Bruce Prichard on Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young Getting TV Time in the Attitude Era, Moolah’s 1999 Title Win

– On the latest Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard looked back on the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young’s returns to WWE TV during the Attitude Era. Moolah and Young, who were of course icons of the early days of women’s wrestling, made an improbable comeback in the late 1990s as a largely comedic part of WWE programming. Moolah even became the oldest champion in WWE history when she won the Women’s Championship from Ivory at No Mercy 1999 at the age of 72.

You can check out the highlights from that portion of the discussion, and the full podcast, below:

On who came up with the idea of featuring Moolah and Mae Young on TV: “Well I think originally, that may have been either Vince Russo or Vince McMahon, one of the two, that were doing everything at the time. It just was, Lil [Moolah] was there, and she always would say ‘Hey, I’m ready to work any time you wanna put me in, money. I’m ready to go.’ So it happened, and it worked, and I think people loved it. It was so surreal to be watching that, and it’s like you’re watching your grandmother get attacked, and getting physical in the middle of the ring. I thought it was pretty damn cool.”

On Moolah losing an Evening Gown match to Ivory and being ‘stripped down’: “Look, you’re not stripping older ladies down. These women, these older ladies that you call older ladies, they’re like, ‘Hey, what if I did this?’ You’ve gotta look at it through their eyes and saying, ‘Hey, I’m not ashamed, and this is entertainment,’ and [them] loving every single second of it instead of sitting at home saying, ‘Oh, I’m an older woman so I’m gonna sit home and knit sweaters for my grandkids.’ No, she was out there showing everybody that just because of your age or your gender or anything else, you could do anything you wanted to do. And she was gonna do it, and she did.”

On Moolah becoming Women’s Champion at No Mercy 1999: “[It was] a beautiful moment in time, where time stood still and we all got to appreciate the Fabulous Moolah. And again, it’s — to me, the spirit of them going out there and doing what they loved to do night in and night out. It sounds hokey, I’m gonna sound like Michael Hayes, ‘Just makes me feel warm all over inside!'”

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.