What’s the story?
WWE has confirmed the participation of Kay Lee Ray and Ayesha Raymond for the upcoming Mae Young Classic.
Apart from the wrestlers, the tournament will have an all-female presence featuring female commentators and referees. The tapings are scheduled to take place on July 13th and 14th at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
A WWE Hall of Famer isn't a John Cena fan. More details HERE
In case you did not know...
The tournament honours the late Mae Young who passed away at 90 years of age in 2014. Young’s career spanned quite a few decades since debuting in 1939. She retired in 2010 at the age of 87. The promotion is also branding Mae Young as one of the pioneers of women’s wrestling by hosting the 32-Woman tournament titled as the Mae Young Classic.
Trending
The heart of the matter
Kay Lee Ray is currently rumoured to be undergoing medical and routine tests to be part of the Mae Young Classic. Ray has earlier appeared on NXT TV, and also worked for ICW, SHIMMER, and STARDOM.
Apart from her, Ayesha Ray, Jessica James, Lei’D Tapa, Miranda, Marti Belle, Santana Garrett, Renee Michelle, Mercedes Martinez, Shayna Baszler, Nicole Savoy and Barbi Hayden are all rumoured to have been signed up for the tournament.
What’s next?
A preview special of the tournament will be broadcast on 8/20 (likely following Summerslam). The first round of the tournament will be released via Video on Demand on the final week of August.
The second round is scheduled for release on the first week in September and the finals will broadcast on 12th September. The initial plan to release the episodes during the Summerslam week was put on hold to prevent the women's tournament from being overshadowed by other WWE events.
Author’s take
The Mae Young Classic aims at changing the landscape of female wrestling and is yet another example of the WWE taking giant strides towards revolutionizing the women’s division. The tournament has already garnered widespread interest in the wrestling community and will surely lead to more iconic moments in the evolution of Women’s wrestling.
