What’s the story?
According to Squared Circle Sirens, wrestlers Shayna Baszler, Rachael Ellering, Santana Garrett, Renee Michelle, Barbi Hayden, Nicole Savoy, Mercedes Martinez, Marti Belle, and Ayesha Raymond are expected to be announced for the upcoming Mae Young Classic.
In case you did not know...
A preview special of the tournament will be broadcast on 20th August (likely following Summerslam). The first round of the tournament will be released via Video on Demand on the final week of August.
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The second round is scheduled for release on the first week in September. The initial plan to release the episodes during the Summerslam week was put on hold to prevent the women's tournament from being overshadowed by other WWE events. The current plan is to hold the finals live on 12th September.
The heart of the matter
Barbi Hayden is a 26-year-old American wrestler who is best known for her work in Anarchy Championship Wrestling and the NWA. Hayden also made an appearance in TNA’s One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown PPV last year.
Mercedes Martinez is a veteran wrestler and is the current two-time Shimmer Champion. She has also worked for numerous independent promotions including World Xtreme Wrestling, Full Impact Pro, and Women Superstars Uncensored.
A trainee under former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett, Shayna Baszler is an MMA artist and a professional wrestler. Baszler is a Khun Kru in the Muay Thai boxing association and has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt.
Santana Garrett is an 8-year veteran in the wrestling business. The 29-year old model and wrestler won the CCW Ladies Championship in her debut match in 2009. Garrett has since wrestled for many independent promotions and has also performed in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
The 2004 Slammy Awards winner, Renee Michelle made her debut for Shine Wrestling. She has also appeared on RAW in 2014 as one of the Rosebud’s in Adam Rose’s entourage.
What’s next?
The tapings are scheduled to take place on July 13th and 14th at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Author’s take
The Mae Young Classic aims at changing the landscape of female wrestling and is yet another example of the WWE taking giant strides towards revolutionising the women’s division. The tournament has already garnered widespread interest in the wrestling community and will surely lead to more iconic moments in the evolution of Women’s wrestling.
It is most likely that there would be no formal announcement regarding the participation of the aforementioned participants as the tournament is right around the corner.
