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Last night's episode of the Mae Young Classic was the best yet. Thankfully, the semifinal matches both lived up to the hype, unlike the disappointing quarterfinal matches last week.
The end result was that the final at Evolution was set, with Toni Storm set to take on Io Shirai. The contest isn't a surprising one, but it should be eagerly anticipated nonetheless, especially after the performances both women gave last night. Evolution felt like a filler pay per view that badly needed some excitement and this is a welcome development on that front.
Was there anything bad about a great episode last night? Let's take a look at how things played out.
Best: Meiko Satomura, Toni Storm, crank it up
After last week's disappointing match with Mia Yim, there was reason to be skeptical about Toni Storm's semifinal match. Thankfully, there was no reason to be disappointed. This was excellent, aside from there being too many finisher kickouts for my taste.
The thing that made this match great was that Toni Storm wasn't playing the underdog role that isn't particularly suited for her. Instead of getting beaten up for 90% of the match, she was actually the one on the offensive at the beginning of it, taking the fight to Meiko Satomura in a surprising way.
Meiko Satomura responded with some vicious kicks and submissions, but while Toni Storm's selling was inconsistent on this front, it was nice to see the two of them trade dominance back and forth. Neither woman is good at being an underdog, and thankfully, neither of them was. Both looked like they belonged in that semifinal.
Eventually, Toni Storm won after hitting the second Storm Zero and punched her ticket to Evolution. Last year's winner who beat her in the semifinal, Kairi Sane, presented her with flowers after the match.
Worst: The commentary
If there was a worst in this episode that needed to be pointed out, if only for the purposes of the title of this post, we once again need to take a look at the commentary. Throughout the entire tournament, it has been mediocre at best. This isn't a welcome thing, because it was revealed that this will be the same commentary team that will broadcast Evolution which means we can expect similar mediocrity, at best, throughout that entire pay per view.
It was jarring to see so much focus on the commentary booth as Io Shirai and Toni Storm were gathering on stage with Triple H, Sara Amato, and Kairi Sane to close out the show.
Michael Cole was his usual obnoxious self throughout the ending of the show. I think the Mae Young Classic can put to bed the notion that he's an otherwise fine commentator as long as Vince McMahon isn't in his ear. The UK tournament last year seemed an aberration.
Best: Shirai and Ripley shine
This match was put together at the last minute, but it didn't look like it, and it was superb given the circumstances.
Rhea Ripley dominated most of the match with her size and strength advantage. Io's selling was marvellous (and Ripley's wasn't bad either), but she never looked completely helpless. Io Shirai's aerial attacks took their toll on Ripley, even if they were sparsely timed throughout the beating that Ripley was dishing out.
Eventually, Io Shirai hit her meteora and moonsault to put her opponent away and advance to the finals. The ending was a bit sudden, but there wasn't much to criticize. Rhea Ripley is going to be a star. That much is clear.
Kairi Sane was in the ring to present her best friend with flowers, which was a moment to see all in itself. By sheer fate, NXT has something extraordinary in its women's division with these two, and hopefully, it will take advantage of this.
With Kairi as the champion and Io saying repeatedly that her goal is to prove herself the best in the world after already proving herself the best in Japan, how long will they remain friends?
