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What's the story?
Well, with former Divas Champion Kaitlyn, American Ninja Warrior's Kacey Catanzaro and Japanese Superstars Meiko Satomura and Io Shirai among others already confirmed for the Mae Young Classic, it's been shaping up to be huge from the get-go.
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WWE has today confirmed five more stars for the tournament, leaving only one spot left with the tournament being filmed next week.
In case you didn't know...
The Mae Young Classic debuted last summer when WWE announced that 32 women from across the globe would compete in a two-day tournament shown on WWE Network - with stars such as Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane, Tessa Blanchard, Kavita Devi and Piper Niven (Viper) competing.
The tournament was a huge success and hailed for showcasing the incredible quality of women's wrestling across the world right now on a huge stage, so much so that a sequel to the tournament was announced during WrestleMania 33 weekend. It was also recently announced that the final of this year's tournament would take place at WWE's first ever all women's pay-per-view - Evolution.
So far, 26 globally renowned female wrestlers had been confirmed to appear at this year's Mae Young Classic - Kaitlyn, Rhea Ripley, Katy Catanzaro, Jinny, Io Shirai, Nicole Matthews, Tegan Nox, Deonna Purrazzo, Jessica Elaban, Reina González, Mercedes Martinez, Kavita Devi, Mia Yim, Killer Kelly, Zeuxis, Isla Dawn, Lacey Lane, Karen Q, Toni Storm, Meiko Satomura, Ashley Rayne, Priscilla Kelly, Xia Brookside, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Aerial Monroe and Vanessa Kraven.
The heart of the matter
WWE has today confirmed five of the final six competitors for the Mae Young Classic, with a Chilean champion, a new Performance Center signing, a second generation superstar, and a former Knockouts Champion being added to the fray.
Zatara, Xia Li, MJ Jenkins, Allysin Kay and Rachel Evers are the newest confirmed competitors for this year’s event, which kicks off on WWE Network later this summer.
Zatara is a super-aggressive luchadora from Santiago, Chile, with ten years of experience and several championships behind her. Zatara has also wrestled in Mexico City’s world-famous Arena Mexico. The 26-year-old's finisher is a running knee strike to the back of the head.
Xia Li of China made her in-ring debut at last year’s Mae Young Classic and is one of WWE's first ever WWE signings. Li was a top-flight competitor in the Chinese martial art of wushu before joining the WWE Performance Center in January 2017. Li's MYC debut came against one of this year's returnees, Mercedes Martinez.
MJ Jenkins is one of WWE's newest recruits. Jenkins has seven years of experience on the independent scene as well as competing in Impact Wrestling, and trained under WWE Hall of Famers The Dudley Boyz and Johnny Rodz.
Allysin Kay, formerly known as Sienna, is a heavy-hitting five-foot-ten wrestler with a unique look to match her in-ring style. Kay is a two-time Knockout Champion and has wrestled in countries like China, India, Mexico, England and Japan, where she once shared a dojo apartment with Sarah Logan and WWE PC coach Serena Deeb.
Another returning competitor is "The One Woman Minnesota Wrecking Crew” Rachel Evers who is the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering and a protégé of Lance Storm. Evers medaled in powerlifting before pursuing sports-entertainment which is evident in the ring from her fallaway powerbombs and the modified spinebuster she calls the Graveyard Smash.
What's next?
The Mae Young Classic will begin on Wednesday, August 8 and finish on Thursday, August 9 and will take place at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. There is no news yet as to when it will be available on WWE Network, with rumors saying the end of the summer is most likely.
There is only one final wrestler to be announced for the tournament.
What do you think about the competitors announced so far, and who else would you like to see announced for the Mae Young Classic? Let us know in the comments.
