10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2018
8. The Not-So-Fabulous Moolah
Though the outcomes it has generated have undoubtedly been positive, it's been difficult to escape the suggestion that WWE's push for female parity is motivated more by economics that in it is egalitarianism.
This fact was thrust back into sharp focus in March, when the company announced the women's equivalent of their annual throwaway WrestleMania battle royal, naming it in honour of The Fabulous Moolah.
Though beatified in WWE's canon as a trailblazer for women's wrestling - and female sport on the whole - Moolah's reputation outside the Stamford bubble was far less rosy. In controlling the fortunes of women wrestlers across North America, Moolah effectively acted as a pimp, with many of her charges alleging sexual exploitation as part of the grim package. She was far from the figurehead of female empowerment the company were presenting, and fans were understandably outraged.
It was only when the campaign leveraged the uneasiness of chief sponsor Mars Inc. that WWE decided to change tack, dropping the Moolah name and rushing to brush the whole affair under the rug.