After the news that WWE will stage a Hall of Fame ceremony this year in the lead-up to WrestleMania, the first inductee for the 2021 class was revealed.
Appearing on WWE’s The Bump, it was announced that Molly Holly (Nora Benshoof) is the first member of the class of 2021 to be inducted on Tuesday, April 6th.
This year, they will induct both the class of 2020 that didn’t go in last year along with a class for 2021.
Her career began in 1997 wrestling as Starla Saxton competing on the independent scene before receiving her first national exposure in WCW. She was paired with a heel Randy Savage and his entourage consisting of girlfriend Gorgeous George and Madusa with Holly going as “Miss Madness” before wrestling under the name “Mona” through mid-2000.
She was signed by the WWF and assigned to Memphis before she was re-branded as “Molly Holly”, the cousin of Hardcore & Crash Holly.
One of her most memorable programs was an innocent romance with Spike Dudley with the story that the Dudleyz and Hollys were rival families with a Romeo & Juliet storyline. Both Molly and Spike were excellent in their roles during this period in the spring of 2001.
Holly won the Women’s Championship for the first time on June 23, 2002, defeating Trish Stratus at the King of the Ring. It came during the time where they tried to portray Holly as having a large ass and was an embarrassing storyline.
Holly won the title once more in July 2003 beating Gail Kim and lost it to Victoria in February 2004. The program with Victoria climaxed with a Title vs. Hair match at WrestleMania 20 on March 14, 2004, where Holly had her head shaved bald.
Holly left the company in 2005 but has returned multiple times for guest spots including at WrestleMania 25 in the women’s battle royal, and appearing in the first women’s Royal Rumble in January 2018 as well as a surprise entrant in this past year’s Royal Rumble.
BREAKING NEWS: The first inductee in the @WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021 will be #MollyHolly!
In a beautiful, emotional moment on #WWETheBump, @ShaneHelmsCom delivered the #WWEHOF announcement to the former WWE Women’s Champion. pic.twitter.com/5yGzz7BBG4
— WWE (@WWE) March 10, 2021
