Kevin Davies secured Bolton's Premiership status with a last minute strike that all but sentenced Wolves to relegation.
Davies struck with his ninth goal of the season deep into injury time to earn Bolton a dramatic success.
The Trotters had taken a 43rd minute lead through Henrik Pedersen only for Henri Camara to fire Wolves back on level terms 60 seconds later.
But Wolves were left fuming by the performance of referee Uriah Rennie who waved away what appeared to be two legitimate claims for a penalty.
Stelios Giannakopoulos sent Mark Kennedy sprawling in the area in the first minute, before Kenny Miller was felled seconds before Davies struck after a challenge by Emerson Thome.
Bolton had to ride their luck at times against a Wolves side who were unable to make their second-half pressure pay - and they were punished by Davies.
Before the game exploded into life with two goals in the space of 60 seconds, action had been distinctly at a premium.
Ivan Campo went close to heading Bolton into an eighth minute lead before Per Frandsen sliced wide of goal under pressure from Wolves' skipper Paul Ince 12 minutes later.
But it was only after Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen had superbly tipped away a low 20-yard drive from Colin Cameron that both sides finally found some fluency.
Bolton heeded the warning they had been given by Cameron and stunned the partisan Molineux crowd by breaking the deadlock two minutes before half-time.
Campo lifted a right wing cross into the area and Pedersen rose above right-back Denis Irwin to steer his header beyond the outstretched right hand of goalkeeper Paul Jones.
To their credit, Wolves refused to buckle after the setback and they were level a minute later after a stunning strike by Camara.
He was picked out by Ince fully 30 yards from goal. There appeared to be little danger to Bolton but Camara let fly with a strike that left Jaaskelainen clutching at thin air.
Wolves should have built on Camara's strike but were let down by their finishing in the second-half.
Camara himself failed to hit the target from close range after being set-up by Carl Cort and Colin Cameron in the 56th minute.
Cort was also badly at fault after 69 minutes when he was picked up by a right wing centre from Denis Irwin. Wolves players were queuing up for the cross only for Cort to waste the chance when he volleyed wide from 12 yards.
It proved to be a costly miss as Davies punished them in stoppage time. Kevin Nolan intercepted a pass from Paul Butler and released Davies who outpaced Isaac Okoronkwo before firing past Jones.