One of the original grand ladies of wrestling, Johnnie Mae Young, had recently been placed under Hospice Care at her home in South Carolina due to an undisclosed illness that overcame her in late December. Since then, Mae has been reported as being very weak and gravely ill.
It’s with a heavy heart that I now have the responsibility to announce that Mae Young has passed away. This was confirmed via Stephanie McMahon’s Twitter account. Stephanie wrote, “A true pioneer and legend has passed tonight, Long live the memory of my friend and WWE Hall of Famer.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and long time fans of one of the true original queens of professional wrestling.
Mae’s last appearance on TV was part of a WWE “Old School” Raw from March 4, 2013. Mae Young was featured in a segment where several performers celebrated her 90th birthday, until former WWE Champion CM Punk crashed the party. After the show Vince McMahon and Triple H presented her a replica of the WWE Divas Championship, which had been made for Mae’s birthday. They proclaimed her to be “Forever, The Divas Champion.”
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WWE Released the following statement on the passing of Mae,
WWE is greatly saddened by the news that WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young, beloved member of the WWE family and oldest living squared circle personality, has passed at the age of 90.
Johnnie Mae Young was truly one of the greatest female competitors to ever lace up a pair of boots. A proud competitor for three quarters of a century and valued part of WWE to her last day, Young truly blazed a path for future female grapplers beginning in the 1940s.
From the moment she first stepped through the ropes, Young established herself as one of the most active and successful female Superstars – including becoming the first U.S. Women’s Champion, carrying out one of the most storied rivalries of the time with the legendary Mildred Burke in 1954 and being among the first female competitors to tour post-war Japan.
In addition to her contributions inside the ring, Young played a huge part in training the Superstars of tomorrow, including late, great Hall of Famer The Fabulous Moolah – the longest reigning champion in sports-entertainment history.
In recent years, Young’s career received the recognition it deserved. In 2005, she and several of her contemporaries were profiled in “Lipstick and Dynamite,” a documentary film about the early pioneers of women’s wrestling. In 2008, Young joined co-star, trainee and late friend Moolah and “Sensational” Sherri Martel in the highest class of Superstars, as she became only the third female to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at that time.
The entire WWE Universe offers a standing ovation to a true queen of the canvas and bids Mae Young a heartfelt farewell.”
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RIP… Johnnie Mae Young
March 12, 1923 – January 14, 2014
