Mae Young Classic *Spoilers*

Ali Bomaye

The first four episodes of this (all of the first round matches) were put up on the network yesterday. The main events of each episode were all very good. Jazzy Gabert got over with the crowd, and was one of the big highlights of the round. My favourite matches were Santana Garrett vs Piper Niven and Sarah Logan vs Mia Yim. Kairi Sane was super over with the crowd as well, and had a good match with Tessa Blanchard.

I really like the presentation of these tournaments the WWE do, with all competitors getting to introduce themselves in a short video package before their match. First round matches were all kept fairly short and nothing spectacular, much like with the CWC and UK tournaments. Commentary from JR and Lita was bland, didn't add anything to matches but didn't harm anything either. It was very poor compared to Mauro and Bryan calling the CWC last year.

I like the idea of releasing the first four episodes on demand at the same time, with the next four episodes being released next Monday. I find it takes until the second round for things to really get interesting, as the first round is just giving me an introduction to the wrestlers, so I'm happy it gets that out of the way all at once rather than taking four weeks.

Itssoeasy

I've just finished the first episode of the mae young classic. The commentary is as bad as I read. JR Has lost his sparkle which made him the best in the business, and lita has never been great.

That UFC girl might be good in UFC but she got a way to go in the old pro wrestling game.

HandsomeBob

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I've just finished the first episode of the mae young classic. The commentary is as bad as I read. JR Has lost his sparkle which made him the best in the business, and lita has never been great.

That UFC girl might be good in UFC but she got a way to go in the old pro wrestling game.

Not a fan of this MMA shoot gimmick crap in pro wrestling. Feels like cheating the art in some way. At least Brock did his bit for the business initially.

So I wasn't impressed and

hope she doesn't get past the 16.

I'm on ep 4 now and have been impressed by Liath, Candace, Martinez, Logan, the two Aussies and Belair so far. Xia Li has potential.

Somebody has let a liberty bell knock off into the tournament. :pac:

Blue_Dabadee

I really like the presentation of the tournament. Everyone has a strong personality or gimmick to them rather than cookie cutter model that you would of seen 10 years ago.

Itssoeasy

Blue_Dabadee wrote: »

I really like the presentation of the tournament. Everyone has a strong personality or gimmick to them rather than cookie cutter model that you would of seen 10 years ago.

The presentation and production values in WWE has alway been smooth since the 1980s. The camera men even looked the part with the boiler suits. You can complain about WWE for lots of things but the slickness of the production has never been one of them IMO.

oneilla

Are we doing spoilers in each post or can it be taken that the thread will have spoilers?

Ps. Yeah agree, the commentary is poop. Awkward silences, little enthusiasm. Not a patch on Mauro/Bryan from CWC

jaykhunter

oneilla wrote: »

Are we doing spoilers in each post or can it be taken that the thread will have spoilers?

I put spoilers in the thread title - post as if everyone's up to date

Itssoeasy

I'm just watching the second episode and Jesus rhea ripley is a future star. She's only 20 but and she's bloody good already.

J. Marston

What's Dakota Kai like? Didn't watch any of it but saw a gif of that big roundabout Helluva kick and it looked very cool.

Itssoeasy

J. Marston wrote: »

What's Dakota Kai like? Didn't watch any of it but saw a gif of that big roundabout Helluva kick and it looked very cool.

I'm on the episode she's on now so I'll tell ya in about an hour.

Itssoeasy

What I like is how they darken the crowd and make the ring the think to concentrate on which is how it should be.

Itssoeasy

Toni storm is magic.

Itssoeasy

The Indian women in the tournament says in the video package that she was trained by the great khali and he "taught us everything" That took all of 30 minutes then.

Itssoeasy

Dakota Kai was good in her match to answer the question but to be fair she hadn't much to work with in the ring.

jrkb

im liking it so far,more interested in this than most of whats going on in the main womens roster.

HandsomeBob

Itssoeasy wrote: »

The Indian women in the tournament says in the video package that she was trained by the great khali and he "taught us everything" That took all of 30 minutes then.

I would have liked to have seen promo class. Kai was good and

glad she won. I was surprised as I was sure KD was put in the tournament to get to the quarters at least.

Ripley definitely has bags of potential at only 20. None of the younger ones such as herself and Belair would be ready to go but I'd like to see both of them on NXT in order to develop.

It feels like a combination of a lack of chemistry and enthusiasm that's the problem on the commentating. Lita isn't any great shakes on commentating in of itself but she was the right kind of pick to do it. I think she would be way better with someone like Rene with her. I'm actually shocked at how poor they've been given they had the chance to do it over.

Sane is a little bag of charisma and force,

too bad Blanchard had to go but I guess they wanted a star match to sign off round 1. Hopefully Tessa is given further opportunities.

Blue_Dabadee

The participants that stand out for me based on round one are Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Tessa Blanchard, Xia Li, Candice LeRae and Kairi Sane.

Itssoeasy

Finished the last episode of the first round and kairi sane and Tessa Blanchard are stars. Tessa especially has just kept getting better.

CastorTroy

I didn't realise both members of the Dollhouse were in this.

I expect the second round to be an improvement. There were a few times where they were waiting on setups. But plenty of talent on show.

Sage Beckett is the former Rosie Lottalove? Big change in her since she injured Daffney.

I think the basic summary of the first 4 episodes was "Watch Shimmer!"

I'm not a fan of Baszler. Dunno why exactly, but I'd say she'll be kept in it as a way of getting that Rousey association. I know I can just look up if she's still in it, but I can wait until it airs

So at this point, does Izzy get free entry to these shows?

J. Marston

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/904772056188805120

Ouch!

HandsomeBob

Baszler reminding me again why I hate this shoot MMA gimmick ****e.

"I have experience at a higher level than her."

"All I have to do is exist to beat her."

**** off back to MMA then if you can't do the basics of pro wrestling and sell your opponent.

HandsomeBob

Quarter final spoiler:

Ah here, I'm ****ing disgusted. I'm getting worked mercilessly here. :pac: Green as **** just even doing a poxy side slam and she mows through Candace.

DM_7

HandsomeBob wrote: »

Baszler reminding me again why I hate this shoot MMA gimmick ****e.

"I have experience at a higher level than her."

"All I have to do is exist to beat her."

**** off back to MMA then if you can't do the basics of pro wrestling and sell your opponent.

She can sell. This is what they want her to do. Look at who is ringside and what happens backstage as a clue as to why they would book member of MMA 4 horsewomen that way.

HandsomeBob

DM_7 wrote: »

She can sell. This is what they want her to do. Look at who is ringside and what happens backstage as a clue as to why they would book member of MMA 4 horsewomen that way.

I know why they are booking her that way. Based on what I've seen I don't think she's good enough, with her best match being against

Martinez, someone who has supposedly mentored her.

She even botched a basic side slam against

La Rae. For someone still so green I'm surprised at how they've allowed her to steamroll through the tournament but as you say, the bigger picture seems to be the thing being eyed.

Have to say I was generally disappointed with the quality on display after a strong first round. The air seemed to come out of it in the quarters and semis.

CastorTroy

I don't think Baszler should've shook Martinez's hand and celebrated with her after. I realised during the LaRae match that she was actually playing a decent heel, confirmed by not letting go of the choke. Then she showed sportmanship in the semi.
I was thinking during the first round that they needed a heel character. That was one thing that set the UK championship apart from the Cruiserweight Classic. Pete Dunne was obviously the heel throughout, attacking his opponent after the first night.

But it's a good job Kairi is so tiny with how she lands on her opponent from the top rope.

Has it been said yet that the winner will be NXT women's champ?

magnumbud

i feel they are pushing Baszler for a potential 4 Horsewomen of MMA vs 4 Horsewomen of NxT match maybe at survivor series. rumours are the other 3 mma ones are training with brian kendrick to get ready for a match.

for me after watching everything now up to the final the 2 im most drawn to are Mrs Gargano and dokota kai i think both of them are already ready for the main roster toni storm is great too. obviously kairi sane too goes without saying. theres so many more that all have potential to be great too but maybe need time in nxt to clean up some stuff. if they give a lot of them contracts i think its going to make for some excellent viewing in NxT

especially with as asuka is moving to the main roster very soon

HandsomeBob

Wasn't mad about Dakota at first because the gimmick seemed a bit cliche but I was won over in the end.

There's rumblings going around that on top of the women that were already signed, more have signed since. The ones signed already are:

- Abbie Laith
- Sarah Logan
- Dakota Kai
- Kairi Sane
- Bianca BelAir
- Vanessa Bourne
- Zeda
- Xia Li
- Sage Beckett
- Rhea Ripley
- Taynara Conti
- Lacey Evans

The ones who weren't signed but who have now according to TK Trinidad are

- Candice LaRae
- Mia Yim
- Jazzy Gabbert
- Santana Garrett
- Kay Lee Ray
- Piper Niven
- Shayna Baszler
- Mercedes Martinez
- Toni Storm

Ali Bomaye

My favourite match was easily the Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair match. Belair was so good. I wasn't expecting that level a performance from a Performance Center rookie. Rhea Ripley stood out as well, as someone I hadn't heard of before the tournament.

I think the tournament has been fairly disappointing. It didn't really pick up after the first round and not many of the matches stood out. It felt a bit rushed and commentary added nothing to the matches. I don't think Baszler has being all that impressive either. The angle between the two horsewomen teams was awkward.

J. Marston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUaTyxlVepY

Her English is pretty good, even Funaki seemed surprised!

Pentecost

Indeed!

Bounty Hunter

Did I miss it or was there no Horsewoman angle on the show?

Happy Kari won although I kinda hope there are some shenanigans in the NXT match as I'd like her to be the one chasing the NXT title and then getting a big moment when she wins it. Not sure who she will be against though, maybe face vs face (as I can't imagine her as a heel) with Ember Moon but maybe against a heel would work better, maybe Nikki Cross & Sanity.

Guess the next time we see Bayzler will be on the main roster with the other MMA ladies but without a MYC angle happening (again unless I missed it) you would wonder what will trigger them turning up on Raw or SD especially seeing as the WWE 4 horsewoman are split over the 2 rosters. Guess the MMA ladies will just be at ringside for an upcoming PPV or Raw and have an altercation with their wrestling counterparts as there is still loads of time to build to Survivor Series