WORDS Henry Longden
Mae Young, America’s pioneering female wrestler died on 14 January at the age of 90. Her last bout in the ring was just three years ago at the age of 87 and she fought in each of the last 9 decades. Her run-ins with the law, and a variety of men, characterised her hard-woman attitude, and her will to never go down without a fight.
Young’s best friend and comedic partner, The Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison), once described how the interwar years were addressed by the wrestling circuit: “There were a lot of wild girls on the road back then, Mae was one of them. She used to like to go out drinking till all hours, smoking cigars and picking fights with big, bruising men in dark honky-tonks.” This was not the only way she challenged the male brawn of the era; she was often seen around the gym in men’s shoes, and hitched in pants with a zipper up the front. In 50s America this was unheard of.
Johnnie Mae Young was born 12 March, 1923, in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. In high school, at the age of 15, she was fighting for the boys wrestling team. Her father left during the Great Depression to find work, leaving Young’s mother to bring up Young and her four brothers. With no male authority in her upbringing, Young forced herself into a male dominant industry and got a reputation for dirty tactics and equally dirty language.
There are many stories of Young’s wild personality. She and a friend were once arrested in Reno, Nevada; after an Elmer J. Nelson was admitted to hospital with “multiple bruises and lacerations to the face and forehead”. Reportedly the altercation arose after Nelson had decided to call it a night following some bad luck at the tables. He awoke with his last $100 gone. The district attorney said there “wasn’t much doubt that they were the women involved”. Young concurred saying, “Maybe I did work Mr. Nelson over a little, he made advances. Improper advances.”
After starting her career in 1939, Young was fighting in Memphis, Tennessee on 7 December 1941, the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, bringing America into WWII. Young and many others went on to define wrestling in a period when the sport naturally turned to female performers, a move which has seen permanence.
Young’s other great achievement was as an exhibitionist: a wrestler who played dirty, riled up the crowd, and usually took a beating, what is known in the industry as “the heel”. Her debut in WWF was made at the age of 75, when Jeff Jarrett invited her onto the stage, and then proceeded to smash a guitar over her head.
Young’s eccentric personality and desire to thrill continued to the last. After a long string of WWF appearances way into her old-age, she won the 2000 Miss Royal Rumble bikini contest in Madison Square Garden. After announcing to the stunned judges that all the fans “want to see my puppies”, she pulled down her bikini and paraded round the ring. She won by unanimous decision (Channel 4 decided to forego their rights to the show).
Always the entertainer, Young often lost but had the last word. She was frightened of no one and crafted a place for women in the wrestling arena. She took part in WWF star Bubba Ray’s campaign to “powerbomb women through tables”, despite his concerns about her age the stunt went ahead. Young reportedly confronted Ray afterwards saying, “Hey hot shot, if you’re gonna slam me, you slam me like one of the boys.” He willingly agreed.
Young led a somewhat solitary life, based around her life-long friend The Fabulous Mollah. From a young age she dedicated herself the wrestling industry which demands physical strength and an attitude to match your onstage persona. Like many of the best performers, the attitude wasn’t just that of her character.
She was due to appear in the WWF Hall of Fame special just eight days before her death, but uncharacteristically pulled out due to ill-health. She had been hospitalised with a kidney ailment and returned home under hospice care.
