WWE Mae Young Classic

Love Candice.

Ok, here we go. One giant post instead of a butt load of them. 1st 4 eps are up on the Network. I just got done binge watching them. If you don't want anything ruined, don't read this. However, if you want to know which match to watch, I'll suggest a few, because there are some good ones & also some stinkers. JR & Lita on commentary was really slow to start, but they got better as the episodes went on. I'm not a big fan of Lita on commentary, but JR is fine.

Episode 1

Kay Lee Ray vs Pricessa Sugehit - Hot start as this was a pretty darn good choice to kick things off. Both impressed me & while it was a rather short match, they both got in their moves, Sugehit advances with an arm breaker.

Serena Deeb vs Vanessa Borne - Borne is very green & Serena hasn't wrestled in a few years, but the match was just ok. Borne is hot, but her selling is a little spazzy. Deeb wins via Spear.

Shayna Baszler vs Zeda - They traded MMA moves & kicks, but this was super quick, about 2 minutes. Shayna wins via her falcon arrow/rear naked choke finisher. Sort of an underwhelming 1st match for Shayna. Lots of shots of Ronda & company front row. Seems like they are really acting it up too.

Jazzy Gabert vs Abbey Laith - This got about 10 minutes. Laith is a fantastic performer, JR even dropped she was a former CHIKARA Grand Champion, which made me happy. While Jazzy is sloppy at times, the selling of Abbey more than made up for it. Jazzy is great at the power moves. Turned into one of my favorite matches of the 1st round. Abbey won via Alligator Clutch (Mae Young's move she used to use)

Episode 2

Mercedes Martinez vs Xia Li - This was Li's very 1st match ever. She pretty much stuck to kicks as Mercedes was the best choice for her to wrestle. Mercedes wins in around 4 minutes with a dragon sleeper. Xia was fine, but they kept her offense limited.

Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle - Worst match of the 1st round. Both girls were very sloppy, their selling, delivery, everything. Wish it was better, but sadly it wasn't. Evers wins win a roll up. Skip this match.

Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Salinas - I don't think either girl has much experience. Nothing much stood out honestly, Ripley won via full nelson slam.

Sarah Logan vs Mia Yim - Hard hitting match that was mainly even throughout as they were both trading forearms in a seated position that was cool. Mia wins with an Eat De-Feet to advance. Logan was really impressive though.

Episode 3

Ayesha Raymond vs Toni Storm - Ayesha Raymond is terrible, her look is different, which is a good thing, but boy she really sucks. Toni Storm is impressive, but when the opponent is so bad, it's tough. Raymond's acting was just awful. Storm won with a roll up.

Dakota Kai vs Kavita Devi - Devi took most of the match, showing off her power. Basically Kai got 2-3 offensive moves, but they were her big moves as she ended up hitting a beautiful double stomp off the top (Balor's finish) for the win.

Sage Beckett vs Bianca Belair - This was a snoozer. Beckett is formerly Andrea the Amazon, yet they had the smaller Belair work her over throughout the match. Completely killed any/all of the intimidation Beckett had prior to the match. Belair wins with a spear in 5 minutes.

Santana Garrett vs Piper Niven - If you haven't seen Piper before, you'll think there's no way she can do some of the moves she does, but she did & she's awesome. Santana got a bad draw here as I wish she went further, but they put together a very good match for the time given. Crowd really picked up in this as Piper hit a running senton & a Michinoku Driver to advance. Solid little main event for the show.

Episode 4

Renee Michelle vs Candice LeRae - Gargano in the front row as Candice was super over. For never having heard of Michelle, she impressed me here as she was fine on offense while Candice sold like a champ. Candice got in some offense, eventually putting Michelle away with her 2nd rope swinging neckbreaker called Ms. LeRae's Wild Ride to advance.

Taynara Conti vs Lacey Evans - Conti is the love child of Natalya & Renee Young. It wasn't that good of a match, but Conti did hit some judo inspired offense. Wish it was better, but it was again pretty messy. Both girls are still learning. I would've put them with different opponents, but it is what it is.

Nicole Savoy vs Reina Gonzalez - I was super let down by this one as I've seen Nicole Savoy wrestle a bunch of times & really enjoy her work, but wow this wasn't good. I don't know if it was time limitations or just choice of offense, but I didn't like it at all. Savoy won, but I'd skip this match too.

Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard - My favorite match of the tournament thus far. Crowd loves Sane & Tessa played a good heel in this. This got a good amount of time too luckily as both ladies traded offense with Sane hitting running blockbuster while Tessa was on her knees. Tessa had the wrist locked & was hitting lariats, until Sane turned the tables, went to the top for the huge elbow for the win.

Top 5 Matches

Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard (episode 4)

Sarah Logan vs Mia Yim (episode 2)

Piper Niven vs Santana Garrett (episode 3)

Jazzy Gabert vs Abbey Laith (episode 1)

Kay Lee Ray vs Princessa Sugehit (episode 1)

Bottom 5 Matches

Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle (episode 2)

Aiyesha Raymond vs Toni Storm (episode 3)

Nicole Savoy vs Reina Gonzalez (episode 4)

Sage Beckett vs Bianca Belair (episode 3)

Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Salinas (episode 2)

Here we go, next batch of episodes up & match quality picked up in a major way. JR & Lita got better, but still not a fan of the pairing. Not to mention the way Lita pronounces Kairi Sane’s name remains infuriating. It sounds like she's saying "Kuh-Lee" and she says it like 87 times.

Episode 5
Abbey Laith vs Rachel Evers – Laith hit a suicide dive early, but Evers used her power to fight back, eventually hitting a powerslam off the top (almost a mini flux capacitor) but only got a 2. The only bad part of this match was Evers reaction to not getting the pin was so fake & not believable at all, very bad over acting. That’s just nit picking though, as she picked up Abbey, who was able hit a shot, followed by an Alligator Clutch for the win. Abbey’s match with Jazzy was better, but this was by far better than Evers/Marti.

Piper Niven vs Serena Deeb – Piper is fucking awesome, out of this whole tournament she could be my new favorite. This was a good match as Serena for most of it, foolishly tried power moves on the much bigger Piper. It never worked as Piper would fire back & essentially squash Serena time after time, but she fought back a bunch, but ultimately fell to a Michinoku Driver.

Princessa Sugehit vs Mercedes Martinez – The match with the most promise, but suffered due to the limited time it was given. Wish this had gotten more, but they did as much as they could as they chain wrestled early, traded submissions & strikes, but Mercedes hit a Fisherman’s Buster for the win that really came out of nowhere as the crowd was pretty surprised at how quick it came too.

Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair – For only having 1 year of experience, Belair impressed the hell out of me. This was a great match as Belair controlled a majority, at one point hitting an impressive 450, but only got a near fall. They really put over how vicious Belair whipping her opponent with her hair is, but……come on, it’s hair, why sell it? (don’t you dare fucking start with the Joey Ryan dick-plex with me either, I’m calling you all out before you start, haha) Anyways, commentary really drove home how impressive Belair is, but Sane was able to connect with a brutal elbow for the win. JR said she hit it right in the heart, but that’s bullshit, Sane landed full sternum on this one.

Episode 6
Toni Storm vs Lacey Evans – I’m bummed Storm didn’t get better opponents for her 1st two matches as the first with Raymond sucked & this was slightly better. I’m just not a fan of Evans, who you can tell is still learning. I don’t know if she gassed early or was knocked loopy, but she seemed out of it as the match progressed. Luckily this didn’t go longer otherwise someone might’ve gotten hurt as Toni put her away with what they called Strong Zero, but it didn’t look like it, to advance.

Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler – This was the match where the WWE Horsewomen & MMA Horsewomen stared each other down across the ramp. Lots of kicks & counters to this as Shayna really worked the knee of Mia over the course of this one as it came into play later as Mia tried for a 450, but Shayna got her knees up & quickly sank in her rear naked choke as Mia taps. This was another match that I wish would’ve had more time, but sadly it didn’t.

Rhea Ripley vs Dakota Kai –Ripley overpowered Kai to start, Kai fought back, hit the ropes & ran right into a flapjack. Ripley looked more impressive here than her 1st round match as she connected with a superkick & Northern lights, but Kai kicked out. Both girls fought to the top as Ripley looked for a superplex, but Kai fought back & Ripley fell off, eventually got tied up in the Tree of Woe as Dakota connected with her double stomp off the top for the win. Kai sells very well & I think she could be almost a new Bayley, but also could be an eventual heel too. Ripley is a damn smoke show & is still learning, so I hope to see more of her sooner than later.

Candice LeRae vs Nicole Savoy – Gargano again at ringside as Savoy took maybe 90% of this one with kicks & counters. At one point Candice hit a code breaker, but Savoy immediately fought back & hit a German suplex, but got 2. Eventually Candice was able to get Savoy up to the second rope & hit Ms. LeRae’s Wild Ride for the win. Not overly impressive as Nicole Savoy, who I’ve liked what I had seen from her on the Indies, didn’t really impress me all that much in this tournament, which is unfortunate. Candice up to this point has been fine, but I know what she’s capable of & hopefully she turns it up in the next round.

Episode 7
Abbey Laith vs Mercedes Martinez – Quick pace to this one, so much so that both women seemed gassed towards the end, but that’s not a surprise as they put on a fun match. This was the definition of back & forth as each women would light the other up with kicks, chops, forearms, etc, but the other would turn the tables. Crowd was really behind Abbey, whose facial expressions are really great (the opposite of Rachel Evers). She hit a big time crossbody to the floor as this was when the gas tanks for both women were near empty. Abbey tried for an Alligator Clutch, but Mercedes rolled through and hit her Fisherman’s Buster for the win. Abbey Laith is a star in the making, I think she’s great. Mercedes has always been a fantastic performer & happy she’s finally getting a platform for people to see it.

Candice LeRae vs Shayna Baszler – Ok, so Candice was awesome in this one as she got attacked early on by Shayna, who is really heeling it up here. She toyed with her briefly, but Candice hit a suicide dive turned into a Tornado DDT on the floor as this was really the first time Shayna was in trouble. Candice tried to capitalize, but Shayna fought back. Candice tried for Ms. LeRae’s Wild Ride, both women jump off the ropes, but Shayna was able to counter into her rear naked choke as Candice tapped! Shayna didn’t let go for quite a while, to the point where the ref should’ve DQ’d her, but she finally let go as Gargano checked on his wife. Best showing of the tournament for both ladies honestly as you finally got to see Shayna sell & Candice broke out her signature wild moves. Great pairing for Shayna to become the big heel of this tournament too.

Piper Niven vs Toni Storm – Have I mentioned I love Piper? Finally after 2 rounds of below average opponents, Storm gets an awesome opponent as these girls beat the piss out of each other. Piper hit her power moves and at one point shook her head, apologizing to Storm for what she had to do to put her away as she went for a Vader Bomb, but Storm got up & hit a release belly to back suplex out of the corner, dropping Piper on her shoulder. Toni climbed to the top & hit a guillotine legdrop for the win. This was a fantastic match, one, again, wish would’ve had more time. Next to Tessa/Sane, this has been my favorite match of the tournament.

Dakota Kai vs Kairi Sane – This match was really fun as Kai was able to connect with most of her offense, but Sane would fight back. Kai hit a Helluva Kick, but tried it again, when Sane moved. She hit a vicious Alabama Slam, setting her up perfect in the corner for her elbow for the win. This one looked a LOT better than the one in the Belair match. Kai was impressive, but Sane is obviously the one to beat in this one.

I still have the final 2 matches to watch on Episode 8, which I will later today/tonight.