5 surprising moments from the Mae Young Classic - Episode 5

I am so glad the first round is over.

The fifth episode of the Mae Young Classic was the best episode of the entire show up to this point. We finally got the inexperienced competitors out of the tournament and it clearly showed in this fifth show. This episode was a dramatic improvement in terms of match quality. It wasn’t just about having a good main event anymore.

With all of this in my head as I watched the fun fifth episode, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments from the beginning of the second round of the Mae Young Classic:

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#5 The match quality is great throughout the show, not just the main event

We finally get to the 16 women tournament we always wanted.

I was pretty surprised by the formula that the Mae Young Classic used during the first round. It always featured a weak undercard with inexperienced wrestlers followed by an excellent main event. I was pleasantly surprised to see this format finally change with episode five. It seems that weeding out of the greener talent has helped the tournament.

The entire show was filled with some performers (Evers, Belair) who gave dramatically improved performances as they worked with more experienced opponents.

Part of me wonders if the show would have been better off just starting with 16 women instead of 32. That being said, I am hopeful this trend continues with the remaining shows.

#4 Rachel Evers improves Dramatically

Evers shows the first round was a fluke

I know the truth now. Marti Belle was the terrible one.

After having the single worst match of the entire tournament, I was worried that the relative newcomer, Rachel Evers, was just not ready for this sort of stage. I was more than happy to be proven wrong.

When facing a real good veteran in Abbey Laith, Evers put on a fun and fast-paced match-up. I would even say she got in the majority of the offence in this second round match.

Even though this fun opener ended abruptly in around five minutes with Laith’s Alligator Clutch, Evers was still able to show her worth. I was happy to see where her talent level truly is at and it is light years better than her poor first round performance. That is good to see for the 24-year-old Evers.

#3 Serena Deeb loses

That is about as sad as Serena ever got

I thought they were pushing Serena Deeb to be the next Brian Kendrick. When Brian Kendrick lost in the Cruiserweight Classic quarterfinals to Kota Ibushi, it was an emotional moment. A tearful Kendrick cried in the ring with his friend Daniel Bryan and got a standing ovation from the Full Sail crowd.

His tournament run was treated as his last real chance at WWE fame. Serena Deeb’s journey was not anywhere near that emotional level at the Mae Young Classic.

The match between Serena Deeb and Piper Niven was a very good match, and Niven continues to impress with her unique mix of power and high flying moves. Deeb survived a lot of near fall attempts until Niven hit the Michinoku Driver for the win. The surprising thing for me was the anti-climatic end.

We didn’t get much of a reaction from Deeb if this was really her desperate last chance. The crowd didn’t even seem to acknowledge or care that the WWE veteran was out of the tournament. I honestly think they were just happy Niven won.

#2 Two veterans give the worst match of the night

A surprisingly sloppy match from two vets

I was shocked that Katie Lee Ray lost in the first round. She is a very popular worker in the British Indies, but lost to Princess Sugehit, a CMLL veteran, in a surprising twist.

I assumed the reasoning was the WWE wanted to have two true veterans in Mercedes Martinez and Princess Sugehit put on a solid second round match. I was surprised then to watch as they had the most awkward match of this episode.

In both of her matches, Princess Sugehit seemed to always be slow to set up her moves. It leads to some clunky moments with Mercedes Martinez. The match ended abruptly with a Fisherman’s Buster by Mercedes for the win. After the disappointing match, I am even more confused why the talented Ray couldn’t have performed a better match with Martinez.

#1 Bianca Belair controls the match

Belair controls the match

I am officially sold. Bianca Belair is a star in the making. It was easy to focus on her unique hair whip in her previous match. She wasn’t even able to get in much offence in her first round match.

So how good is she? The answer was quite clear in this episode as she not only had an amazing match with Kairi Sane but basically controlled the match throughout.

I was shocked when I learned that Belair has only been at the WWE Performance Center since April of 2016. She controlled most of offence with the impressive Sane in one of the longest and best matches of the tournament so far. It is worth your time just to see Belair's beautiful 450 Splash onto Sane that led to one of the best near falls of the tournament.

The crowd clearly got behind Belair despite the fact that she simply had to lose to Sane. I look forward to see where Belair goes from here. I can now say the same thing about the tournament too.