From the WWE Rumor Mill: Status on the signing of the Mae Young Classic competitors
What's the story?
The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave an update on all 32 competitors and their status in signing with WWE.
In case you didn't know...
The annual Mae Young Classic came to a conclusion on Tuesday night after SmackDown Live in a brilliant final that saw The Pirate Princess Kairi Sane topple over former MMA fighter Shayna Baszler.
Her hand was then raised and she was endorsed by none other than Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. She was then inserted into the NXT Women's Championship match at NXT Takeover: Houston in a match that will crown the new NXT Women's Champion
The heart of the matter
The following list of competitors are those that have been signed by WWE already prior to the tournament:
Vanessa Borne, Zeda, Sarah Logan, Xia Li, Rhea Ripley, Abby Laith, Kavita Devi, Dakota Kai, Bianca Belair, Sage Beckett, Lacey Evans, Taynara Conti and Reina Gonzalez.
Piper Niven, Mercedes Martinez and Candice LeRae seem to have a good chance of getting offers as they were seen in the finals of the Mae Young Classic. For Piper Niven especially, she was flown in all the way from Japan, so that must say something.
The tournament runner-up Shayna Baszler hasn't been officially signed to a contract, but she isn't advertised for any future independent dates, so that could be an indication of her signing.
Toni Storm hasn't been signed either, but she's only 21 and has a long way to go. It's very likely that she was given an offer to join. Tessa Blanchard, someone who has the heritage, the look and the talent has reportedly not been offered a contract, but her coming to WWE seems like an inevitability. She is only 22 years old and has no shortage of work on the independent scene. Whenever she comes, she looks like one who can be a huge name in the future.
What's next?
With the signing and inevitable future signings of the women of the Mae Young Classic, it seems like NXT is going to back to its glory days of the women's division. From the look of things, it could end up surpassing that!
Author's Take
Even if the overall quality of wrestling in the Mae Youg Classic didn't match up to the previous year's Cruiserweight Classic, it gave a platform for several talented women to showcase their skills and make a name for themselves.
Like Jim Ross said in the finals, the future of women's wrestling has never looked better, and we will only continue to see the rise of several great talents from this crop and more after them!
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