Susie Mae McCoy, the first African-American pupil of The Fabulous Moolah, was born to fight. If you ask some people, her time with Moolah was either helpful or a contributing factor in her decline and death. Sweet Georgia Brown was one of South Carolina’s best, no matter how you looked at it.
In 1958, at the age of 20, she made her debut, according to LWOS. Buddy Lee, the then-husband of The Fabulous Moolah, thought that she was meant to be a star and wanted her to shatter the wrestling mold. During her travels, she worried about being assassinated because of racist attitudes against black wrestlers at the time. There have long been rumors that she was taken into events and turned invisible to shield her from radicals, particularly the KKK.
Her achievement as the first African-American woman to win a singles championship in the NWA Texas Women’s Tennis Association in 1963 made history. As a result of her struggle with illness, she was forced to retire in 1972, at the age of 51.
In the wake of Vice TV’s Dark Side of The Ring, which highlighted The Fabulous Moolah, the tale of McCoy attracted much attention. Moolah and Lee’s daughter are interviewed for the film and share stories about her time with them. When her son was interviewed, he provided his own take on what happened during the interview. However, he has now retracted his comments, leaving many with unanswered questions and ambiguous descriptions of what happened.
As her legacy in women’s wrestling continues to grow, I hope that greater attention is paid to her achievements. With any luck, she’ll be properly represented and treated with respect as a result.
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