10 Things You Didn't Know About Wendi Richter
She was NOT gal pals with The Fabulous Moolah.
Before Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels would infamously initiate a generation of wrestling fans to what a screwjob is there was Wendi Richter and The Fabulous Moolah.
On the front end of the wave of Hulkamania and the popular Rock 'n' Wrestling era Wendi Richter was one of WWE's brighter stars. She was closely associated with pop sensation Cyndi Lauper and became a household name as a result.
Wendi won the Women's Championship at the first WrestleMania and seemed to be a fixture of the increasingly more national company. All that tragically changed for her in November of 1985 when she stepped into the ring with the mysterious masked wrestler named Spider Lady.
It is well-known now that The Fabulous Moolah, Richter's trainer, donned the Spider Lady gimmick that night and cut her career short via fast count. Wendi lost her title and walked out of Vince McMahon's company, not associating with him for decades after. She would never talk to Moolah again.
Many wrestling fans already know this tale but how much more do they know about the victim of this infamous event from 1985? There's many interesting facets to Wendi Richter, some of which include an appearance in a controversial MTV music video and an awkward sexual advance from The Iron Sheik.
The following 10 items chronicle some of the interesting and quirkier moments of the career of Wendi Richter that you might not have known...
10. The Fabulous Moolah Lost Her Rookie Of The Year Trophy
Wendi Richter began training in 1979 and had her first professional match in 1980. Her talent was noticed quickly and she was awarded a Rookie of the Year trophy.
The strife between The Fabulous Moolah and Richter would be evident even this early in her career as Moolah drove to Tennessee to pick up Wendi's award. When Moolah came back she told Richter that somebody had lost it.
Richter didn't believe the tale she was told and assumed that Moolah purposely ditched it. "She probably left it there and laughed," Wendi would later say. "I wouldn't put anything past her."
This would certainly not be the last time that Richter felt slighted by her trainer.