WWE changes name of Fabulous Moolah battle royal

There will be a women’s battle royal on the WrestleMania 34 card, but it’s not going to be named after the Fabulous Moolah.

WWE issued a statement this afternoon announcing that they’ve dropped the “Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal” name from the match: “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.”

The battle royal was first announced in a video that aired on Monday’s episode of Raw, with it portraying Moolah (real name Lillian Ellison) as a pioneer for women’s athletics, someone who challenged gender norms, and a trailblazer for women’s equality. But the announcement was immediately met with backlash due to Moolah’s history of mistreating her trainees.

Jeannine Mjoseth, who trained with Moolah and went by Mad Maxine and Lady Maxine in pro wrestling, described that mistreatment when asked for comment by Pro Wrestling Sheet: “A lot of women paid to train at her school and then went out on the road. They risked life and limb in their matches and she repaid them with the worst kinds of abuses. She skimmed their money, she ignored women who were badly hurt, she pimped women out to creepy men and on and on. She was not a mother figure. She was more like Kali, the Indian Goddess of Destruction. I met her in my early 20s and I had never met such a monstrous person.”

Though the backlash online was instant, WWE re-aired the announcement video on Tuesday’s SmackDown before reversing course and announcing the name change today.

Before the change, the parent company of Snickers (the presenting sponsor of WrestleMania 34) released a statement calling the name of the battle royal “unacceptable”: “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.”

The battle royal will feature women’s wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. WWE has yet to confirm how many participants will be in it.