The Mae Young Classic

[NintendoLogic]

Other than not attacking and laying out Kairi after the match, I loved pretty much everything Baszler did in the finals. Kairi no-selling the arm work was disappointing, though.

[SmartMark15]

Other than not attacking and laying out Kairi after the match, I loved pretty much everything Baszler did in the finals. Kairi no-selling the arm work was disappointing, though.

Same thoughts. The match was good but never picked up to that truly great level. Decent final though.

[EricR]

I came away from every Kairi match but the Storm match and maybe the Kai match way more impressed with her opponent. Thought Shayna had a great showing in the tourney. The crowd seemed really into her and she seemed to get a genuine kick out of getting chants.

 

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

[Timbo Slice]

Shayna was the MVP of the tourney, and I'm not a fan of the booking dictating her loss so that they had a reason for Sane to debut on NXT. Her winning and calling out the Four Horsewomen would've been a bigger deal. Sane's excitement was fun, but it did take away from some points in the match that it seemed Shayna was much more interested in making worthwhile. Her facials were terrific, as were her little nuances throughout. She'll be two years in as a pro in two weeks. Very few have been as good as her in their first two years ever.

[JAC]

So, I guess I'll just disagree with some of the foregoing--not to be difficult, but just because I see things quite differently. Shayna would be the MVP of the tournament only to the extent that the prevailing narrative was built around her. Who, if anyone, can stop Baszler? The in-ring MVP was Sane. She was trusted to wrestle long matches and to main-event every show she was on: 5 of the 9 episodes. She consistently got the crowd aligned behind her as a babyface. I'd comment on the star-making performance wrestling Bianca Belair, but it's not like that was a miracle carry-job (Belair brought her A-game to the table and was an equal contributor to that match). To be fair to Baszler, she wasn't put in a situation to be MVP from a match standpoint. She needed to be dominant, and she was. Her best match going into the finals was against Yim and her best character work was probably in the aftermath of the LeRae match.

 

I disagree pretty strongly on the critique of Sane's selling. Baszler worked on her arm, but she never injured it. Just because you target a limb, it doesn't mean that the limb will necessarily become disabled and useless. The selling tells the story about what's happened to the bodies of the competitors. In Sane's case, it tells us that Baszler's submission attempts, while painful, did not succeed in causing lasting damage to Sane's arm, only transient pain. That's something you can shake off. In contrast, Baszler's selling tells us that Sane's spear cracked her rib or at least tore some cartilage in her ribcage. It was a fortuitous occurrence that evened the odds for Sane and helped explain the turnaround.

 

I thought this was Baszler's best match of the tournament. Baszler, to me at least, looks a bit tentative in the ring sometimes and like she's holding back with her kicks. With her gimmick, she needs to look like she's killing her opponent. Here, she did. Her swagger and cockiness was a great contrast to Sane's pluckiness. The story of the match was helpful to both. Sane kept trying for her big offence too early and Baszler made her pay big. Through, the first half, I was worrying that it was going to be nothing more than an extended squash. The spear turned things around and gave the impetus for Sane turning the tables, stringing together longer stretches of dominance and eventually winning.

 

They could have gone either way on the finish. I concede that a Baszler win could have been used to trigger a big money match involving the Horsewomen of MMA v. the Horsewomen of wrestling. I think that's still on the table. Baszler would have won but for the rib injury. She can develop a chip on her shoulder and eventually snap on one of the WWE wrestlers (maybe Bayley would be the optimum choice?) to start that feud. Sane could have lost but been protected and still gotten over. The truth is, both women deserve a lot of credit. The live crowd were (probably) mostly there for Smackdown and had just seen a hot angle to end the show. That match could have bombed but both women got the crowd into them, as evidenced by the dueling chants. Baszler got the men--you could tell by the low register--who like badass heels into her while Sane got the louder chant from the crowd at large.

 

Baszler has immediate value as a strong, tough heel tied to Rousey. If her body isn't broken down from MMA, she could continue to improve and be successful for a while. But Sane has tremendous potential as a babyface and should have a longer shelf life as the younger woman. Do I trust WWE to use her well? No. But she her style and personality are such that she could be a huge star in the women's division if WWE doesn't find a way to shoot itself in the foot.

[broke]

I'll give full credit to Shayna for continuing to sell the ribs well after the final match ended.

 

Considering the confrontations throughout the tournament there's no way this does not result in Shayna, Rousey and co. jumping the WWE Horsewomen within 2 weeks on RAW.

[jcmmnx]

Well the story today isVince put the brakes on that. They aren't in negotiations with Ronda, and they filmed the stuff with her in the MYC without his knowledge. He felt it was misleading the fans to tease the angle.

[Grimmas]

Tim, Stacey, and myself spent 2 hours talking MYC on the Super Show. It's on the PWO podcast feed if anybody wants to hear us rave about the tournament.

[sek69]

Well the story today isVince put the brakes on that. They aren't in negotiations with Ronda, and they filmed the stuff with her in the MYC without his knowledge. He felt it was misleading the fans to tease the angle.

 

 

That seems odd that they would bring her in to the MYC tapings, bring in WWE main roster talent, and fly Ronda in for the finals all without Vince's knowledge.

 

Like, I could see maybe if the negotiations fell through (which why would they, she doesn't exactly have a jam packed schedule), but to say they aren't in negotiations seems demonstrably false.

[Matt D]

Tim, Stacey, and myself spent 2 hours talking MYC on the Super Show. It's on the PWO podcast feed if anybody wants to hear us rave about the tournament.

Been looking forward to that for a while.

[jcmmnx]

 

Well the story today isVince put the brakes on that. They aren't in negotiations with Ronda, and they filmed the stuff with her in the MYC without his knowledge. He felt it was misleading the fans to tease the angle.

 

 

That seems odd that they would bring her in to the MYC tapings, bring in WWE main roster talent, and fly Ronda in for the finals all without Vince's knowledge.

 

Like, I could see maybe if the negotiations fell through (which why would they, she doesn't exactly have a jam packed schedule), but to say they aren't in negotiations seems demonstrably false.

 

I read it as they shot the backstage confrontation without Vince knowing about it. I'm pretty sure Ronda still has UFC fights left on her contract so I doubt they would be negotiating anything with her directly it would have to go through UFC.

[sek69]

Maybe they did, but they still flew in the WWE women to do the staredown, and there's no way that Vince wouldn't have known about that. I know NXT is Hunter's baby and all, but I don't think he'd be stupid enough to do all this work without approval.

[Tim Evans]

I don't think they flew in the wwe women. They live in Florida except Bayley.

[fakeplastictrees]

Even if they did fly in, I don't think Vince or anyone in Corporate would really raise an eyebrow if Charlotte and company decide to go down to Florida during MYC on WWE's dime. I would assume all of them would most likely put two-and-two together. I doubt the 4 on 4 goes down without a ton of smoke and mirrors. Can Shafir pass a concussions test?

[El-P]

Watched the first few episodes. There sure are things to be said about the talent there, but oddly, the one thing that struck me the most is how I really can't stand the WWE production. The überclean, streamlined feel, the animatronic entrances and poses which make seem each and every one of them like puppets under control, the reality-TV interviews. I think those is what struck me the most, because the rest is sadly part of the WWE package in NXT too. But those interviews and intro videos. I felt like I was watching some Survivor candidates or something. And pretty much all of them went :

 

"My name is whatever-the-fuck, I'm a good girl, I'm very confident, I do martial arts and I can kick hard, this is a very big deal for me, I've been told I couldn't do it but I'm gonna show them + (insert culturalism reference for non-english speaking talent)". For fuck's sake. If this is what "reality based" pro-wrestling is all about, I'm not sure I'm caring for it at all. This is why I love LU, it's pulp, it's comics, it's over the top. Here we have a bunch of girls who speak like they are doing Tough Enough. The fact WWE got into Reality-TV (which is some of the worst shit ever) really shows in the way they produce everything, from the look, the use of music, the way they tell "stories". And it's really bad.

 

I don't get the hate for the announcing though. It's not great, but at least Ross actually talks like a human being and a pro-wrestling announcer. Lita is ok. She actually cracked me up when she laughed at the idea that Great Khali would have taught that flying move to that Indian Girl (yeah, sorry about that one). Speaking of which, the two recruits from India and China reeks of capitalistic desperation : "Pleaaaaaaase, buy our product pleaaaaaaase, we got someone from your country, look at them !".

 

Damn, Tessa Blanchard looks like her father a bit. And since I've been on a Tully binge, that makes her dear to my heart automatically.

 

Kairi Sane (gotta love how they give her another Japanese name to trademark, but they can't pronounce it for shit) is so above everyone is this it's not even funny.

 

Shayna Baszler is going all the way. Look, attitude, seems to be a good enough worker. And the MMA crowd is already foaming at the mouth because RONDA ROUSEY. BTW, this was the first time I ever saw what Ronda looked like. That's how much I care about MMA.

 

Dakota Kai won me over with 1 kick and 1 footstomp.

 

Bianca Blair : the BRAID shot. Now, that's a gimmick. Cool look, heelish. But someday, someone is gonna stomp on those braids and it can't be pretty.

 

Ripley : "Look how tall she is !". Good look, tall, blonde, boobs, potential. Yeah, they are gonna push the shit out of her.

 

Enjoyed a bunch of others like Logan, Salinas, Storm, Yim, Niven, LeRae...

 

Rachel Evers vs Marty Belle was the drizzling shit. Comically bad. I though Evers was the worst one in this too, so what do I know...

 

Well, the matches are fun to follow. Nothing great though thus far.

[Blehschmidt]

I just now hit Episode 5, and if Bianca Blair is really only a year in the business, this girl has a bright future ahead of her.

[El-P]

I just now hit Episode 5, and if Bianca Blair is really only a year in the business, this girl has a bright future ahead of her.

 

You don't say. The braid lashes is my new favourite spot. Love everything about her, the look, the outfit, the heel demeanor (she's still self-conscious but she's green as grass), the non-cutesy work with power stuff (the squatting while holding a vertical suplex, Davey Boy style). Shitloads of potential here. I'm a fan already. Granted, she worked with Kairi, who's just a bunch of step above everyone here, but still, very good main event. I feel I've been missing on the latest years of joshi puroresu when I see Asuka and her (and those two other girls who showed up in LU once), but so is life. Kairi is gonna be the greatest Captain Mike ever. Yeah, pirate my ass, she's doing the Captain Mike Rotundo gimmick, you all know it. That elbow drop though, can't be good long-term… Oh, and that "catching the kiss and stepping on it" had me mark out.

 

Jury's out on Niven. After a second match, I can already see a pattern that I'm not sure I like that much (basically : female Kevin Owens)

 

Abby Leigh is fun to see, despite the bad name and stolen car makeup. She made Evers look tolerable here. Want to see her against a good opponent.

 

Very strong main event, okay matches otherwise.

[El-P]

EP 6 wasn't as good.

 

Lacy Evans vs Tony Storm was kinda fun. WIth her life story, gimmick and look, I can see "money" if played right with Evans. And take a shot every time the announcers say "Marine Corps" too.

 

Quite disappointed by Yim vs Shayna. I've seen way too much shoot-style I guess, this was poor Battlart attempt with weak strikes and *yawn* ankle locks a-la Angle (which I accept in Angle's matches but still remains one of my least favourite submission ever). Yim's bicycle kick looks like her taking a hard back bump rather than give an acrobatic kick to her opponent. Shayna looks like a legit MMA fighter afraid to work too stiff. Yeah, not very good...

 

Actually, Ripley vs Kai was much better in term of kicking around. Best match of the show too and surprising win by Kai to me. Not crazy about the finish; that awkward set-up a-la Alberto doesn't sit well with me although they did as good of a job as can be done. Ripley is sooooo gonna get pushed like crazy. Tons of potential. I like Kai's intensity.

 

The less said about LeRae vs Savoy the better. Nothing match here. I guess LeRae's gimmick, since her last name is of French origin, is that she only faces opponents with actual French names. I mean : Renee Michelle ! Nicole Savoy ! What's next ? Sophie Letourneur ? Yeah, I guess I'm the only one who noticed it, but I got a kick out of that. I guess it's a Paul Levesque rib.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

Watched the first few episodes. There sure are things to be said about the talent there, but oddly, the one thing that struck me the most is how I really can't stand the WWE production. The überclean, streamlined feel, the animatronic entrances and poses which make seem each and every one of them like puppets under control, the reality-TV interviews. I think those is what struck me the most, because the rest is sadly part of the WWE package in NXT too. But those interviews and intro videos. I felt like I was watching some Survivor candidates or something. And pretty much all of them went :

 

"My name is whatever-the-fuck, I'm a good girl, I'm very confident, I do martial arts and I can kick hard, this is a very big deal for me, I've been told I couldn't do it but I'm gonna show them + (insert culturalism reference for non-english speaking talent)". For fuck's sake. If this is what "reality based" pro-wrestling is all about, I'm not sure I'm caring for it at all. This is why I love LU, it's pulp, it's comics, it's over the top. Here we have a bunch of girls who speak like they are doing Tough Enough. The fact WWE got into Reality-TV (which is some of the worst shit ever) really shows in the way they produce everything, from the look, the use of music, the way they tell "stories". And it's really bad.

 

I don't get the hate for the announcing though. It's not great, but at least Ross actually talks like a human being and a pro-wrestling announcer. Lita is ok. She actually cracked me up when she laughed at the idea that Great Khali would have taught that flying move to that Indian Girl (yeah, sorry about that one). Speaking of which, the two recruits from India and China reeks of capitalistic desperation : "Pleaaaaaaase, buy our product pleaaaaaaase, we got someone from your country, look at them !".

 

Damn, Tessa Blanchard looks like her father a bit. And since I've been on a Tully binge, that makes her dear to my heart automatically.

 

Kairi Sane (gotta love how they give her another Japanese name to trademark, but they can't pronounce it for shit) is so above everyone is this it's not even funny.

 

Shayna Baszler is going all the way. Look, attitude, seems to be a good enough worker. And the MMA crowd is already foaming at the mouth because RONDA ROUSEY. BTW, this was the first time I ever saw what Ronda looked like. That's how much I care about MMA.

 

Dakota Kai won me over with 1 kick and 1 footstomp.

 

Bianca Blair : the BRAID shot. Now, that's a gimmick. Cool look, heelish. But someday, someone is gonna stomp on those braids and it can't be pretty.

 

Ripley : "Look how tall she is !". Good look, tall, blonde, boobs, potential. Yeah, they are gonna push the shit out of her.

 

Enjoyed a bunch of others like Logan, Salinas, Storm, Yim, Niven, LeRae...

 

Rachel Evers vs Marty Belle was the drizzling shit. Comically bad. I though Evers was the worst one in this too, so what do I know...

 

Well, the matches are fun to follow. Nothing great though thus far.

 

I'll prefix this by saying I really enjoyed the tournament - lots of fun matches and liked most of the wrestlers involved, but think your point about all the pre-match interviews blending into one sometimes is pretty spot on. Obviously as a tournament goes on then stories can develop, but particularly at the beginning it did feel a little samey in terms of each person outlining their motivations and what they were bringing to the table. I'm largely a fan of when wrestling invokes aspects of 'real sports', but I think this also reminded me why - and you make the point well with Lucha Underground - storylines and angles remain so important in getting you to care about the competitors and why they are wrestling each other.

[El-P]

Quarter-finals were ok.

 

Abbey Laigh (that name, please...) vs Mercedez Martinez was okay because Laigh's work is solid. Martinez is a 16 (!) years veteran ? Ok. I don't see much in her. She's just there. Not bad. Not good. Don't care for the latino gangsta attitude poses. Dull work, not much charisma.

 

For what it was supposed to accomplished, Shayna vs LeRae was easily the best match of this round. Very good work by LeRae. She needs to be signed yesterday. Shayna is protected as all hell, but she's got the attitude and aura. Cool finish and post-match (BTW, I find the deal with both girls in the middle with the ref raising the winner's hand to be corny as fuck, we know who won, ya know...)

 

Ok, people that go to the University, you can identify that you're watching "Women's wrestling !". Gooood. Next week, we'll learn the numbers. I take smart-ass chants over this stupid bullshit (likewise "This is wrestling !", especially when nothing has happened yet). So, women's wrestling it is with Piper Niven vs Toni Storm, which had a cool beginning with a funny comedy spot. I have to say I don't get the hype about good ol' Viper though. The pattern I get after three matches I don't care much for. She does spots she isn't suppose to do because of her body type (see how PC I am there...). Ok. And that's pretty much it. Not that interesting. Maybe the context does her no favors. Dunno. Decent match.

 

As far as pure work goes, Kai vs Sane was easily a step above everything else. Damn, I really like Kai's kicks. She's explosive. Spear + countering the awkward double-stomp = Kairi is cool as hell. Good match, a little on the spotty side.

 

I don't get the booking of putting Martinez in the semis (at all), against Shayna to boot. Abbey would have been much more interesting there. Sane vs Storm can be a cool match though.

I don't get the hate for the announcing. I find Ross pretty good. My brain really doesn't hear Lita.

[El-P]

So, the semi-finals

 

Shayna vs Martinez was not very good. Some of the worst, weakest kicking stuff I've seen in forever. I'm not wishing for Yumiko Hotta here, but this stuff made Lance Storm looked like Shibata. Anyway, pretty weak-ass "shoot-style" stuff, no heeling from Shayna. The last few spots were okay, but Mercedes really didn't show me much again. Shayna's cool but she's überprotected, so it's

 

Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm was easily the best match of the tournament, by a pretty solid margin. Enjoyed Storm's work quite a bit here. Sane is a terrific babyface, her selling of the arm-bar was quite Mortonesque (or Toyotaesque). Nice stretch to the finish. Very good stuff.

 

Stephy & Trip had to show their face at Full Sail, of course, because HERE WE TAKE THE CREDIT !!!! Kairi looked so freaking tiny next to them and whoever that other woman is.

 

Enjoyed Ross again. Maybe because it's been forever since I've really watched a bunch of pro-wrestling called by good ol' JR (since I'm not his biggest fan), but he was a breath of fresh air and there's no good reason he isn't still the lead announcer.

[El-P]

And the final did deliver. Very good/excellent match. I dunno what happened, but Shayna looked twice as good as she did on the Full Sail tapings, and it was not because of Sane either. Finally laying those kicks in, lots of cool heelish attitude, some nifty little stuff (like kicking the rope where Kairi was hanging her arm on). Kairi herself was terrific. She did kinda forgot about the arm work quickly, but she's from the japanese school, you don't sell the arm like crazy just because you've been into a bunch of submission holds, especially early on. So :

 

Shayna would be the MVP of the tournament only to the extent that the prevailing narrative was built around her. Who, if anyone, can stop Baszler? The in-ring MVP was Sane.

 

Indeed. That being said, Shayna showed lots of talent here. She's not that young and probably a little bit banged up, so they shouldn't hesitate to use her and milk whatever money there is in the whole MMA connection.

 

Overall, it I enjoyed the first round because it was fun to discover all these new workers. The second and third round were pretty uneven, Kairi was the saving grace of these shows, having basically all the most solid matches.

 

From the NXT bunch, Bianca Belair really caught my attention. Ripley is gonna get Das Push on physicals alone, one might think.

 

They should definitely sign LeRae & Storm (if that's not done, not following that closely).

 

The Mae Young Classic was all but that, then again, considering whose name it derives from... It was ok with two really good matches (Sane vs Storm & Sane vs Shayna) and quite a bid of forgettable stuff too.

 

Ok, now, I guess it's time for Asuka getting the RAW booking...

[NintendoLogic]

"That other woman" is Sara Amato, aka Sara Del Rey.

[El-P]

"That other woman" is Sara Amato, aka Sara Del Rey.

 

Thanks for the info. I knew the name, but no idea how she looked like. (much like Rousey)

[donsem43]

Shayna Baszler is officially the first woman to be signed after being in the MYC.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYS_caffEp0