Beginnings (1939–1950) While still in high school, Young went to a professional wrestling show and challenged then-champion
Mildred Burke when she visited Tulsa to wrestle
Gladys Gillem. According to
Dave Meltzer of
The Wrestling Observer, historians have been unable to find any records that she began in 1939 and that her first match was most likely in 1941. Meltzer wrote, "In reality, Young is believed to have competed in seven decades, matching the record held by
Lou Thesz. ... You really couldn't call [her] 2010 match anything resembling a pro wrestling match, even giving as much leeway as possible. While she always claimed to have started in 1939, at 16, historians researching have been unable to find any records of her wrestling prior to 1941, when she turned 18 and went on tour with Billy Wolfe's troupe." In 1968, she became the NWA's first
United States Women's Champion. She wrestled for WWWF in two matches in 1969 and 1972. At this point it is unknown when Mae left the wrestling business and retired. In the late 70s, Mae worked in the real estate business in San Leandro California. As an instructor, her students included
Ric "The Equalizer" Drasin She worked for
Fabulous Moolah's Ladies International Wrestling Association based in Las Vegas. On June 21, 1996, she teamed with Fabulous Moolah at LIWA Golden Girls Extravaganza event in
Las Vegas where they wrestled Liz Chase and Lori Lynn to a no contest. She continued working with LIWA and even teaming with Moolah until 1998. She left the promotion and went to the WWF in 1999.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (1994, 1999–2013) Early appearance and arrival (1994, 1999–2001) Before her official recognition by WWE fans, she made a cameo appearance being shown by the camera along with
The Fabulous Moolah,
Freddie Blassie,
Lou Albano, and
Nikolai Volkoff in the crowd of the
WrestleMania X event on March 20, 1994. Young made her official debut in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the September 9, 1999, episode of
SmackDown!, where she was introduced with The Fabulous Moolah and later was attacked by
Jeff Jarrett being put into the
figure-four leglock. At
No Mercy on October 17, Mae managed Moolah, who defeated Ivory for the championship – her last wrestling title before her death in 2007. At
Survivor Series on November 14, she and Moolah competed in an
eight-woman tag team match along with
Debra and
Tori against Ivory,
Jacqueline,
Terri Runnels, and
Luna Vachon, with their team coming out victorious. At the
Royal Rumble event on January 23, 2000, Mae Young won the Miss Royal Rumble 2000
swimsuit contest and afterwards
flashed her breasts. However, she was actually wearing a prosthesis and did not actually expose herself. At the end of 1999 and through 2000, Mae developed a storyline along with "Sexual Chocolate"
Mark Henry where she started dating him, Her child was eventually delivered and found to be nothing more than a bloody rubber hand. On April 2, Mae accompanied
The Kat at
WrestleMania 2000 to her match against Terri Runnels; Kat lost the match as Mae was distracted by kissing the
guest referee,
Val Venis, before attacking Terri and her manager, Moolah. On December 24, 2001, Young and Moolah appeared backstage on the Christmas Eve edition of Raw, which marked their last appearance before returning in the summer of 2002.
Return and sporadic appearances (2002–2007) On the July 29, 2002, episode of
Raw, Mae Young returned along with Moolah, to promote her new book: "The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle" before being attacked by
3-Minute Warning on orders of general manager
Eric Bischoff. On the September 15, 2003, episode of
Raw, she accompanied Moolah at her last wrestling singles match, in which she defeated
Victoria before being attacked by
Randy Orton and an infuriated Victoria. On June 15 at
Bad Blood, Mae appeared during a segment along with
Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff where she stripped herself in the ring and shared a passionate kiss with Eric Bischoff and performed a
bronco buster on Bischoff before being
stunned by Austin. 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. On the September 23 episode of
SmackDown!, Young teamed with Moolah and defeated
Dawn Marie and
Torrie Wilson. 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. On January 8, 2006, at
New Year's Revolution, Young re−appeared along with Moolah during a
bra & panties gauntlet match where she
stripped herself before being attacked by Victoria as she left the ring, which led to both women retaliate and rip off Victoria's shirt. At
WrestleMania 22 on April 2, Young appeared along with Moolah during a backstage segment with
Snitsky. At
WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 2007, Mae Young appeared during a backstage segment along with several other WWE Superstars and
Hall of Famers. On the August 24 episode of
SmackDown, Mae Young made a special appearance winning a
Divas bikini contest. Mae's last appearance with Moolah before her death came at
SummerSlam in August 2007, both appeared during a backstage segment along with
Vince McMahon and Raw's general manager,
William Regal, two months prior to her friend's death. On the December 10, 2007, episode of
Raw's 15th Anniversary, Young was involved in a segment alongside
Melina,
Sunny,
Hornswoggle,
Triple H,
Shane McMahon,
Stephanie McMahon and
Vince McMahon.
WWE Hall of Fame, retirement and final appearances (2008–2013) On March 29, 2008, Young was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2008 class. At the ceremony, she was inducted by fellow wrestler and friend,
Pat Patterson. The next night at
WrestleMania XXIV, she appeared when she was introduced as part of the
2008 Hall of Fame class. On the 800th episode of
Raw on November 3, Mae Young competed in a 16-Diva tag match, where she was
pinned by
Beth Phoenix. 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. On the November 15, 2010, "Old School" edition of
Raw, Young appeared alongside several WWE legends. Later that night, she was involved in a segment with LayCool, where the latter insulted her, resulting in a
Falls Count Anywhere handicap match against
LayCool, thus becoming the first person to wrestle over the age of 80, the first person to wrestle in nine different decades and her final stipulated wrestling match. At
WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, 2011, Mae appeared backstage during a segment along with
The Rock and
Eve Torres. During the May 2 episode of
Raw,
Vickie Guerrero and
Dolph Ziggler mockingly presented Mae as a "birthday gift" to The Rock, who responded by kissing Young. Mae Young appeared on
SmackDown: Blast from the Past (April 10, 2012), kissing
The Great Khali. and
Raw 1000 (July 23, 2012), during which she was escorted by a man dressed in a giant hand costume, claiming to be her son. On September 24 episode of
Raw, Mae appeared in one of
Kane and Daniel Bryan's "Anger Management" skits. On the December 31 episode of
Raw, Mae Young was warming up for her match with then-
Divas Champion Eve Torres and began experiencing stomach cramps as it was later determined that she was once again pregnant and gave birth to "Baby New Year", played by
Hornswoggle. In her last on-screen appearance on the March 4, 2013, episode of
Old School Raw, Mae Young's 90th birthday celebration was interrupted by
CM Punk. Backstage, WWE Chairman
Vince McMahon and WWE executive
Triple H presented her with a personally monogrammed
Divas Championship belt. == Professional wrestling persona ==