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[2017-09-12-WWE-Mae Young Classic] Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler


ShittyLittleBoots

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I am SUPER high on this match. I thought it was so, so, so excellent. Amazing performances by both & great storytelling throughout the thing; loved Baszler establishing dominance with her MMA-esq work over Kairi. Her strikes were really great. Loved the arm work, that had such a charm to it - gave me some Billy Robinson vibes. Great stuff. Kairi's selling of that was great, as it was in general from start to finish - she showed such great heart & fire. Her countering that brutal arm work of Shayna's by going after her ribs was excellent & played well into the finish with her dropping that beautiful Elbow on her. Absolutely loved everything about this. The way the crowd got more & more into it as it went on was so awesome. Excellent package of pro wrestling. ****1/2

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Very good match, worthy of a finals, but very clearly the wrong lady went over. Not only are there way more interesting things that can be done with Shayna as a tournament champ, but she was obviously the superior performer. Most of the cool things in this match were provided by Baszler, all the early cockiness, the little kicks to the head, the absorbing of the spear, the nasty armwork. Then later in the match she did a masterful job of selling the broken rib to make herself look vulnerable, and set up the big finish. I really wish Sane’s spear looked better, a selling job that good deserved a better looking instigating move. I did love Sane’s backfist, which she hits with such force, and the diving elbow to the ribs was super nasty (Baszler covering her head only to get wasted in the body was awesome). Also total waste not to have some post match gaga. If you are going to have Shayna lose, at least have her jump Kairi post bell and have some sort of pull apart with the Horsewomen and the WWE wrestlers, any business they want to do there lost a lot of its luster. It really felt like they just wanted the photo op with horseface Ivanka and roid Kushner post match.

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...very clearly the wrong lady went over. Not only are there way more interesting things that can be done with Shayna as a tournament champ, but she was obviously the superior performer...

 

I really wish Sane’s spear looked better, a selling job that good deserved a better looking instigating move...

 

Just because one says something is clear or obvious does not make it so! I submit that those assertions are hardly self-evident facts. (My opinion of the match here in the Mae Young Classic thread: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/38364-the-mae-young-classic/?p=5813780). I don't mean to diminish Baszler's performance. I agree with your assessment. But I think Sane was much better in that match than you give her credit for. And she can--if booked properly (yeah, right!)--have a longer ranging impact than Baszler.

 

They don't need Baszler to win as part of the Horsewoman feud (if that's ever to happen) as Rousey is the key figure there. Even if you just want to do interesting things with Baszler, having her lose is great because it gives her a reason to have a serious chip on her shoulder. It gives a great backstory for a rematch down the road with a championship on the line. Heck, if Baszler signs and goes to the main roster, she could still be portrayed as a dominant heel and run through the whole division until Sane arrives being touted as the one woman Baszler couldn't defeat. And the rib injury element adds extra intrigue, as Baszler can convincingly argue that she only lost because of a fluke injury.

 

As for complaining about Kairi Sane's spear... Isn't that a bit like criticizing Terry Funk and Jerry Lawler for having phony-looking punches?

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I was impressed at how these two managed to take a crowd that seemed curious at the start and got them really invested in what they were seeing. This was Baszler's best performance of the tournament and right up there of with work she did with Io Shirai in Stardom earlier this year. The little catch wrestling stuff she did was fun but her selling was top tier. Even during the finishing run Baszler deciding to cover up her head instead of her hurt ribs was a nice nod to her still having a MMA mindset in a wrestling match. While Sane was very good here I would have liked to see her sell her arm a bit more. I don't think she need to act like she had a dead arm, she should have at least sold a little bit of pain while she used it on offense but that was the only negative thing about this match. Hopefully we get a rematch between these two on a NXT Takeover in the near future. ***3/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [2017-09-12-WWE-Mae Young Classic] Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler

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