10 Epic WWE Championship Reigns That Aren't As Long As You Think
2. The Fabulous Moolah – Women’s Championship. Days: 3,651. Recognised by WWE: 10,170.
The politics of the National Wrestling Alliance more than 50 years ago continue to dominate championship histories, so strap yourselves in for one of the most bizarre title lineages there is.
When the Fabulous Moolah won the vacant NWA World Women's Championship on September 18, 1956 she was also recognised as the World Women's Champion. Moolah held the gold for one day short of a decade before losing it to Bette Boucher on September 17, 1966. She won it back the next month, holding it for a further 524 days, until defeat in Osaka, Japan to local hero Yukiko Tomoe. The belt once again returned to Moolah before she left Japan, and this time she surpassed 10 years as champion with an enormous reign that lasted 3,841 days. This time she was defeated by Evelyn Stevens on a tour of Texas, but was only without the belt for two days, winning if back and holding it for another five or six years.
Five or six? It can’t be both can it? Yes. Yes it can! This is where things get confusing. Moolah owned the rights to the belt, so she sold it to the WWE in 1983 and jumped ship, becoming their first ever Women’s Champion. The NWA vacated the championship at once, keeping the belt vacant during all this chaos from December 31, 1983 until February 12, 1986.
Meanwhile, the WWE decided to recognise their brand-new champion’s reign as having started on September 18, 1956 when she first took possession of the belt. Despite respecting the NWA’s history, they completely disregarded all the times Moolah lost the title, deciding that when she was defeated for the gold by Wendi Richter on July 23, 1984 her reign was ended at 10,170 days.
History is told by the victors, unless you’re Bette Boucher, Yukiko Tomoe or Evelyn Stevens beating the Fabulous Moolah between 1966 and 1978…