What’s the story?
PW Insider has released the names of the wrestlers who have been confirmed for The Mae Young Classic, which is set to revolutionise women’s wrestling. As of now, 10 wrestlers have reportedly been confirmed for the tournament.
In case you did not know...
A preview special for 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.
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The second round is scheduled for release on the first week in 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.
The current plan is to hold the finals live on Tuesday 9/12. Since the only WWE event scheduled for the day is a taping in Las Vegas for the Smackdown brand, it may be that the finals of the Mae Young Classic will air live on the Network from Las Vegas.
The heart of the matter
The following names have been confirmed for the 32-competitor tournament:
- Bianca Blair – Blair is a former cross fit and track star who was signed by WWE in April 2016
- Danielle Kamela – Trained by Rikishi's Knox Pro school, Kamela was one of the top 30 finalists for the most recent edition of Tough Enough. She was also a cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinal and Phoenix Suns’ dance team before signing a deal with WWE.
- Julia Ho – A Canadian, Julia received her training from Brian Kendrick. She also has a background in MMA.
- Zhao Xia – WWE's first ever female Chinese talent, Xia has training in martial arts. She was signed to a developmental deal with WWE and has been working out at the WWE Performance Center.
- Victoria Gonzales – The daughter of Rudy Boy Gonzales, Victoria was signed to a WWE developmental deal last year.
- Kimberly Frankele – Formerly known as Kimber Lee on the indie circuit, she is a WWE NXT talent and the former CHIKARA Grand champion.
- Lacey Evans – Formerly known as Macey Estrella, Lacey made her debut recently on WWE NXT TV. She is also a former Marine.
- Mary Kate – Known as Rosie Lottalove in TNA, she was originally trained at the Team 3D Academy.
- Sarah Logan – Logan is an NXT talent, formerly known as Sarah Bridges in NXT and Crazy Mary Dobson on the indies. She recently debuted under that name on WWE NXT TV.
- Taynara Melo – A black belt judoka from Brazil, Melo signed as a WWE developmental talent last year.
What’s next?
The tapings are scheduled to take place on July 13th and 14th this summer at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Author’s take
The Mae Young Classic is yet another example of the WWE taking baby steps towards revolutionising the women’s division. The tournament aims at changing the landscape of female wrestling and has already garnered widespread interest in the professional wrestling community.
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