10 WWE Fates Worse Than Burial

4. The Heartless Screwjob

vince mcmahon jeff jarrett
WWE.com

Well over a decade before the most famous real-life screwjob in wrestling history, Vince McMahon and The Fabulous Moolah jammed a knife in Wendi Richter's back just months after the latter had been integral to the company's Rock N Wrestling/WrestleMania one-two punch.

A monied era for the promotion didn't necessarily make everybody rich. Richter was vocally unhappy about her financial compensation at the time, so McMahon elected to use a forced finish to drive her out of the company in place of further negotiations.

Masked and working as 'The Spider', Moolah rolled up Richter just minutes into their November 1985 Madison Square Garden clash, despite the Champion comfortably kicking out at one. In the bizarre scenes that followed, Wendi unmasked her foe as The Fabulous Moolah as the bell rang to signify that the title had indeed changed hands. Richter - unaware that the fix was in between her opponent and the referee under the orders of McMahon - continued a worked attack on Moolah until the official parted both women and the penny awkwardly dropped.

She never wrestled for the company again, though tensions were seemingly eased following an induction into the company's Hall Of Fame 25 years later.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett