Mae Young Classic Finals: Ladies Month (Includes a Bonus Match)
Mae Young Classic Finals
Date: September 12, 2017
Location: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Lita
We’re already set to wrap up what feels like a very fast tournament. Things have been good so far and the finals have the potential to be a heck of a match. Tonight it’s Kairi Sane (the awesome pirate) vs. Shayna Baszler, the mixed martial artist who could knock anyone’s head off. Let’s get to it.
Before we get into the show, I’m going to throw in a bonus. This is a six woman tag that aired on the special preview and was originally announced as airing on this show. I took a look at it last night but it did NOT air on Tuesday’s show, just in case there’s any confusion. Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix are on the call from the original tapings.
Santana Garrett/Sarah Logan/Marti Belle vs. Jazzy Gabert/Kay Lee Ray/Tessa Blanchard
Jazzy gets a great reaction and the fans chant for her as Tessa and Sarah start things off. Sarah hiptosses her down to start and gets in a knee to the face for no cover. Instead it’s off to Garrett to take a forearm, allowing the tag off to Ray. Santana wristdrags Ray and Tessa down at the same time as we’re waiting for Jazzy here.
Marti comes in and you can hear the fans lose some energy. A not great headscissors sends Ray into the corner but she stops a charging (not really as she had already pulled up) Belle with a forearm to the jaw. It’s off to Jazzy and the fans ROAR as she comes in. Oh yeah I think they’ve got something here. Three spinning backfists set up a torture rack before Gabert just tosses her into the corner with a good looking crash.
Tessa comes back in for a running elbow to the back but a jawbreaker puts her down. That means it’s off to Garrett vs. Gabert for the main event of the match. Garrett gets in a hurricanrana out of the corner followed by a superkick to put Jazzy down to one knee. Ray Stuns Gabert by mistake (erg) and Tessa plants Logan with a hammerlock DDT. Jazzy is back up though and it’s a heck of a Dominator to put Garrett away at 6:05.
Rating: B. Total and complete star making performance here for Gabert, who they’ll likely have to sign at this point based on the reaction alone. Tessa and Garrett looked great as well and if Garrett is interested in signing, she’ll be there in a heartbeat. Belle was her usual nothing self and Logan just didn’t get time to do anything. Ray was fine too but this was ALL about Gabert with Santana being an easy second.
The winners pose and it’s a PLEASE SIGN GABERT chant. HHH comes out and listens to the cheers but says they did this at the Cruiserweight Classic and he has a budget. He puts over the tournament and says it’s time for the women to have a pot of gold to chase after just like the men. The tournament was for the fans so thank you all very much.
Now we’re on to the main show.
As you might expect, we open with a long recap of the tournament with a focus on Sane and Baszler.
Renee Young is in the arena to hype up the finals and throw us to a package of people arriving earlier. Stephanie McMahon, Charlotte, Bayley and Becky Lynch among others were here to see the finals in person.
Video on Shayna Baszler.
Beth Phoenix, Dana Warrior, Alundra Blayze and Mauro Ranallo are all here.
Video on how Sane and Baszler both got here.
Mae Young Classic Finals: Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane
We get the Big Match Intros with Lillian Garcia doing a special introduction. Baszler grabs a quick rear naked choke to start but gets rolled up for two and a break. A walk up the corner into a headscissors drops Shayna again but one heck of a kick to the head sends Sane outside. Shayna gets in a running knee from the apron, followed by a kick to the arm for good measure.
The rolling gutwrench suplexes give Shayna two and it’s time to crank on the arm again. Shayna smacks her in the face so Sana chops away, only to get caught with a running knee to the chest. A spear has Shayna’s ribs in trouble though and it’s a basement dropkick to keep Baszler in trouble. Sane grabs a bodyscissors but misses the sliding forearm in the corner. Instead it’s Sane going up top and diving into the rear naked choke to put her in real trouble.
Elbows to the ribs break her out though and a spinning backfist drops Baszler again. It’s still too early for the elbow as Shayna catches her on top for a slugout. A Kimura on top is broken up with shoulders to the ribs, followed by a top rope double stomp to the chest for two. Now the running forearm to the ribs knocks Baszler down, setting up the elbow for the pin and the tournament at 11:50.
Rating: B. Good match, though this really felt like it was a match that they had to rush through due to time. It never hit that great level that they felt capable of hitting and it felt kind of disappointing as a result. Granted putting this in front of the general WWE crowd wasn’t the best idea but putting it down at Full Sail or in Brooklyn would have just been too logical. Still good though.
HHH, Stephanie (I guess her dad is fine already) and Sara Amato come out for the trophy presentation.
Overall Rating: B. We’ll go with that for the entire tournament too. I did like what I saw and I like the much faster release schedule than the Mae Young Classic. They never quite hit that level they were shooting for though and it made things feel a little bit disappointing. That being said, this was about restocking the shelves and there’s a ridiculous amount of talent ready to take over the women’s division. It’s worth checking out as you’re in and out with nine rather short shows and you’ll get some good action. Solid tournament, but it’s not as good as the cruiserweights.
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I enjoyed the tournament overall, but the CWC was so good, I feel like this was destined to be somewhat underwhelming. Both finalists are good in the ring, but do nothing for me personally. I was hoping Abbey Laith would at least reach the semi’s. Storm, Blanchard, Garrett, Niven, and Kai would all make welcome additions to NXT. I’d love to see Jazzy brought in as Alexa’s bodyguard.
What happened to your Smackdown review?
Uh, it’s still there.
I’m confused. I thought the final was going to be on smackdown. Is this a seperate show with only one match? Where do I watch this?
Network. Separate show.
I did not like the final match at all. It was too quick, the wrong person won, and that double stomp off the top is terrible. Who in their right mind is going to hold themselves up in that position to take it.
I don’t think the wrong person won. Shayna who is great needs more seasoning. This loss won’t hurt her.
Besides Kairi and Shayna who else from the Tournament do you see WWE signing if they haven’t already? Jazzy Gabert for sure, Im also hoping for Toni Storm, Piper Niven, Mercedes Martinez, Santana Garrett and a couple others.