What’s the story?
WWE has confirmed five more names to compete in the Mae Young Classic. Earlier last week, the company released the names of ten wrestlers confirmed for the 32-competitor tournament.
The tapings for the event is scheduled to take place on July 13th and 14th at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
In case you did not know...
The tournament honours the late Mae Young who passed away at the age of 90 in 2014. Her career spanned several decades as she made her debut in 1939, but retired only in 2010 at the age of 87.
The company is planning to broadcast a preview special of the tournament on 8/20 (likely following Summerslam). The first round of the tournament is scheduled for release via Video on Demand on the final week of August.
The heart of the matter
According to reports, Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith (formerly known as Kimber Lee), Taynara Conti, Jazzy Gabert and Kavita Devi will all be competing in the Mae Young Classic. The winner of the South Asian Games gold medal, Kavita is the first female Indian wrestler to join the promotion.
WWE also recently confirmed that reigning PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm, NXT stars Lacey Evans and Sarah Logan and masked wrestling veteran Princesa Sugehit will all be joining the tournament.
What’s next?
The second round will be released 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 finals will be held on Tuesday 9/12. Since the only WWE event for that day is a taping in Las Vegas for the Smackdown brand, it may be that the finals of the Mae Young Classic will air live on the Network from Las Vegas.
Author’s take
The Mae Young Classic, which aims to revolutionise women’s wrestling has already garnered widespread interest in the professional wrestling community. The tournament is yet another example of the WWE taking baby steps towards changing the landscape of women’s wrestling.
The fact that more women will now be involved in this can only be seen as positive and will surely lead to more iconic and important moments in the evolution of Women’s wrestling.
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