Mae Young Classic – Episode Two: The Future Is Bright. And Tall.
Mae Young Classic Episode #2
Date: August 28, 2017
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Lita
It’s kind of nice to have all four episodes of the first round up on the same day as we’re going to be able to get to the final sixteen in one day. The first four matches were all fine and we already have some names to watch. This show will get us down to twenty four names left in the competition so let’s get to it.
Mauro Ranallo narrates the opening video, which looks at last week’s show and previews tonight’s four matches.
Opening sequence.
JR and Lita preview tonight’s matches.
Video on Xia Li, a signee from China who trains in Chinese martial arts.
Video on Mercedes Martinez, who has been a big star on the independent circuit for years and is covered in tattoos.
First Round: Mercedes Martinez vs. Xia Li
Li has a fan in her hand, which gives me a nice flashback to Mulan. Martinez gets rather evil by doing the crane kick pose instead of shaking hands. A headlock into a front facelock has Li in early trouble but she comes right back with a spinning kick to the ribs. More kicks get two and a forearm knocks Martinez straight down. A spinebuster cuts Li off for one though and Martinez’s shocked face is rather over the top. Martinez stays ticked off enough to grab a surfboard into a dragon sleeper for the tap at 3:06.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t quite a squash with the far bigger star winning despite selling a lot of Li’s offense. Li has a good look and seemed poised in the ring. If she can learn English I could see her going somewhere down in developmental. Martinez is going to be a big deal in this thing and that really shouldn’t be any kind of a surprise.
Video on Rachel Evers, the daughter of Paul Ellering who has made several appearances in NXT. She’s well rounded and ready to fight any style.
Video on Marti Belle, who is best known from her time in TNA. She leads the pack instead of following it.
First Round: Marti Belle vs. Rachel Evers
The fans are entirely behind Evers here and Belle is a very clear heel. A single underhook suplex gives Marti two and she brags about how close that was. Back up and Evers gets one off a springboard spinning legdrop out of the corner. Marti snaps the throat across the top as the dueling chants begin.
Rachel comes back with some forearms and a COME ON, followed by a running backsplash. A pretty bad looking spinebuster gets two on Marti so Rachel loads up a fisherman’s buster but slams her forward for two instead. Marti comes back with a Stroke for two of her own as this needs to end soon. A very quick small package pins Belle at 6:31. It’s as sudden as it sounds.
Rating: D-. Yeah this really didn’t work. Rachel has all the requirements to make something of herself (good look, good pedigree) but the in-ring work really isn’t there. The match was sloppy and looked completely disjointed at times, easily making it the worst match of the tournament so far. That only puts it in sixth but I can’t picture much beating this. Really bad match.
Video on HHH welcoming the 32 entrants.
Video on Miranda Salinas, who was trained by Booker T. She’s 5’ and from what I can find, has less than twenty matches in her career. I can’t imagine that’s all she’s had but if so, well done on getting here.
Video on Rhea Ripley, a 20 year old phenom (I’d like some more details on that description) from Australia with a soccer background.
First Round: Rhea Ripley vs. Miranda Salinas
Miranda definitely has some charisma to go with her small stature. The far bigger (probably by a foot) Rhea headlocks her down before hitting a good looking dropkick to send Salinas outside. Ripley fires off some chops in the corner but gets kicked in the back of the head. A running knee to the chest gives Miranda two but a forearm to the face just seems to get on her nerves. Ripley hits a running kick to the face in the corner, followed by a running basement dropkick for two. Something like a Chick Kick sets up a full nelson slam to put Salinas away at 3:51.
Rating: C+. If she’s only 20, they might be on to something with the prodigy thing. I really liked this match a lot more than I was expecting to and there’s something to both of them. Rhea has a good look, solid size and the in-ring work. Her charisma was a bit below average but she can work on that. Salinas’ size is going to work against her but if she can get the work down, she’ll be fine. I was impressed by these two and they had a much better match than I would have bet on. Well done and keep an eye on Ripley coming to NXT.
Video on Mia Yim, who you’ve probably seen in various promotions, including TNA as Jade. She talks about her domestic violence story last year, which got some mainstream attention.
Video on Sarah Logan, better known as Crazy Mary Dobson, who is a backwoods tough girl from Kentucky who trained in Japan.
Natalya and Beth Phoenix are here.
First Round: Mia Yim vs. Sarah Logan
Mia works on a wristlock to start and a dropkick gets two. Sarah comes back by taking her down and hammers away with some right hands for two of her own. A basement dropkick keeps Mia in trouble but she kicks Sarah right into the corner. That’s fine with Sarah, who screams at her to do it again.
Mia obliges and puts on the Tarantula before getting two more off a jumping knee. A rolling guillotine choke has Sarah in trouble but she slips out and it’s time for a seated slap off. Logan is back up first with a running knee to the face for another two but Mia grabs a pair of bridging German suplexes for near falls of her own.
Sarah gets two more off a Samoan drop and a fisherman’s suplex out of the corner gets the same. Sarah: “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” She then misses….I’m not sure what actually but Mia kicks her in the head (Mia: “Off with YOUR head!”), setting up Eat Defeat (still don’t like that move) for the pin at 7:17.
Rating: B-. Yim is one of the bigger stars in this thing but she’s going to be facing Shayna Baszler in the second round, meaning she’s probably done after two matches. Logan has some skills but at the same time she’s only going to go so far with the Kentucky tough thing. She needs more time in front of the crowd though and that’s going to come with time.
The recap ends the show.
Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t as good of a show as the first one and a lot of that is due to the Belle vs. Evers match, which really brought things down. The big thing I got out of this one though was the future is looking bright. There’s a lot of talent in this tournament and several of them have been signed to developmental deals. If they can go somewhere with this stuff, the NXT women’s division is going to be in good shape in the near future.
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Your girl Sarah Logan (also from Kentucky) is scrappy. I think she’s got a bright future ahead of her. I was impressed with her.