I live in Columbia, SC and I have been a wrestling mark all of my life - so I felt it only appropriate to take the day off work & pay my respects to the Fabulous Moolah.  Ms. Ellison (as she was referred to the majority of the time during the service) was born, lived and passed away in the Columbia area - so her funeral service was a traditional, Southern, Christian service led by a local Baptist minister-who acknowledged he had known Moolah & Mae Young for 4 years via her church work & attendance.  He did talk about her career in wrestling - noting the first time he had ever seen her was some 30 years ago, wrestling in Cobo Hall in Detroit and felt it was “God’s Providence” he would one officiate her funeral.

A nephew of Moolah’s got up first & gave a family-type eulogy.  Stephanie McMahon Levesque got up next and gave a wrestling-type eulogy, concentrating on Moolah’s relationship with the McMahon family through the years, calling Moolah a “part of the McMahon family”.  She also talked about how great of a role model Moolah was for women in general, having made a good living in a male dominated world.  Shane & Stephanie McMahon were both there and walked into the service with the family members and sat beside them.  Stephanie has obviously been crying prior to speaking.

The Baptist minister then preached an entire, “Sunday Go-To-Meeting” sermon after the eulogies (as is the custom of most Southern Christian funerals) and the service, which started late, lasted about an hour and a half.  I sat two rows behind Ric Flair, who was there with his wife.  Although I did not see him in the service, afterwards I also spotted James Laurinaitis accompanying Shane & Stephanie McMahon.  There were several former wrestlers (male & several female) there whom I didn’t know by name, but looked vaguely familiar.  There was also some local media there, a few news cameras, reporters, etc. they filmed and interviewed a few folks (notably Shane McMahon), but were not a distraction.

As I was leaving, I was entering the lobby-Shane McMahon came walking towards me; I stopped and spoke to him for a moment.  I told him I thought the WWE did a great job on the tribute, which was shown on RAW & ECW, for Moolah - I indicated it was good for the younger kids of today to see the older Superstars, such as Moolah and to remember them.  He thanked me, agreed and said he still felt like it wasn’t enough.

I was parked in a lower parking lot, from which no one could leave from until the procession left the upper, main area in front of the chapel-so many of us were patiently waiting to go, then I notice Ric Flair & his wife coming toward me, so I glance over to the car next to me & see it is an SUV with NC plates (Flair lives in Charlotte), so I realize this was his vehicle.  He is waving to the folks already in their cars-in line.  As he gets to his SUV, a couple of guys go over and shake hands - The Nature Boy is as gracious as always, although I could tell he was trying to be a private person today.  Finally, an older gentleman came over and spoke to him, I heard Flair introduce Al Mandell to his wife.  Mr. Mandell asked Flair if he was going to continue wrestling, to which the Nature Boy responded, “I really don’t know - nothing has been decided yet.”

The service was probably scripted just as Ms. Ellison would have wanted it.  Everyone did a great job of remembering Lillian Ellison-mother, grandmother & great-grandmother and also the Fabulous Moolah & recalled her accomplishments in the wrestling industry.

-A big fan, Robert