Mae Young Classic 2018: Predicting the path of every participant

#25 Kacy Katanzaro

Kazy will make a tremendous impact.

One of the stars with the most buzz heading into this year's tournament is Kacy Katanzaro. The former American Ninja Warrior gymnast has reportedly impressed with her athleticism at NXT house shows, and her participation has the potential for crossover appeal. Out of all the Performance Center rookies, she'll go the furthest, making it to the quarterfinal before falling to Io Shirai, Meiko Satomura, or Deonna Purrazzo.

#26 Jinny

England's fashionista is set to make a scene.

Despite her relative inexperience, Jinny will go far in the tournament. She's likely to be one of the key heels in the NXT UK women's division, and this would be as good a time as any to introduce her to a wider audience. Praised for her character work, she'll have quite the presence.

There's a strong possibility that she'll be competing against Toni Storm for the NXT UK Women's Championship at Evolution, and the tournament would be an excellent way to begin that rivalry. Toni will prevail in their quarterfinal match to get the feud off to a strong start.

#27 Tegan Nox

Competing at last!

The former Nixon Newell is one of the dark horses in this year's tournament. She was slated to compete last year, but a torn ACL prevented her participation. Now she's back and she'll want to make the most of the opportunity. If ever there were a Cinderella story for this year's tournament, hers would be it, and she'll make it this far. Though she likely won't get past the quarterfinals, I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

#28 Xia Brookside

Starting off strong.

The youngest competitor in the tournament at 19 years old, Xia Brookside is the daughter of Performance Center coach Robbie Brookside. Given the combination of her youth and her family, she's a prime candidate for WWE to offer a contract to.

But her upside isn't just in her age or connections. Reportedly no less a name than Io Shirai herself is very high on her, and it's quite possible indeed that the two of them will meet in the quarterfinal, where Xia will be defeated after a big run.