The next four episodes of the Mae Young Classic are now available on demand, exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network.
With 16 women remaining in this historic tournament, viewers can now watch all eight Second-Round matchups along with the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in episodes 5-8.
As the historic Mae Young Classic continues, the competition heats up with the following Second-Round bouts:
Abbey Laith vs. Rachel Evers
Princesa Sugehit vs. Mercedes Martinez
Nicole Savoy vs. Candice LeRae
Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair
Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley
Serena Deeb vs. Piper Niven
Lacey Evans vs. Toni Storm
This all leads up to the highly anticipated finale streaming live from Las Vegas Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. ET on WWE Network.
Episode 5
I'm still not feeling that they darkening the arena during matches. It makes this show look low budget when we know that's not the case with WWE backing this thing. On the plus side, at least this looks like a different crowd, but still at Full Sail.
Abby Laith def. Rachel Evers
Kassius Ohno is shown in the crowd to support his girlfriend, Rachel Evers. I didn't know that until I googled it during this match that they were dating. It seems weird that WWE would acknowledge that she's Paul Ellering's daughter, but don't allow her to use that last name.
Much like in Round 1, the story here continues to play up Abbey as the babyface underdog with Evers being the powerhouse. Evers is no Alpha Female, but there were some good spots in this match, with the colliding Yakuza Kick spot. Too bad that Abbey's Suicide Dive out of the ring was a bit sloppy on execution prior to that spot. Rachel put the exclamation point in this match on her offense with a sick top rope Powerslam, but ultimately fell to a Pop-Up Powerbomb followed by an Alligator Clutch for Abbey to pick up the win.
Definitely not a bad match to kick off these 2nd Round bouts.
Piper Niven def. Serena Deeb
There were tons of heavy hitting reversals in this match (no pun intended there) with Piper playing up her weight and size to her advantage over the scrawny looking Deeb. I hate to ask this again, but was Serena Deeb sick or something? I honestly don’t remember Deeb being this skinny prior, even without the implants when she was on the indies for last few years.
That being said, this was a fun match from bell to bell, despite having far too many rest holds for my taste. I thought it was very predictable that Piper was going to counter the Spear when Deeb went for it at the end, only to counter with the Michinoku Driver for the win. I know everyone keeps saying that Serena Deeb was the Brian Kendrick of this tournament, but I'm inclined to disagree with that logic. She's been in WWE previously, yes, but her return wasn't hyped up and showcased in a powerful manner like his was. That's not her fault at all, that's on WWE's behalf with their shitty narrative for this tournament for everything that's not related to MMA's Horsewomen. I want to add that this was another strong showing for Piper Niven in this tournament.
Mercedes Martinez def. Princesca Sugehit
The whole dynamic of this match had Mercedes' shoulder targeted by Sugehit over the course of this match, only for Mercedes to hit a Fisherman’s Buster and landing on her shoulder in the process, but still managed to pick up the win.
My only gripe here was Mercedes had no problem pulling that finish off after her shoulder was affected. At least she did sell it though. With Sugehit eliminated this early into the tournament, I guess we can pretty much rule her out from being signed. She's more likely set to go back to CMLL to make waves in that promotion after getting some mainstream exposure in a WWE ring.
Kairi Sane def. Bianca Belair
Okay, I changed my mind on what I said about Belair in the first round. She had a great showing here against the veteran Kairi Sane, especially for rookie at the Performance Center learning wrestling from scratch. If she can continue to work great matches like this then she definitely has a great future ahead of her in WWE.
Belair has an impressive power game on display in this match - stalling suplex, multiple Oklahoma Slam reversals, and even busting out a 450 Splash for a near-fall towards the end, even though she hesitated so damn long. She looked as nervous as Alexa Bliss does doing that Sparkle Splash from the top rope. Bianca Belair shouldn’t have repeated the hairwhip attack so much throughout as they completely exposed it. At one point I was stumped on how she was making that "crack" sound, but now I can see that Belair’s CLEARLY slapping her thigh for the sound effect.
My feelings on the overuse of slapping the thigh for moves in wrestling is a much needed discussion for another day though...
Kairi Sane's offense was definitely on point for sure. She landed a sick spinning backfist rebuttal on her comeback. I doubt she slapped her thigh upon impact either as that hit was loud enough to make me cringe. That being said, I felt that her Diving Elbow looked a lot safer here on the landing than it did the first time.
By the way, did anyone else notice how much athletic tape that Kairi Sane has covering up her neck and shoulders hidden underneath her hair? That makes me even more scared for her longevity in WWE.
All round solid match to end these first set of Round 2 bouts.
Episode 6
Toni Storm def. Lacey Evans
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| I swear this gif is hypnotizing me... |
This was a pretty short and sweet match with both ladies getting their spots in. Lacey Evans performed an amazing ring apron sweep and Slingshot Elbow Drop combination that I don't think I have ever seen anyone else do before. Despite having a losing effort here in this second round I thought Lacey Evans did fine here. She had nothing to be ashamed of from her two performances in this tournament. The folks at the Performance Center must think highly of her and Belair to be able to make it this far in this tournament, especially for being one of the two rookies.
Toni Storm gave me another reason to love her even more (other than her bootilicious appeal) with her Strong Zero finisher.
Shayna Baszler def. Mia Yim
Fun fact: Shayna’s first wrestling match after her shift from MMA was against Mia Yim. So you could say that this was a rematch of sorts.
Bayley, Charlotte, Becky (no Sasha for some reason) were at ringside for this match along with Baszler’s friends (Ronda Rousey and the rest of MMA's Horsewomen). WWE clearly teasing a Horsewomen vs Horsewomen match at some point. You know WWE is making a big deal out of this when they had to move Izzy out of the way and had to pull Bayley off a house show appearance to be on this show.
That being said, this was a great 2nd round opponent for Shayna as they each compliment each others’ styles with the reversals and counters. Mia Yim carried Shayna throughout this match for a much better spectacle than what Shayna had against the rookie Zeda during the first round. The finish came in the form of a 450 Splash by Mia Yim being countered into Shayna's Rear Naked Choke for the win.
Dakota Kai def. Rhea Ripley
Don't ask me why, but for some reason I was confusing Rhea Ripley with Rhia O'Reilly. They don't even look the same but I kept confusing them for some odd reason. Rhea Ripley was formerly known as Demi Bennett before signing with WWE. Gosh I feel stupid for confusing those two ladies...
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| Somebody call a dentist for Dakota Kai, please. |
As you can see from the image above, Rhea delivers a vicious Electric Chair Drop into ring apron to Dakota Kai. I'm shocked Kai didn't spit out a few teeth after a bump like that. The story of this match is pretty much that Dakota Kai is here to take all of the punishment that Rhea dishes out, only to sneak by with the win at the end.
Dakota Kai didn’t get in as many strikes as I would have liked here since both were hyping up their striking game prior to this for all of this tournament up to this point. Dakota Kai got the win with a Diving Corner Foot Stomp out of Rhea hanging in the Tree of Woe position for the win.
Candice LaRae def. Nicole Savoy
Nicole Savoy dominates bulk of this match with her technical, submission game with Candice barely hanging in there with last minute reversals and her sheer determination. Up to this point, I have to admit that I was not really too impressed with Gargano’s wife in this tournament, Nicole Savoy vs Shayna next round would’ve been the better bout for the Quarterfinal next round for the former Trifecta stable mates as Jim Ross pointed out on commentary.
I thought the match was fine for the most part, outside of their hesitation on setting up Candice’s finisher made the finish rather awkward in the end.
Episode 7
Mercedes Martinez def. Abbey Laith
I felt that the psychology here was off a bit. Abbey wasn’t the underdog here, but was working this match like she was the heel aggressor trying to exploit Mercedes’ “injured” shoulder. I'm not saying this was a bad match; it just seemed odd that they would change up Abbey's psychology at this point when she was doing well as the underdog babyface.
I don't know if it was planned or what but there was an awkward landing/fall off ring apron by Mercedes mid-match. With that spot in mind, I thought it was rather lame that Mercedes' shoulder “injury” had no impact on this match. If I'm being honest, I REALLY didn’t agree with the result here, as I felt that they should’ve went with Abbey in the finals but I believe WWE already signed her anyway. My only guess is that since Nicole Savoy is out, they wanted someone else who Shayna was familiar with work with her in the semi-finals.
Shayna Baszler def. Candice LaRae
This match opened with Candice LaRae hitting Suicide Dive to a Tornado DDT (Sami Zayn style) on the bottom of the entrance ramp. She follows that up with an Octopus Stretch a la AJ Lee (at least she applied it properly here unlike she did it half-assed against Savoy).
I want to add that Shayna’s doing better selling here than Mercedes Martinez was in the previous match. This match wasn't long at all but it's easy to see that WWE are clearly setting up Shayna as the top heel here much like Pete Dunne in the UK tournament.
Candice LaRae met her end as Miss LaRae’s Wild Ride was countered into the Rear Naked Choke by Shayna. Shayna Baszler maintains the hold post-match, while Johnny Gargano is struck with grief for heel heat. I'm pretty sure that Baszler could've taken Gargano too and that would've been a pretty fair fight too, but I'm just saying (laughs)!
This was pretty cool for getting heel heat on Baszler by kayfabe injurying Gargano's wife, who was the token babyface for Full Sail at this point since Abbey Laith already got eliminated earlier, but I was stomped on why the referee and officials on hand didn't simply reverse the decision and disqualify Baszler? They don't have to have her win the tournament if they want to establish her as a monster heel. The point was already made here. That being said, I guess it would be FAR too obvious if Kairi Sane won this thing at this point.
Toni Storm def. Piper Niven
I hope WWE signs Toni Storm just for I can oogle at her booty meat on the regular. Just DAYUM, girl.
Eye candy aside, this was my favorite match out of these next few episodes thus far. It was a fun match to watch, thanks to the chemistry between Toni and Piper. I hope people would cut Piper a break too. She's cute too for a "thick" gal. I hope WWE signs her too as they could use more "big girls" who can move and work like a powerhouse. I think the only thing that's stopping WWE if they haven't signed these two already is their commitments to both the UK promotions and STARDOM currently.
That was a impressive top rope back toss by Toni Storm to remove Piper from the top rope towards the end of this match, but I found the finish with the top rope leg drop to be pretty bland. That left me saying “That’s it?” when Toni Storm got the win off that. Other than that minor gripe with this match, I humbly suggest going out of your way to watch this match.
Kairi Sane def. Dakota Kai
I was glad to see more striking from Dakota Kai but much like Abbey/Mercedes it seemed like she was the heel aggressor here from the vibe that made this another odd match to watch.
The change in Dakota Kai's demeanor was obvious too as she changed up her hairdo, traded in her Bayley-esque ring gear, and wasn’t all smiles here.
Kairi Sane got her shots in too, so it’s wasn’t one sided in terms of offense.
There was a crazy reversal exchange towards the end of this match where Sane fell back into the Tree of Woe to avoid Kai's Diving Foot Stomp, only for Sane to get the Alabama Slam in rebuttal and follow up with the Diving Elbow Drop of Doom for the win.
That’s all she wrote here for this match as there was a bigger story to be told in a segment backstage.
So, the WWE Horsewomen and MMA Horsewomen stand-off backstage to tease a potential match for the near future. I'm guessing they are saving that for Survivor Series, but I could be wrong. Sue me, but I felt that the placement here was in really in bad taste. The focus of this tournament should be on the tournament entrants, NOT some celebrity outsiders and folks on the main roster already signed. Hype up a match between these two parties on RAW and SmackDown!, there's more than enough time on those two shows for that instead of taking time away from the hard-working women in this tournament. This would be like Gregory Helms getting in the face of Neville during the Cruiserweight Classic to egg on a future title match in the middle of that tournament.
Episode 8
Shayna Baszler def. Mercedes Martinez
The two remaining Trifecta (for some reason, Solomonster was convinced on his podcast that this stable didn't have a name since Lita and Jim Ross made no mention to it...) members going at it here, exchanging and matching each other hold for hold and strike for strike. Lita made her only keen observation of this tournament here on commentary, mentioning that Mercedes Martinez was the only person in this tournament that Shayna Baszler has bothered to shake the hand of out of respect.
The whole match saw Shayna selling the shit out of everything that Mercedes threw at her until Mercedes ultimately fell to the Rear Naked Choke from out of nowhere for the win. At this point of this tournament, this pattern is getting old with Shayna getting beat on the entire match just to lock in her submission for the win. I didn't like it when AJ Lee made a record-breaking career during her Divas Championship reign and I sure as hell don't like it here. I would love to see how this is going to play out in the live final with the crowd’s split between Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane.
I wasn’t too crazy about Triple H, Sarah Amato (who was dressed like she never wore a dress or wore make-up a day in her life), and Stephanie McMahon running into the ring to raise Shayna Baszler’s arm like she already won the entire tournament. It irked me even more to see Stephanie posing with Baszler like she already won.
Kairi Sane def. Toni Storm
I mentioned this during Episode 7 but I'm going to repeat myself here. Kairi Sane is wearing a TON of athletic tape behind her hair on her shoulders and neck. That makes me worry about the long term effects of her landing from executing that spectacular Diving Elbow Drop even more.
Toni Storm came closer to beating Kairi Sane in a believable manner than Mercedes did in the previous bout. The Bridging Armbar and the focus on her ailing shoulder and arm after the ringside spot (landing on the ramp grate) was all great psychology here. From reports online, this was the match where Sane suffered a concussion from that spot where she bashed her head against the side of steel grate at the bottom of the entrance ramp. I can believe it as it seemed like Sane was thrown off her game for the rest of the match that followed. These two have fought each other in a much better match in Stardom, so I'm inclined to believe that Sane's concussion here had an effect on her performance here. Don't get me wrong - this wasn't a bad match, but it wasn't the best performance for these two ladies to this point.
I’d hire Toni Storm just from how well she is as a worker and her ability to adapt to a variety of styles in this tournament. That would be a huge asset to the NXT women’s division in Asuka’s absence. I hope WWE gets with the program and opens their eyes to not only Toni Storm, but to a lot of the talented women in this tournament.
After the match, Sarah Amato, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H congratulate Kairi Sane but none of the theatrics of Shayna’s victory. That alone left a bad impression on me as they have their favorites pegged out on who's going to win right off the bat before the finals.
Road To The Finals Special
This special aired after the September 11, 2017 edition of Monday Night RAW, exclusively on the WWE Network recapping the tournament up to this point and providing an exhibition match for the entertainment of the Full Sail crowd.
Jazzy Gabert, Kay Lee Ray, and Tessa Blanchard def. Santana Garrett, Sarah Logan, and Marti Belle
Just about everyone in this match came off like a stars in this match. If WWE doesn't sign the bulk of these ladies, then they are fucking nuts. I'm glad to see that Tessa and Santana toned down the spray tanning or at least wiped off the excess off, so they don't look like Oompa Loompas here. The only person who seemed to missed a few steps was Marti Belle, but this match was a far cry from that colossal failure that was her match in the first round.
I thought the girls did great here with Jazzy Gabert being the shining star out of the entire thing, but if I had any complaint with this match, I thought it was too short. If they really wanted to make a statement with Jazzy's dominance, they should have had her lay waste to all three members of the opposing team in convincing manner instead of having Sarah Logan sliding in at the last second trying to break the pin.
If WWE does the Mae Young Classic again, I hope they use this commentary team of Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, and Beth Phoenix. Beth Phoenix was a massive improvement over Lita in the insightful role as the veteran female talent. In all due respect to Jim Ross' legendary commentary status, but this tournament was not his best work. With one match, this team did miles above and beyond the work that the team of Lita and Jim Ross have done as a whole with this tournament. I'm honestly dreading going back to them calling the finals after SmackDown! live.
Following the match, the Full Sail crowd is chanting "Please Sign Jazzy" towards Triple H, who asks them to stop doing that as it cost him too much money during the Cruiserweight Classic, but adds that he wanted to take a moment to thank the WWE Universe for making this opportunity possible for women's wrestling.
That moment was all well and good, but it's times like this is where I feel like the Full Sail crowds come off extremely moronic. There were 5 other talented women in this match (Okay, Marti Belle not so much...) that deserved to be praised for their performance in this match and this tournament as well.
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