11:54 AM EST

Lillian Ellison, known the world over as The Fabulous Moolah passed away last night at the age of 84 in her Columbia, South Carolina home. Known to her friends as "Lil," she controlled women's wrestling for many years by not only reigning as champion, but by training a majority of the female wrestlers at her Columbia estate, and then booking them around the world through her own office.
 
Moolah won the title on September 18, 1956, when she beat Jennetta Collins in a tournament to become champion. While her loss to the Cyndi Lauper-managed Wendi Richter in 1984, in the kick-off of Vincent Kennedy McMahon's new vision for Rock 'n' Wrestling, is recognized by WWE as the end of her record-breaking championship reign, she actually traded the title back-and-forth with several members of her stable throughout the years in quiet, "unofficial" title changes.