FINALLY… I am setting the record straight!
NO—I was NOT RESPONSIBLE for Mae Young giving birth to a hand!
Yes, more “wrestling mark” folklore made up and designed to solely discredit my good name. It’s a mystery to me how in the mind of the wrestling marks, every bad idea EVER BOOKED by any and every promotion was the idea of Vince Russo’s. Yet, every iconic angle that people are still talking about 25 years later was the brainchild of Vince McMahon.
Yeah, the SAME GUY who thought Mae Young giving birth to a HAND would be an ABSOLUTE HOOT!!
FACT—I had been gone from the WWE for FIVE MONTHS prior to Mae giving life to 5 fingers and a palm—FIVE MONTHS! I was NOWHERE NEAR THIS MESS. Now, I did have the honor of working with Mae and it was every bit of the word—HONOR.
When I worked with both Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah, they were both in their mid-70’s. Every time these two ladies would grace my presence at a TV taping, it was an absolute GIFT. Mae and Moolah were truly, truly, trail blazers in the wrestling business. I knew what female wrestlers had to deal with courtesy of the “men’s club” in the 90’s, but what Mae and Moolah had to endure decades earlier—I don’t even WANT TO KNOW.
The one thing that I will never forget about these two precious women was that every time they came to TV, they were READY TO FIGHT!
No, I mean it—they wanted to be BOOKED. At 75—they wanted AUSTIN! Man, they both loved the business so much, it was just who they were. I would use them every opportunity that I could. Just knowing what it meant to them to just be out there meant the world to me.
So… the hand gimmick.
Tommy Blancha, who actually once wrote for Conan O’Brien, was hired as a writer shortly before I left the company.
Man, I treated Tommy BADLY, mainly because Vince kayfabed both me and Ed about hiring Tommy, which was WRONG—but, for me to take it out on Tommy? That is something I still regret to this day.
Being that Tommy is such a kind soul, years later he forgave me for my rude behavior. I was quite thankful because Tommy was really a good-hearted guy. Once the hatchet was buried, I had Tommy on my podcast. It was THEN that we talked about “THE HAND”.
Not surprising at all, Tommy told me that Mae giving birth to a hand was 100% the BRAINCHILD of one Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Tommy thought the boss was ribbing, but unfortunately he wasn’t. According to Tommy, Vince thought it would be “HYSTERICAL”!!
Yes, this is the SAME Vince McMahon I’m always telling you about. His love for sophomoric humor is greater than my love for baseball. It’s a sickness with Vince. He literally has the mind of a 12 year-old when it comes to comedy. Weird, man, just always WEIRD.
So there you have it—-KILL THAT ONE TALL TALE ONCE AND FOR ALL!
If you think Mae Young giving birth to a hand was absolutely stupider than a referee setting a wrestler on fire last week—BLAME THE OTHER VINCE!