shitloadsofwrestling: "The Great" Mae Young autograph [1956] If there’s ever been a lady deserving of a crown, it’s most certainly Mae Young. When Mae got into pro wrestling, it was essentially known as a man’s game, with only a few lady wrestlers really being a part of the show. One of the ladies was Gladys “Killem” Gillem, was promoter Billy Wolfe’s wife. When Mae said she wanted to wrestle, Wolfe laughed, stating that Mae couldn’t beat their champion. After challenging Gillem to a shoot wrestling match, Young beat her in seconds, and this was before the fans had even entered the arena! In her first decade, Mae wrestled in the WWWA, for Stu Hart in Canada’s Stampede Wrestling, and in the NWA. Mae was actually wrestling in Nashville, Tennessee on the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. In 1951, Mae became the first ever NWA Florida Women’s Champion. In 1954, Young and Mildred Burke were the first wrestlers to tour Japan after the war. When June Byers was stripped of the NWA World Women’s Championship, Mae participated in a battle royal to determine the new champion. The battle royal was won by The Fabulous Moolah, who Mae Young had actually trained. While it’s known that Mae Young is a professional wrestling legend who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, she actually made her WWE debut in September 1999, sitting at ringside with The Fabulous Moolah. After Jeff Jarrett invited Moolah into the ring, he attacked Moolah, smashing a guitar over her head. When Mae tried to help, she received a figure four leglock for her trouble, after which she began appearing regularly on WWE programming. She began managing Moolah in her matches, when Moolah became part of the Women’s Division and defeated Ivory for the WWE Women’s Championship. The two also had a series of matches for the title. The following year, Mae was in one of the most controversial, memorable, and funny storylines in pro wrestling history, as she began dating “Sexual Chocolate” Mark Henry which led to the birth of their “child”, a hand. Yes. A hand. When Mark Henry asked Vince McMahon why a hand was necessary, McMahon’s only response was “It’s a HAND!” After the storyline with Mark Henry ended, Mae would make sporadic appearances, usually by the side of The Fabulous Moolah. After Moolah passed away in 2007, Mae would still appear, using Moolah’s entrance music and dancing, kissing, or flirting with the wrestlers on the show. In 2008, Pat Patterson inducted Mae Young into the WWE Hall Of Fame, which received a huge ovation at its conclusion. On November 15th, 2010, Mae Young defeated LayCool, thus making her the first wrestler to wrestle in 9 different decades. I highly doubt anyone will beat that record. Truly, it’s impossible to believe that anyone will ever live up to the legacy that Mae Young created. Not only was she beautiful, but she was tough, she was smart, and she made a stamp in the business as a professional wrestling legend only could. As much as it was expected, I don’t think the world was ready for Mae to leave, and Mae certainly wasn’t ready as she expected to wrestle Stephanie McMahon on her 100th birthday. Still, I guarantee that anyone watching on the other side is highly entertained by the wild, funny, and often times inappropriate but always GREAT, Mae Young.
