80s and 90s WWF and LPWA Star Heidi Lee Morgan was a recent guest on VOC Nation‘s In the Room podcast. She spoke openly about how difficult it was to be a student of the Fabulous Moolah, on how women wrestlers owe much of their success to Stephanie McMahon, and much more. Here are some highlights:
On being trained by the Fabulous Moolah:
Lee Morgan: “I was the last (of Moolah’s students) in 1986. I went to the Fabulous Moolah’s school… Moolah herself spent one whole month training me in the ring, and at the time the Fabulous Moolah herself was 64 years old. I thought that was incredible that a 64 year old women was still taking bumps and was able to articulate and teach me the fundamentals of what I needed to know.”
On the experience of going to Moolah’s school:
Lee Morgan: “I did not have the greatest experience when I was down there. I had a six month contract. There’s a lot of mental games that would be played. But I didn’t have it bad like some of the girls. But I also had a family that I knew I could go home to that would support me mentally, physically, and emotionally. And I knew I could make it without her. Her biggest thing for all the women was that they would never work for WWE unless they lived on her property, and she booked them from there.”
On Moolah taking a large percentage of pay and requiring a lot of dedication:
Lee Morgan: “We would have a couple of weekend warriors that would come down, but they never made it to the level that some of these women did. The ones that trained five days a week, five hours a day – Sherri Martel, Judi Martin, Leilani Kai, Velvet McIntyre, Wendy Richter, Luna Vachon – these girls all trained at her school five hours a day, five days a week – and on the weekend we would wrestle and 25-50% of whatever we earned we would have to turn it over to her. We were lucky that we could even pay for our gas by the time that was all done… Moolah (also) relied on those girls living there because she charged them rent.”
On whether she could have had success in today’s generation:
Lee Morgan: “Some things in my life I was a late bloomer and other things I was ahead of my time. I was one of the first women willing to step out on how I dressed. There was a lot controversy – ‘Oh she shows her (butt), Oh she shows her tummy’ – No boo, I never showed my (butt). I had legging on underneath my g-string; nothing hung out, you never saw my crotch. I was an athlete. I could wrestle. I had abs that I trained my (butt) off for, so I was showing them… I was small for my generation. Now all the women (are the size that I was) so it’s mainstream. I was (also) a big aerialist. I did a lot of gymnastics, a lot of crazy maneuvers. I probably would have fit right in with the way I wrestled. I just think I was ahead of my time for what they were looking for at that point in time.”
The full interview is available below:
