Bruce Prichard on Allegations That Fabulous Moolah Was a ‘Pimp,’ Other Accusations Against Her

– On the latest Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard discussed the allegations that the late Fabulous Moolah financially and sexually exploited the women she trained and promoted. The allegations that Moolah pimped out her roster of women to wrestlers began in the mid-2000s, but came into the spotlight when WWE announced the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal in 2018. The backlash against the decision caused WWE to change the name to the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast video, are below:

On when he started to hear negativity about Moolah: “Well you know, I’ve heard those stories over the years and I find them to be, as I said, ludicrous is probably the best [word]. When you call Moolah a pimp, that has a sexual connotation to it. What Moolah did for the business and for the women in general, was she protected them from the unscrupulous promoters that wouldn’t pay, and — she protected the women, is what Moolah did. And I think that every claim, when you hear those type of things about someone that you know, and that you know for many many years, you base your opinion on what you know. And every claim was refuted by someone. And I think that to do that to the memory of someone after they’re gone in that regard as far as — I don’t know.”

On the accusations that Moolah took extravagant percentages of the womens’ pay: “The only — the ONLY negative I ever heard of Moolah was that she took a percentage of their pay, which was laid out in their contract clearly before they even started training, day one. I’ve heard, ‘Well, she made us live on her grounds. It’s a training center. For $100 a month.’ Okay, she provided you with a place to live for $100 a month. You paid rent. If you didn’t live there, you did not have to live there. But if you didn’t live there, you’d have to live somewhere else and pay for that. So when you break down these accusations, it’s nothing but sour grapes. And it’s nothing but negativity to be negative.”

On the Moolah that he knew: “You know, the things that I do know about her, she fought for women’s rights and she was up in front. She was ahead of the curve on all of that. So to hear negative after the fact, it’s just sad. And the Moolah that I knew, the Lillian Ellison that I knew, was kind — hey, she was shrewd, she was tough. You know, to say she was rude, I think’s a little snug. I don’t know that she was ever rude, the way that she treated my family, my wife and kids. Jesus Christ, you would think that she had known them her entire life. That’s the kind of person that I knew. And that’s what I can speak to. I can speak to every dealing that I ever had with her was professional, and pleasant. So when you hear that type of negativity, I have to — you can only take it with a grain of salt, especially after you hear that and then people come out. That’s why I try not to listen to it, because them people come out and say ‘No, none of that’s true.’ And ‘Yes, the only thing, yeah, she took a PC. She took a percentage, she sure did. Guilty.'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something to Wrestle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.