Mat veteran: WWE continues to over look female wrestling’s predecessors

Mar 11, 2021 - by Steve Gerweck

Former NWA World Women’s Champion Malia Hosaka via Facebook:

So this will by no means be a short post/rant as I get up on my soapbox once again!!!!!

I have just learned that Molly Holly, aka Nora Greenwald, is to be inducted into the WWE HoF😡😡😡 Don’t get me wrong, as much as I dislike her, she deserves credit for what she did during her career. HOWEVER, what are the younger generation being honored and not those who made it possible for them to have a career???!!!! I went through the list and there are 4, FOUR, F O U R!!!!!! veteran women in the WWE HoF that preceded Madusa’s career. ARE YOU FN KIDDING ME???!!!!

First off, the Glamour Girls, LeiLani Kai and Judy Martin

AND the Jumping Bomb Angels deserve to be honored looonnnnngggggg before your Beth Phenioxes, Molly Hollys, Trish Stratuses, they MADE the women be taken seriously and showed the men that women could steal the show if only given an opportunity. Furthermore, whether Vince wants to acknowledge it or not the Glamour Girls were the first tag champions to represent women wrestlers at WWF. Why haven’t these women been inducted to the HoF?? Then there is Debbie Combs and her mother, Rockin’ Robyn, Velvet McIntyre, Princess Victoria aka Vicki Otis, Donna Day, Sheri Lee, Romona Isabel, and so, so, so many more that deserve to be honored.

What? Just because they worked in a time when the women weren’t necessarily signed to contracts, worked there via Moolah, or were only there briefly due to the women’s division fading out they are less important than Sunny? Than Madusa? Than Lita?? If it weren’t for these women paving the way NONE of us would have had a place in the ring. And certainly not the place women are given today!! Did you know the women and midgets were “special attractions” on shows back in the day? They were booked to help boost the crowd, give someone a night off, etc. they were never considered as regular talent for every show, nor were they given storylines and the opportunities women have today. If they wouldn’t have suffered through this time frame for us, THAT is exactly where we would be today!! Trying to fight for a place on the shows, trying to prove that we deserve storylines, bookings, and to be taken seriously as the professionals we are.

Does the WWE just want to erase them from history? Sure, maybe fans today don’t know these women, but isn’t that the point of the HoF? To recognize the impact and contributions people have made, to say thank you for your blood, sweat and tears? So, what because today’s fans may not tune in due to not knowing who they are you simply push them aside and honor others whose careers are literally on the backs of these women?? Perhaps if WWE, took the time to honor the predecessors of the industry today’s fans WOULD know them. If WWE took time to say thank you to legitimate people who made the history and paved the way there would be more respect not only for these legends, but for the sport itself. When it comes to being honored for what you have contributed to an industry politics should be the LAST thing that has a bearing on who deserves it. It should be decided upon without personal biases and based on the actual impact and contributions to the industry. If you are only willing to honor based off your like/dislike of them, then it’s not really an honor or a Hall of Fame, is it? It’s more a group of kids asses who may or may not have been talented but carried by people who did their jobs but didn’t suck up to the brass. Are the Glamour Girls being overlooked because of following directions given to them by Moolah, instead of doing what the office wanted? How is this their fault? How does this lessen what they did during their career? How does this justify acting like they never existed in the WWF? And because Debbie Combs, a second generation wrestler, daughter of one of the best women in our history, never had a contract there means she didn’t contribute to the making of women’s wrestling? No, she wasn’t part of Moolah’s clique, but she was there!! And no, she may not have been given the opportunity she deserved, but she did what she was told and kept the women in the ring just that much longer, when by all accounts the promotion was trying to sweep the women under the carpet. Velvet and Princess V were tag champions as well, Vicki was injured performing and it ended her career, but neither of them have been given a second thought by the WWE. And Luna was never honored until after her death. 🥲🥲🥲 SHE carried the women and Sable and every other “diva” during that era!!! She definitely deserves more credit than she has EVER been given!

I have but such a small voice in this industry. However, I am disgusted that the women like Trish, Nora, Beth, etc have never stood up for what is right when it comes to their predecessors. THEY have the voice, they have the ability to say “what about these incredible women?” But that would mean they would have had to have some respect and knowledge of an industry that people like the Bella Twins and Tori Wilson never had. It would mean putting someone before themselves and saying I don’t deserve this until so-n-so is honored for all she did. I will NEVER stop advocating for these women to be honored and recognized for all they did in the ring!!!!

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