1. Johnnie Mae Young was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter.
45 Facts About Mae Young
1. 2.
Mae Young wrestled throughout the United States and Canada and won multiple titles in the National Wrestling Alliance.
3.
Mae Young was part of a recurring comedic duo with best friend The Fabulous Moolah in appearances on WWE televised events.
4.
Mae Young is remembered for taking bumps well past the age of 80 on televised programming.
5.
On March 29,2008, Mae Young was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
6.
Johnnie Mae Young was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, on March 12,1923.
7.
Mae Young's mother Lilly Mae Young was a single mother living during the Great Depression.
8.
Mae Young was an amateur wrestler on her high school's boys' wrestling team at the age of fifteen.
9.
Mae Young's brothers Fred, Eugen, Lawarence, and Everett taught her to wrestle and helped her join the team.
10.
Mae Young left home two years later to wrestle professionally.
11.
Mae Young claimed her first match was August 20,1939, while WWE said she "started her professional career" this year.
12.
However, Mae Young once said her first match was March 22,1940.
13.
Mae Young was wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 7,1941, the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, which led to the United States entering World War II.
14.
Mae Young fought under the nicknames of "The Queen" and "The Great Mae Young", but she used her real name for most of her matches.
15.
Mae Young wrestled for WWWF in two matches in 1969 and 1972.
16.
At this point it is unknown when Mae Young left the wrestling business and retired.
17.
In 1993, Mae Young would come out of retirement and started wrestling again for the first time in over 20 years.
18.
Mae Young worked for Fabulous Moolah's Ladies International Wrestling Association based in Las Vegas.
19.
Mae Young continued working with LIWA and even teaming with Moolah until 1998.
20.
Mae Young left the promotion and went to the WWF in 1999.
21.
At the Royal Rumble event on January 23,2000, Mae Young won the Miss Royal Rumble 2000 swimsuit contest and afterwards flashed her breasts.
22.
Mae Young was 77 years of age at the time, but expressed enthusiasm for the stunt.
23.
Mae Young's child was eventually delivered and found to be nothing more than a bloody rubber hand.
24.
In 2004, Mae Young was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their Lady wrestler category class of that year.
25.
On March 23,2005, Moolah and Mae Young appeared on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show to promote their 2005 documentary in which they starred about their 1950s heyday along with several other lady wrestlers of their era.
26.
At WrestleMania 23 on April 1,2007, Mae Young appeared during a backstage segment along with several other WWE Superstars and Hall of Famers.
27.
On December 10,2007 episode of Raw's 15th Anniversary, Mae Young was involved in a segment alongside Melina, Sunny, Hornswoggle, Triple H, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon.
28.
On March 29,2008, Mae Young was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2008 class.
29.
At WrestleMania XXV on April 5,2009, Mae Young appeared as the special guest time keeper for the 25-Diva battle royal, which was won by Santina Marella.
30.
At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3,2011, Mae Young appeared backstage during a segment along with The Rock and Eve Torres.
31.
Mae Young appeared on SmackDown: Blast from the Past, kissing The Great Khali.
32.
Mae Young is remembered in WWE for her comedic performances.
33.
Mae Young is remembered for taking bumps, one of her most famous spots was being powerbombed through a table off the wrestling arena stage by Bubba Ray Dudley at the age of 77.
34.
Mae Young appeared in one WWE video game, that being WWF No Mercy as an unlockable character, and was featured on the mobile game for iOS and Android, WWE SuperCard.
35.
In 2007, Mae Young appeared on Jakks Pacific WWE Classic Superstars Series 18.
36.
Mae Young is portrayed by Francesca Eastwood in the 2024 movie Queen of the Ring.
37.
In 1991, Mae Young quit the wrestling business and moved to California to become a Christian evangelist and take care of her mother, who was sick.
38.
On December 31,2013, it was reported that Mae Young had been hospitalized.
39.
Mae Young was entombed at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Columbia, South Carolina, the same cemetery where her longtime friend The Fabulous Moolah rests.
40.
Mae Young is a highly respected figure and one of the pioneers in wrestling industry.
41.
Mae Young's career spanned nine decades, a career that spanned longer than any wrestler in the wrestling business.
42.
Mae Young and Mildred Burke were the first women to wrestle in Canada.
43.
On December 7,1941, Mae Young was wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee, the day Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States entered World War II.
44.
Mae Young is often recognized by wrestling historians, journalists and colleagues as one of the toughest female wrestlers ever for her willingness to take hard bumps from the male wrestlers.
45.
Johnnie Mae Young is universally considered to be the baddest of the bad when it comes to women's wrestling.