5 Surprising Moments from the Mae Young Classic - Episode 2

Talk about a sophomore slump.

The first episode of the Mae Young Classic was a fun introduction to this new brand of women’s wrestling. It had a high quality of matches. That was not the case in the second episode. We had terrible mixes at times of squash matches, very green wrestlers and a very terrible veteran wrestler. It had one of the worst matches I have seen in a long time. It was laughably bad.

With all of this in my thoughts, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments from the disappointing second episode of the Mae Young Classic:

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#5 Too Many Squash Matches

Rachel Evers, one of many inexperienced wrestlers, on the second night.

If you watch the Bracket Special on the WWE Network, you will hear Triple H talk about the fact they were originally going to do a 16-women tournament for the Mae Young Classic. It was expanded to a 32 women tournament in the end. That decision certainly showed clearly on this week’s show. The talent simply wasn’t there for the 32 women tournament.

That isn’t to say there aren’t 32 great female wrestlers in the world. But it seems the WWE wanted to find a clear balance of solid veterans and inexperienced rookies they could build for the future. That was shown in spades on the second show.

We had short matches to showcase veterans that didn’t always mesh well. Wrestlers like Xia Li, Miranda Salinas and Rachel Evers have a long way to go and it didn’t always lead to always fun viewing on the second episode.

#4 Xia Li Is A Future Star

Xia delivers some good kicks.

I hope that with my previous point it doesn't make it seem like I don’t want to see inexperienced wrestlers, far from it. This style of the tournament can be a good showcase for young wrestlers needing more in-ring time in the indies or at the WWE Performance Center. No one looked better of the newer wrestlers on the second episode then Xia Li.

She was the prized signee from their China tryout. I could see why. She had a unique look, uses her martial arts background nicely and had the crowd behind her. The WWE placed her with a great veteran in Mercedes Martinez. They made the right decision in having Mercedes win but the match. But it did what it should have done, established a future star from China.

#3 Marti Belle Is Terrible

I am trying to block this match from my memory.

As fun as the brief first match was, the second match was the worst of the entire Mae Young Classic. Heck, it might be the worst WWE match of the year. I assumed I was watching two very inexperienced wrestlers out there. The surprising thing for me was to learn Marti Belle was not a rookie.

A Wikipedia search of Marti Belle will tell you she has been wrestling for nearly eight years. Seriously? How could you have been in the business that long and cannot take a proper bump? She even did a poor job of selling basic moves performed by Rachel Evers. It was an embarrassment for women’s wrestling that was shocking to see on WWE television. Do not watch this match.

#2 Rhea Ripley Is Perfect For The WWE

Rhea loves her dropkick.

Rhea Ripley seems like she was made in a WWE lab. She is tall, blonde and athletic. Jim Ross constantly brought up that WWE officials were impressed by her. I am guessing he was told to say that but the talking point wasn’t wrong. Ripley is a future WWE star.

She seems to have a lot of potential. In the short match, she connected with the crowd well and delivered a great drop kick. The fact she has 4 years of experience at the age of 20? I think she will be successful in NXT very soon.

#1 Sarah Logan Versus Mia Yim Is The Match Of The Tournament So Far

Match of the tournament so far

After a lot of squash matches to put over one talent, it was a pleasant surprise to see two experienced wrestlers put on a show in the main event. Despite both wrestlers being in their 20s, Sarah Logan and Mia Yim have a combined 14 years of wrestling experience. It showed in spades in the main event. It is the best match of the tournament so far.

It simply looked like two wrestlers beating each other up. It was a strong style of wrestling with particularly impressive kicks from Mia Yim. Logan has had limited television time on the NXT roster and it was good to see what she could do against an experienced wrestler.

It was solid mat wrestling combined with a nice series of suplexes. It was everything you would want from a WWE tournament match. Both wrestlers looked really good, the crowd was entertained and the right person, Mia Yim, won. It was cool seeing people like Yim, a CZW and TNA veteran, getting a real chance to shine. That is what the tournament should be about. It is a shame we don’t get to see both of these wrestlers in the next round. They deserve it.