D-Von Dudley recalls Mae Young’s pep talk before that iconic table spot at the height of WWE Attitude Era.
Appearing on Going Ringside, WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley revealed that Mae Young called him and Bubba Ray Dudley over and suddenly slapped Bubba. She then told them that if they were ever going to be in the ring with her again, they needed to treat her like one of the guys and hit her just as hard as they would any male opponent.
“We get to the back and Mae Young said, ‘Come here, come here, you two,’ and we said, ‘What’s going on?’ and she was like bam and slapped Bubba and he went, ‘Holy cow.’ I stepped back and she was like, ‘Next time you’re in the ring with me, just make sure one thing: you hit me like you hit one of the boys,’ and I just went, ‘Duly noted, you ain’t got to slap me, I’m good.’”
The host then asked for his thoughts on an 80-year-old woman telling them to hit her like male opponents, to which D-Von jokingly replied, “You hit her.”
D-Von Dudley recalled that there was some talk about who would put Mae Young through a table. He explained that Bubba initially thought D-Von wanted him to take the spotlight and perform the move himself. However, D-Von clarified that he preferred Bubba to do it instead. He added that he didn’t want to be the one responsible for any mishap, saying that if anything went wrong during the spot, the responsibility would fall on him.
D-Von Dudley wasn’t comfortable with powerbombing Mae Young through a table
D-Von said his biggest concern was the reaction from the office, particularly Vince McMahon. Dudley worried that something might go wrong during the spot, such as accidentally dropping Mae Young.
He added that Bubba Ray Dudley was comfortable with the idea, but he personally struggled with fear of heights. D-Von explained that going to the top rope was never easy for him. This was true even for moves like the “Wassup” diving headbutt to the groin. The idea of carrying an 80-year-old woman was something he simply wasn’t comfortable with.
D-Von Dudley said that when they revisited the footage, it was clear the crowd expected someone like Mark Henry or some backstage official to do a run-in. No one came out and Bubba Ray Dudley stood up, and the audience realized it was actually going to happen and reacted in shock.
He also noted that even commentator Jerry Lawler didn’t believe it would happen because he wasn’t informed beforehand. D-Von explained that commentators were kept in the dark intentionally to capture a more natural, genuine reaction. This was something Vince McMahon wanted for the segment.
D-Von Dudley on Mae Young’s insane reaction to the table spot
The Dudleys successfully did the spot twice — once on Monday Night RAW and again on SmackDown. Mae Young later told them she wanted to pitch the idea of a cage match to Vince McMahon.
“She said that she wanted, well, we did it twice. We did it that time on Monday Night RAW, then we did it on SmackDown. After SmackDown, she told me and Bubba that she wanted to talk to Vince and have a cage match.”
In her version of the plan, according to D-Von, she would run in, get hit and taken down by them. The finish would involve putting her through a table from the top of the cage.
“Like there was a cage match and me and Bubba were in or got involved in. She wanted to run down. She wanted us to hit her, put her down, then take it to the top and put it through the top, through the table, through the top of the cage.”
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