WWE News: Results from the Mae Young Classic Tapings (Spoilers)

What’s the story?

This past week, WWE was back at Full Sail University for two back-to-back tapings for the Mae Young Classic. Thursday night’s tapings covered the first-round bouts, with Friday’s show staging the second-round as well as the quarter and semi-final stages.

This means that we now know who’ll square off in the live final in mid-September, with Shayna Baszler set to go up against Kairi Sane for the Mae Young Classic trophy.

In case you didn’t know…

WWE made the decision to pre-tape the bulk of the Mae Young Classic, with the final itself being the only part of the tournament set to be aired live.

The pre-taped rounds will be split into eight episodes, four of which will be released on the Network on Monday 28th August, with the remaining four coming seven days later on September 4th. The final will then take place the following week, airing live after Tuesday’s SmackDown show from Las Vegas on Sep 12th.

The heart of the matter

A full list of results can be found below, with Baszler defeating Zeda, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae and Mercedes Martinez on her way to the final, while Sane overcame Tessa Blanchard, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai and Progress Women’s Champion Toni Storm. Also of note was the stand-off we saw between both sets of Four Horsewomen.

Baszler and her ringside buddies Ronda Rousey, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke talked some trash to Bayley, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, who themselves were in attendance, which only served to tease a possible angle down the line. Full results are as follows:

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Round 1

Princesa Sugehit defeated Kay Lee Ray

Serena Deeb defeated Vanessa Borne

Shayna Baszler defeated Zeda

Piper Niven defeated Santana Garrett

Mia Yim defeated Sarah Logan

Mercedes Martinez defeated Xia Li

Rhea Ripley defeated Miranda Salinas

Abbey Laith defeated Jazzy Gabert

Toni Storm defeated Ayesha Raymond

Dakota Kai defeated Kavita Devi

Candice LeRae defeated Renee Michelle

Rachel Evers defeated Marti Belle

Bianca Belair defeated Sage Beckett

Lacey Evans defeated Taynara Conti

Nicole Savoy defeated Reina Gonzalez

Kairi Sane defeated Tessa Blanchard

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Round 2

Abbey Laith defeated Rachel Evers

Piper Niven defeated Serena Deeb

Mercedes Martinez defeated Princesa Sugehit

Kairi Sane defeated Bianca Belair

Toni Storm defeated Lacey Evans

Shayna Baszler defeated Mia Yim

Dakota Kai defeated Rhea Ripley

Candice LeRae defeated Nicole Savoy

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Quarter-finals

Mercedes Martinez defeated Abbey Laith

Shayna Baszler defeated Candice LeRae

Toni Storm defeated Piper Niven

Kairi Sane defeated Dakota Kai

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Semi-finals

Shayna Baszler defeated Mercedes Martinez

Kairi Sane defeated Toni Storm

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What’s next?

The most obvious next step is, of course, the final – Baszler vs. Sane on Sep 12th. After that, though, don’t be surprised if a fair few girls from the tournament’s earlier rounds find themselves winding up in NXT, much like we saw after the Cruiserweight Classic last year.

Plus, there’s always the promise of some kind of payoff to the Four Horsewomen showdown, most likely in the form of a singles bout between Baszler and one of WWE’s Horsewomen.

Author’s take

As interesting as it is to see these results, it’s something of a shame in the grand scheme of things that the more of the tournament wasn’t aired live. Plus, the fact that they’re dropping all eight episodes in a two-week period seems a little half-hearted on the company’s part.

Immediately, that timeframe makes the tournament pale in comparison to the nine-week long Cruiserweight Classic we were treated to last year.

Still, judging by the brackets and the matches we have in store, there’s plenty to look forward to in that fortnight at the start of September. And depending on how they handle the Horsewomen situation, September may only be the beginning of it all.