What’s the story?
India has been the focus of the professional wrestling world recently. Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion, Sonjay Dutt is the X-Division Champion and Kavita Devi has now joined the glorious ranks by becoming the first ever Indian woman to compete in WWE. She took on Dakota Kai in the first round of the 32-woman tournament.
In case you didn’t know...
The Mae Young Classic celebrates the life of WWE Hall of Famer, Mae Young, one of the greatest names in women’s wrestling. It is a single elimination 32-woman tournament with women from all around the world. There are participants from the United States, New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, China, and India.
The tournament began on 13th July and was off to a great start. However, Kavita Devi’s journey ended before it even began.
The heart of the matter
Devi faced off against Dakota Kai from New Zealand, and it was a hard hitting contest that pitted strength against speed. The much larger Devi dominated most of the match with power moves and even lifted Kai up with one arm, dropping her to the mat.
Sadly, Devi could not overcome the agility of Kai, as she hit a base running kick and a double stomp off the top rope for the big win.
What’s next?
This is not necessarily the end of the road for Kavita Devi. As we have seen during the Cruiserweight Classic, even the competitors who lose their matches get booked on NXT. We look forward to seeing how far Kai goes in the tournament.
Author’s take
I’ll have to see the match on the WWE Network to actually comment on it because I wasn’t present at Full Sail University at the time of the said match. Even as an Indian, I feel no sense of disappointment at Devi’s elimination.
Congratulations to Devi however, for making professional wrestling history. We're certain she’s made all of Haryana and India very proud.