The Mae Young Classic

[Dylan Waco]

I actually thought the first round of the MYC was pretty comparable to the first round of the CWC. Highs weren't as high, and lows may have been lower, but I felt there were fewer lows than the CWC had. Shows were really about building characters and story arcs for the future rounds and I think to that end the shows were successful. I don't think there were more than 5 or maybe 6 matches that I'd rate 3 star or better, and nothing got near the 4 star level, but the main events on each show were all good/very good, and there were only two matches that I thought stunk. I'd say half the matches were at the 2 1/2ish star range and that's fine.

 

Rachael will redeem herself in round two so I'm not worried about her, and Tessa was well protected against the best wrestler in the tournament in a match that was designed to hide her glaring flaws (she has improved, but she's nowhere near a top flight talent). I thought Piper v. Santana Garrett was probably the best match in round 1, but I did like Laith v. Jazzy an awful lot too and if I watched them back to back I'm not sure my opinion wouldn't switch. Mia Yim and Candace should be signed yesterday but that's something I already thought coming in. I was more impressed with Sage Beckett than most people seem to have been, and thought she was basically a better version of Nia. Dakota Kai and Toni Storm were hurt by booking, though Kai does have star presence. I don't get Storm and think her entrance is among the worst thing in modern pro wrestling, but she is over as hell with most people so I'm clearly in the minority. I thought a lot of the PC talent was better than expected. Savoy and and Shayna are two of my favorite people in the tourney, but really showed little in round one. Hoping for big things from them going forward.

[Grimmas]

I actually thought the first round of the MYC was pretty comparable to the first round of the CWC. Highs weren't as high, and lows may have been lower, but I felt there were fewer lows than the CWC had. Shows were really about building characters and story arcs for the future rounds and I think to that end the shows were successful. I don't think there were more than 5 or maybe 6 matches that I'd rate 3 star or better, and nothing got near the 4 star level, but the main events on each show were all good/very good, and there were only two matches that I thought stunk. I'd say half the matches were at the 2 1/2ish star range and that's fine.

 

Rachael will redeem herself in round two so I'm not worried about her, and Tessa was well protected against the best wrestler in the tournament in a match that was designed to hide her glaring flaws (she has improved, but she's nowhere near a top flight talent). I thought Piper v. Santana Garrett was probably the best match in round 1, but I did like Laith v. Jazzy an awful lot too and if I watched them back to back I'm not sure my opinion wouldn't switch. Mia Yim and Candace should be signed yesterday but that's something I already thought coming in. I was more impressed with Sage Beckett than most people seem to have been, and thought she was basically a better version of Nia. Dakota Kai and Toni Storm were hurt by booking, though Kai does have star presence. I don't get Storm and think her entrance is among the worst thing in modern pro wrestling, but she is over as hell with most people so I'm clearly in the minority. I thought a lot of the PC talent was better than expected. Savoy and and Shayna are two of my favorite people in the tourney, but really showed little in round one. Hoping for big things from them going forward.

Agree on Sage Beckett and most of your thoughts comparing it to CWC. Although I'd go four stars on the Viper-Garrett and the Hojo-Blanchard matches.

 

I am really wondering what they are going to do with all this talent. Unless they start expanding their shows to having more women's segments (they really should have 2-3 feuds going on each brand, minimum, but alas) what are the options? Their current thinking makes it difficult, unless they get their own show. Not sure if that is good or bad.

 

I am high on Toni Storm than you Dylan. I think maybe your issue is that she is a less sloppy female Chris Jericho?

[WingedEagle]

I'm looking forward to watching this tomorrow or Monday. Never had the highest hopes for round 1 because of time constraints, but am very interested to see how the various talent comes across. I did get a chance to see Progress's shows from NY and Boston. If Dakota Kai isn't earmarked to be a star then all hope is lost.

[donsem43]

Watched this yesterday and I agree with the sentiment that the first round did what it had to do. While most of the first round was solid watchable stuff, the only two matches that you need to see are Yim/Logan and Garrett/Niven. The one problem i had was that they booked so many monster/powerhouse wrestlers that it felt like every other match had a big/small dynamic to it. Combine that with workers who don't have a moveset that works with a big and can't bump big for them either (i.e. Toni Storm and Nicole Savoy.) Switching in either Nicole Matthews or Deonna Purrazzo would have been better to use here rather than one of the monsters that they used. The second round should be pretty good, especially Deeb/Niven and Savoy/LaRae.

[Peppercorn Bing Bong]

Definitely some very questionable booking so far. But honestly that should be expected. Eliminating Sarah Logan, Xia Li, Tessa Blanchard and Santana Garrett first round but Nicole Savoy, Rhea Ripley and Lacey Evans all advance? Those last 3 all showed absolutely no reason as to why they should be moving on. Best matches so far I would say were Sane/Blanchard and Kai/Devi. I think I would put the Lacey Evans/Taynara Conti match as worse than Evers/Belle. That match was complete dogshit.

[MoS]

Haven't watched this yet but I came across this - http://m.hindustantimes.com/other-sports/kavita-devi-impresses-wwe-fans-with-unique-in-ring-attire-at-mae-young-classic/story-U2zS2ni1KGRWTdAMvs6XMK_amp.html

 

She is one of Khali's trainees and mentees - credits him with getting her introduced to wrestling and teaching her the basics. What it says about her wrestling ability I do not know (probably not good) but it intrigued me and I hope to catch the first round soon.

[...TG]

So what's the deal with Candice LaRae? Seems strange that they haven't signed her full-time - she has a ton of experience, is a good solid worker, and has a good backstage reputation as far as I can tell. Even if they don't see a ton of main roster potential for her seems like a good hand to have around for the less experienced women.

[Timbo Slice]

Last four episodes had some really good matches on it, but the commentary remained absolutely terrible. An amazing production mess up from start to finish.

[sek69]

So what's the deal with Candice LaRae? Seems strange that they haven't signed her full-time - she has a ton of experience, is a good solid worker, and has a good backstage reputation as far as I can tell. Even if they don't see a ton of main roster potential for her seems like a good hand to have around for the less experienced women.

 

 

She seems to have more options on the table than most US based indy women, so the typical lowball NXT offer might not have the same appeal to her.

[EricR]

We wrote up episode 3. I liked Piper's match more than Phil, both of us really dug the Devi match (though Phil even more), neither of us enjoyed Storm. I didn't think Piper would advance and found myself really rooting for her, the same way I was rooting for Kendrick against Nese in the CWC.

 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/09/mae-young-classic-episode-3.html

[sek69]

As someone who doesn't watch Shimmer or any other women's fed, I was digging Piper's matches. Having said that, I couldn't shake the thought that Vince would immediately make her Bertha Faye 2017 if she ever made to to the main roster.

[Boss Rock]

Finished the second round of videos. Really good stuff overall. While I'm not sure it's quite reached the peaks of the CWC, it more than makes up for it in volume and consistency. Kairi and Shayna have been the MVP's thus far, but Mercedes, Toni, and Piper have stood out as well. And seeing how Bianca did against Kairi, the sky is clearly the limit for her.

[jcmmnx]

I really don't like the booking that set up the final four. Heel vs heel and face vs face is just bizarre. Mercedes and Storm have yet to really impress me while Piper has been at worst the second best in the MYC. Rhea Ripley was quite impressive in her matches. I think they have something there. Ripley and Bianca are ready for NXT tv right now.

[Ricky Jackson]

Baszler vs LeRae was a great match

[Ricky Jackson]

And yeah, watching the second batch of shows, the commentary is mostly the shits

[Phil Schneider]

We reviewed Episode 4 over at Segunda Caida and praised Tessa Blanchard to the skies

 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/09/mae-young-classic-episode-4.html

[Coffey]

Just finished episode two and this shit is a joke. First episode wasn't that bad. I actually thought the first match was pretty good. But other things have been pretty sloppy. The Rachel Evers Vs. Marti Belle match in episode two though... that's everything that I hate about women's wrestling & why it has such a bad stigma in the United States. It looked like two untrained women just rolling around where one was hired because of her dad and one was hired because of her looks. I expected a higher level of work in this tournament since it was supposed to paint female wrestling in WWE in a positive light, with the whole women's revolution & what not... but I don't think I'm going to get that. I guess the UK Tournament set my expectations too high.

[broke]

If it helps any Rachel looks better in round 2. With her bottom rope twisting legdrop thing she's shown more agility using it twice than Precious Paul had in both his Memphis and Mid South runs.

[EricR]

We reviewed episode 6 at Segunda Caida:

 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/09/mae-young-classic-episode-6.html

 

Far and away the best episode so far, both of us like every match.

[Gutenberger]

So, I watched the complete 8 epiosdes over the weekend and, having read all this and seeing the comparisons between this and CWC there is one thing that really stands out to me.

While, mostly, being fine matches, sometimes better than that, what's missing to me is the emotional attachment. I didn't know most of the CWC participants, but around the quarter finals I was involved, rooting for someone in most of the matches, really into everything.

With this, I just sit back and watch the shows, no favorites, just seeing who will win. I don't know why this is, or if some of you feel the same way, but it's the biggest diffrence when comparing the two tournaments.

[JAC]

I thought the second batch of episodes were a fair bit more consistent. I was dreading seeing Rachel Evers again after Round 1, but she looked very solid in Round 2. It was nice that she was able to redeem herself.

 

Compared to the CWC, I have far more emotional attachment, but that's because I watch Stardom on a regular basis and know a number of the women from competing in that promotion. The downside is, I haven't really developed any attachment to anyone who I didn't already know from Stardom.

 

I've generally enjoyed the right bracket far more than the left bracket. Martinez is someone I'd heard of a long time ago and was really excited to see. I'm sorry to say that she's left me cold. I like Ray and Gabert, but they went out in Round 1, as did Sarah Logan (who was the new-to-me wrestler who impressed me the most). I liked Yim quite a bit, but she went out in Round 2. Laith and LeRae didn't make much of an initial impression on me. Perhaps that will change with further viewing. As for Baszler, I missed her in Stardom and need to go back and see how she performed. I remain agnostic on her at this time, although i have no issue with her push in the tournament. Thus, that left bracket really didn't have a lot interesting going on for me.

 

In the right bracket, Belair was a pleasant revelation. She has great tools and could be excellent with further seasoning. Am I the only person who thinks that Lacey Evans, notwithstanding her background, comes across as a pure heel? She does not seem to have a likeable in-ring persona. Piper Niven is very good (and wonderfully unique) and should be signed. But I'm terrified of how Vince and Kevin Dunn will view her. Kairi is great. The only surprising thing for me about her run was that I liked the Dakota Kai match the least. Toni Storm is good but doesn't impress me as much as she impresses others. I think there are some parts of her moveset that don't look great and will likely get dropped as she matures in the ring.

 

For all my griping, I think the tournament has been pretty fun and I'm excited for the final. And I'm increasingly fine with some good wrestlers being one-and-done. That first round would have been rough without Blanchard, Logan, Gabert and Garrett being sacrificed in the name of providing good quality main events. Those four did themselves credit with their performances and all stood out notwithstanding their early exits.

[Jimmy Redman]

I think the difference in emotional attachment is simply that they aren't leaning as heavily on emotional angles as they did during CWC. There's no best friends/tag partners facing off and nearly killing each other just to make the second round and then collapsing in each others arms. There's no well-travelled veteran who went from being homeless to working all around the world to slowly picking up unlikely wins to actually winning the whole thing. There's no grizzled vet who fucked up their chance with WWE and has one last chance to redeem themselves and leave a legacy before they fade into obscurity, who has their trainer and mentor openly rooting and weeping for them on commentary like their life was dependent on the result.

 

This isn't that. The profiles for this are surface level and introductory, they're not going any deeper into their stories to make you care on that level. And they're not giving them the time to have standing O five star matches, which is the only other thing that would do it. Commentary is less excitable and more clinical. None of it is designed to be emotional on the level of the CWC.

[Matt D]

What is the purpose then?

[Jimmy Redman]

To make me happy.

[SmartMark15]

Shayna Baszler is quickly becoming one of my favorite workers. She's so charismatic in the ring and she's been booked and protected so strongly.