ellison on - and - off for forty years , ending in May 1999 . During her return to the ring in 1999 , Ellison began experiencing occasional dizziness , and as a result , her doctor requested that she begin to wear a heart monitor . A few days later , Ellison was admitted to the hospital for what turned out to be two clogged arteries and viral pneumonia . She stayed at the intensive - care unit of the hospital for 24 days , during which she was unconscious for fifteen days . After leaving the hospital , she again slipped into unconsciousness in the bathroom at her home , crushing several vertebrae . She underwent successful back surgery in mid - December . Ellison died on November 2 , 2007 at the age of 84 . According to her daughter Mary , the possible cause of death was a heart attack or blood clot related to a recent shoulder replacement surgery .