Wrestling's 13 Greatest African-American Stars
4. Jacqueline Moore
At this year's Royal Rumble, amongst the many many surprises recalled from history to populate the 30 slots was Attitude Era mainstay Jacqueline Moore. Whilst many of the other entrants from a bygone era looked incongruous with the new-breed of 'evolved' women's wrestlers, Jacqueline fit right in - even at the age of 54.
WWE would have you believe that serious women's wrestling wasn't a thing until 2015, but Jacqui's inclusion in their historic Rumble highlighted their revisionism. The Texan - the only female student of Skandor Akbar - was bossing it in the squared circle before most of the current crop of female talent could walk. As Miss Texas, the Dallas native hoisted USWA's Women's championship a record 14 times, an accomplishment which saw her become the first female ranked in PWI's (admittedly sketchy) annual 500.
In addition to inventing women's wrestling, Stephanie McMahon also takes credit for devising the 'women's title' as a replacement for the anachronistic Divas brand. Once more, Jacqueline got there first; a real wrestler, it was her migration to WWE and subsequent beef with Barbie doll Sable which saw Alunda Blayze's discarded championship fished out from the bin. Sadly, the depth of the freshly restored division started and ended with Jacqueline herself.
Her talents were wasted in WWE, but entirely recognised, and in 2016 she became the first African-American woman inducted into the promotion's Hall of Fame.