What I really thought of the WWE Mae Young Classic
The Finales
The past month has been dominated by all things Mae Young Classic. A tournament that saw thirty of the best female wrestlers from around the world take center stage on the look to become the inaugural winner of the Mae Young Classic. The event saw a handful of fantastic matches that really did impress and turn heads as the tournament proved to be massively important for women's wrestling and pushing the next step in the women's evolution. After eight shows full of brilliant wrestling, strong storytelling, and good character development the classic came to a finale this past Tuesday as Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane went head to head live on the WWE network. I have no idea how I done it and I honestly think I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep but I was able to say up until nearly four AM to tune into the finale and honestly I'm glad I did. Those two women went out there and made an impact. They both had a strong reaction and as the match grew the respect for both these women grew also. The fans became more interested and invested in the action and I sitting at home was left on the edge of my seat totally gripped. In recent blog posts I've touched on the fact that I had mixed opinions about this match; I've mentioned that I felt as though we would have had a stronger finale if Kairi had been facing someone a little more experienced like Candice LeRae but Shayna went out into that ring looking to not only get the win but prove a point and thats exactly what she did. Throughout the tournament we didn't get to see much of her in the ring with her longest match being around twelve minuets while Kairi Sane competed in some of the best and longest matches of the entire tournament. Shayna however, did in my opinion make the biggest impression. She stayed focused, in character and dominant throughout. She was the bad ass heel with the attitude, drive and skill to destroy anyone that stood opposite her in the ring and she was damn impressive. Keeping all that in mind I was expecting a strong finale but felt as though we could have got something better. In the end however, I really enjoyed the show and loved the final match up of the tournament. There was decent chemistry that seemed to improve as the match progressed. Shayna spent the first half completely dominant working on the elbow of Kairi Sane, a smart move taking away the part of her body Kairi uses the most in her matches. Shayna looked brutal taking apart each section of her opponents body and remained focused. The match very very quickly proved to be Shayna's best and Shayan's best performance to date. Sure it could have been cleaner at parts but I was so so impressed. The match was intense, told a story and I felt how much it meant to both women. Kairi was able to turn things around mid way through targeting the ribs of Shayna and after a number of close calls Kairi was able to hit the perfect elbow drop to get the win.So what did I think overall? Well I'll admit that I was totally backing Shayna as I mentioned over on twitter and Instagram on the night, and so I was disappointed that she didn't the win however she did make a brilliant impact and had a great performance on the night. I wasn't surprised with the result, I said from the beginning that Kairi was going to get the win and I guess thats why I wasn't the happiest person in the world when she won, I would have preferred a more controversial and slightly more unpredictable win but saying that Kairi has been fantastic throughout this tournament, she was consistent, competed in the best matches of the classic and earned the right to take the win one hundred and ten percent.
NXT Talent proved Ready for TV spotlight
The Mae Young Classic saw a number of women already signed with a WWE developmental contract prove their worth and show the world and the WWE that they are ready for bigger and better things. All these women or at least most have made at least one NXT TV appearance and during this tournament showed that they are more than ready to be given more bigger and better opportunities that go well past jobbing for bigger names on the roster. Lets take Abbey Laith as the first example. Competing in two of my favourite matches of the tournament, Abbey proved that the WWE need to start taking her more seriously and using her far more. We've barely seen Abbey on NXT TV despite her years of experience and clear talent but after what we saw from her in the tournament I and so many others are ready to see more of her and its about time. Throughout her career Laith has been apart of some epic matches competing against huge names around the world both male and female and fans will know all too well that she is a women capable of bringing something new and exciting to the divison and we could so easily see her take part in some truly epic matches. She's a hidden gem in the WWE right now and its time the WWE pushed her to the top. Another name that springs to mind is Bianca Blair. Bianca is someone I've had my eye on for a while after seeing little videos of her uploaded to YouTube and clips and videos of her from live events and I've always been really impressed and interested in seeing more of her and the Mae Young Classic really did throw her into the spotlight. One of the less experienced women in this tournament it never showed, Blair went out there once with a bigger opponent and remained confident and dominant picking up the win and the again up against a far far more experienced and skilled opponent in Kairi Sane. In both matches Bianca was strong, dominate, fast paced and focused and showed that while she doesn't have a lot of experience she has a bright bright future ahead of her and I'm really excited to see what is to come. Other names include the likes of Taynara Conti and Lacey Evans who I also cannot wait to see more of in the near future.A not so Impressive commentary team
I hate to be another person to sit and and compare the previous WWE tournament but if there is one thing that has always works and contributed to a tournament being a success it is the announce team. Last summer the pairing of Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo was perfect! Their natural chemistry was brilliant and change the feel completely. Both has such passion for the tournament and the action going on in the ring and it was massively infectious, a true highlight and massive part of why the Cruiserweight classic was such a success. A similar thing can be said for the United Kingdom Championship tournament, Nigel and Michael worked really well together and I enjoyed their work together/ their announcing as team. The same however cannot be said for the announce team for the Mae Young Classic. When I first heard that Lita and Jim Ross would be calling the action I was pretty excited. I grew up a huge fan of both these hall of farmers for different reasons and I felt as though they both would be bringing something really interest and unique to the event but it just didn't work. I was feeling their chemistry in the slightest, I didn't enjoy listening to them, Lita was not cut out for the role and altogether it just really did not work. This week a special show was uploaded were Nigel, Tom Phillips and Beth Phoenix were calling the action and honestly I liked this group a lot lot more. There was a better flow and vibe and I liked what I was hearing. Looking back, I do think the WWE defiantly made a mistake with the announce team and while I understand why Lita was picked for the role I honestly do wish someone like Renee Young with more experience in this area and if that had been done I do think there would have been an overall better feel to the event.Overall Thoughts
Honestly, I really did enjoy the tournament. It was such an important event for women's wrestling and in my opinion a total success. I would have liked to have seen longer matches and there were a few women I would have liked to have seen more of but overall we had a really good tournament that presented us with several amazing matches of the course of nine episodes. The Mae Young Classic put women's wrestling at the forefront. Thirty two female athletes from around the world stepped into the spotlight and proved yet again that they worthy and deserving of the spotlight, that they deserve main event matches, big pay per view bouts, and more time overall. Each of these women stood out for a different reason and brought something different to the table. I'm hoping that in the future we get to see more of the women that competed, we see even bigger movements and improvements in the women's divison and the evolution continues. Over the coming few days I have some posts going up that will talk in a little more detail about the women involved including a list of who I would like to see the WWE sign and a whole post on Shayna Baszler. For now you can let me know what you thought of the tournament by dropping a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangVictoria,.Recent blog posts:
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