We are less than a week away from the finals of the Mae Young Classic. 32 female competitors have entered the ring at Full Sail, and many have left a lasting impression on the fans. Or at least this one. Similar to last year's Cruiserweight Classic, there was a great mix of promising young talent and seasoned veterans in the tournament. While many would argue that the tournament was predominantly focused on the in-ring action, there were also a few great stories told outside of the ring.
Serena Deeb's redemption was a story we were told from the very beginning. I was a bit surprised that they brought up her abuse of alcohol specifically, rather than just saying that she left the company for "... reasons". With the specificity of the situation being mentioned, the story becomes so much more personal, and the audience is drawn that much closer to it. While she eventually lost to Piper Niven, this Sweet 16 competitor was a great addition to the tournament. Deeb doesn't appear to have a new contract with the WWE, but it was a pleasure to see her competing on such a big stage. She only had one televised match during her initial run as part of the Straight Edge Society. Even though she only had two matches this time around, the quality made up for the low quantity. Will we see her again? Time will tell, but she certainly is welcome in my eyes.
There was another veteran who made quite the impression in just two matches. Mia Yim didn't make it out of the second round, but the world got to see what she can do. It is almost hard to believe that the nearly decade long veteran is only 28 years old. A former champion both here and abroad, Yim was the sixth best female wrestler in the world according 2016's
PWI Female 50. Not only was this a great platform for Mia Yim to show off her talents, she will also be able to use the exposure to bring more eyes to her message of speaking out against domestic violence. A proud supporter of Safe Horizon's movement referred to as #PutTheNailInIt, Yim always drew attention to her singular purple-painted nail with every entrance.
At the opposite end of the experience spectrum, Bianca Belair, born only a week apart from Yim also lost in the second round. It is worth noting that both she and Yim lost to the two now-finalists of the tournament. Belair spent a total of six years throughout the SEC, graduating as an All-SEC and All-American hurdler from the University of Tennessee. After graduating, Bianca Belair became a professional cross-fitter. When she suffered a career ending injury, she decided to put her name into the WWE's database for potential Performance Center trainees. After getting a message from Mark Henry via social media, the "EST of NXT" was born. Bianca Belair has dominated the Performance Center Combine, and showed off her athleticism in the Mae Young Classic. It is safe to assume big things are on the horizon for Knoxville native.
Of course there were several world renowned, talented individuals who didn't even make it out of the first round. Jazzy Gabert is one of the biggest competitors entered into the competition, quite literally. Perhaps more commonly known as Alpha Female, the 6'1" 190 lbs German is intimidating to say the least. Best known for her work in Stardom, Jazzy has been a professional MMA fighter, bodybuilder, and power lifter to go along with her pro wrestling career. Fun fact, she is also the step-daughter of Japanese legend, Masahiro Chono. Unfortunately, she opened the tournament against Kimber Lee, or as she was named in the Mae Young Classic, Abbey Laith. This was one of the matches in the first round that really surprised me, as I truly thought it could go either way. While you might not be able to see more of her in the tournament, Stardom has a streaming service where you can get your fill of Alpha Female, Piper Niven, Santana Garrett, Dakota Kai, and others from the tournament, as well as others like Kris Wolf, Io Shirai, and Mayu Iwatani. After adjusting for the exchange rate it costs $6ish. You'll be seeing some of the best wrestling in the world, regardless of gender, so it is definitely worth checking out.
Second generation wrestler Tessa Blanchard also had the misfortune of being eliminated in the first round. Blanchard is no stranger to most who have followed wrestling over the past few years. The daughter of Tully Blanchard, she has a knack for popping up and immediately feeling like a big deal. "The Queen of the Carolinas" has cut her teeth on the indies and because of this had mastered the art of letting the crowd know who she is in a matter of minutes. With appearances in Stardom, GFW, WWE, and Lucha Underground, we are all well aware of what she can do, and her first round match with Kairi Hojo was one of the best of the tournament. Though she still appears to be a freelancer, the WWE would be silly not to sign her to a full time contract. Hopefully we will be seeing her on a more consistent basis with either NXT or the main roster sooner, rather than later.
Viper, or Piper Nevin, as she is known in the tournament, is another well-known grappler, and she made a major impact on this tournament. Undoubtedly, people make assumptions upon first sight with Viper. She is a bigger woman than we are accustomed to seeing in the WWE. Traditionally, this means she will be an immobile, power-based monster heel. Either that or she will be treated as a comedy wrestler. Within the first few minutes of any Piper Nevin match, you can see that will not be the case. She moves with grace and athleticism. Does she do power moves? Certainly, but they aren't the entirety of her move set, and she's just as comfortable working a style like you might expect from some of the top talents on the planet. And that's because she has the potential to be a top talent. She has been competing for nearly a decade at this point, but continues to improve, and as she becomes more and more of a global talent, she will undoubtedly continue to grow and grow.
Of course, as a native New Englander, I have to mention Mercedes Martinez. Martinez has been wrestling all over since 2000, and soon became a fixture on the national women's wrestling scene as well. With her Bull Run fisherman buster, has captured gold wherever she goes. Multiple Hall of Fame inductions and over thirty title reigns are some highlights of a very productive career. While the "________ started the women's revolution" meme runs wild across the internet, there is a strong case to be made for Martinez. In the Mae Young Classic, Martinez proved why she was at one time the second best female wrestler in the world according to PWI. Those unfamiliar with her work were in for quite the ride, and her fan base undoubtedly grew from her first showings in a WWE ring. A sentimental favorite from me, I was pleased by what she was able to do. I'm guessing she was brought in as more of a one and done type deal, but she made the most of the time she was given.
While I could continue gushing about the wrestlers in this tournament for pages and pages, I'm going to jump ahead to the two competitors who we all expected to blow us away. Even with name changes, the reputations of both Kairi Sane and Dakota Kai preceded the appearances of the former Kairi Hojo and Evie.
Dakota Kai has been all over the world in the last decade. The Auckland native is one of very few WWE wrestlers to ever come from New Zealand, and is the first female Kiwi to sign with the company. "The Captain of Team Kick" has a lethal looking move set, which might lead to some confusion. You see, in interviews and promos, you see this sweet girl-next-door type that you can't help but root for. As soon as the bell rings, you see that she is one of the top female talents in the world. Picture NXT-Bayley mixed with the striking ability of Shinsuke Nakamura. On one hand, you'll want to hug her, but on the other, you realize she might be ready, willing, and most importantly, able to kick your head off. There is really only one other participant in the Mae Young Classic who has won over the WWE Universe like her.
"The Pirate Princess" Kairi Sane is insanely endearing. Whether reading a translation of an interview or promo, or listening to her improving English, Sane is 100% babyface charisma. If you don't want to see her win, I can only assume you also hate sunshine, flowers, and joy. She's basically a less-leathery, much smaller, and humble 1980s Hulk Hogan (I can only assume the leathery part. I've never touched either of them, and don't plan to any time soon). But able to move better. Like, a lot better. As in she has the greatest diving elbow drop of all time. That isn't even a touch of hyperbole, she performs an elbow off the top rope even better than "Macho Man" Randy Savage. One of the greatest performers Stardom has ever seen, Kairi Sane can beat you with her high flying, high speed offense. She is an impressive striker, and has a great spear. Her Ikari submission hold looks equal parts masterfully beautiful, and devastatingly painful. She is the total package in professional wrestling. She also is somehow able to pull off a pirate gimmick and not come across as terribly lame. That's better than anything I could say about Paul Burchill, or Alan Tudyk's Steve The Pirate from
Dodgeball.
Of course the women mentioned above are just 9 of the 32 wrestlers chosen to represent their countries in the Mae Young Classic. If you're a WWE Network subscriber, you owe it to yourself to check it out. If you aren't, I believe you still get a free month upon signing up. It is definitely worth signing up between now and Tuesday to check out the finals live.
Until next time, stay (too) sweet!
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