Mae Young Classic Episode 7 Recap – Surprises and Submissions

The Quarter Finals of the Mae Young Classic are now upon us. We had an excellent second round in terms of match quality and character progression, and now four more participants will leave with nothing, whilst four will synch ever closer to achieving greatness as the first ever winner of the tournament. This single episode features all four Quarter Final matches, and the single biggest talking point seems to be just how deep the booking of Shayna Baszler is, as well as the ever-flourishing feud between MMA and WWE’s respective Four Horsewomen.

A brief prelude before the match recaps.

At the time of writing this, I feel slightly perplexed about the Mae Young Classic, because this tournament could have turned out much different than it has. Looking back at the Cruiserweight Classic, a summer tournament exhibiting a weight class that had long been forgotten about in WWE for many years; the aftermath established a revamped division with fresh talent, match-ups, feuds and a new title belt, as well as a subsequent whole show dedicated to that division. Personal feelings about the Cruiserweight division in 2017 aside, WWE have to view the inaugural tournament as an overall success in hindsight.

The difference here is that WWE already has a women’s division, that has been in the midst of a so-called “revolution” and “evolution”. Both Raw and SmackDown Live have respective belts and present separate feuds and most importantly, WWE have tried to establish it with a new-found credibility that the division has long needed. So, we can argue that the division itself is *somewhat* established.

Since we’re talking about a company that has long-regarded women as sex objects, and emphasised very little about their in-ring capabilities, over the last few years we have undeniably seen a shift towards the latter. Again, personal feelings aside, this year’s summer tournament is about establishing new talent to find, first and foremost, who will be entering a field with like-minded women’s wrestlers. Giving the world-renowned athletes a spotlight to prove why they are deserving of making it in WWE is also important, but it is about providing women the opportunity to showcase their athletic wrestling skills on a major spotlight, as opposed to just being attractive.

Compare this once again to the Cruiserweight Classic, both have been about finding the best quality athletes to compete against one another in a true survival of the fittest series. TJ Perkins won the Cruiserweight Classic because he outlasted, scratched, clawed and fought with every fibre of his being. The eventual winner of the Mae Young Classic will achieve that by the same means, but the difference here is that primarily, the lasting impression of each episode is about cementing a cross-promotional feud, which we could argue could have (and maybe should have) been saved for elsewhere.

Shayna Baszler, as a perfect example of a professional fighter with a name for herself already, it can be argued, should not have been entered in this tournament. Because now, as a result of her inclusion, the biggest angle WWE are running in every Mae Young Classic episode is the flourishing feud between her and her three MMA partners and four women who have helped to revolutionise women’s wrestling in WWE.

It’s not a bad thing by any means, but I often wonder now whether it is taking away from the tournament itself. Instead of talking about terrific matches we have seen, instead we get excited for an angle that WWE are running against four unsigned professional athletes from the mixed martial arts world.

To re-emphasise, this isn’t a bad thing because I am excited by it. But ultimately, the implications could take away from the eventual winner of that tournament, if it doesn’t end up being Shayna Baszler. And if she doesn’t win, does the winner of the Mae Young Classic have her win overlooked by the WWE versus MMA Horsewomen showdown we are being teased with? The pros of this mean WWE have a tremendously hot angle to run, but the potential con is that it risks overshadowing individual other stories that come as a result of the tournament.

Regardless of the tournament though, if one thing is a guarantee, it’s that this tournament gives many more deserving women from around the wrestling world hope that there are future opportunities ahead of them. On a personal level, that is both admirable and positive.

Just some thoughts to ponder.

Onto the matches.

Shayna Baszler def. Candice LeRae
Shayna Baszler just established herself as the biggest heel of the entire tournament.

And I love it.

Coming into this Quarter Final match Baszler looked even more focused and ‘legitimate’ than she ever has. Her opponent, ultimate underdog babyface Candice LeRae, was once again outmatched. But she was not going to go down without a fight, and her heart would see her through.

Baszler was having none of it.

She was almost toying with LeRae, someone who, physically, was never going to be able to keep up with the strength and power of someone like her. She looked imposing and made very little effort in exerting exuberant amounts of pain on poor LeRae. She was taken aback when the experienced Candice Wrestling utilised an aerial assault on Baszler out of the ring, hitting a tope suicide dive DDT onto the metal grating on the entrance ramp.

Baszler even looked in trouble for the first time in the tournament as Candice turned an octopus stretch into a headscissor takedown, and eventually into a modified crossface submission. Baszler, purely out of desperation, powered out.

In a split second, LeRae then proved just how bad she wanted to win by just stamping on Baszler’s face. It’s nothing that Baszler wouldn’t do to her. So why should LeRae show her any mercy?

Sadly for LeRae it didn’t pay off, as she went for her diving neckbreaker, the Queen of Spades countered in midair and locked in her deadly rear naked choke hold. Candice knew she was done for. She tapped out. Only Baszler didn’t let go.

She made this poor girl pay for ever messing with her by continuing to exert pressure by mercilessly wrenching at Candice’s throat. Jim Ross screamed in defiance to stop, and begged the referee to intervene. On a side note, that emphasis from JR was something so welcome to see after such a long time. He personifies standing up for every wrestler who does the right thing, who shows heart and courage and who holds their head high in defeat.

But Shayna Baszler doesn’t care about that. She laughs in the face of what is expected or encouraged in wrestling. She is a fighter. That’s what she was trained to be, and that’s what she will always want to be known as. She doesn’t care about showing any good will. She is menacing, unforgiving and relentless.

In fact, she cares so little that after the match, as Johnny Gargano tended to his fallen and potentially injured wife, Baszler just kicked her defeated opponent in the leg as an insult to injury. She just laughed because she knew there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Who exactly is going to deny Baszler powering her way through to the finals?

We might not know now, but it might seem that three WWE superstars might just weasel their way into Baszler’s head.

Whilst there was no post-match staredown with Bayley, Charlotte or Becky Lynch. WWE cameras did catch up with Baszler’s crew – Ronda Rousey, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir – who were exemplifying support of their dominant stablemate. WWE’s resident Horsewomen just walked up to the three fighters, letting them know that they are on each other’s radar, without uttering a single word.

Baszler wasn’t there with her stablemates this time, but she will be. And things are going to go down sooner or later.

And I cannot wait.

Toni Storm def. Piper Niven
I take back what I said about Toni Storm. She is exactly the opposite of ‘lost in the shuffle’.

I was rooting for her more than anyone last week, and now I want her to win the Mae Young Classic more than ever before. She defeated an early favourite Piper Niven in a tremendous outing, that proved exactly why Storm is the Australian prodigy we can expect her to be.

I was expecting Niven’s vicious side to come through in this bout. We all knew Toni Storm would not be an easy task, and neither did the Scottish powerhouse. Yet her scowling, brutal dominant character she has been known to play didn’t make an appearance. Instead Niven stayed true to her neutral babyface instincts, proving a still formidable counterpart to the educated and diverse lady from Gold Coast, Australia.

We got a fine match out of it. A damn fine match indeed.

Even in the early stages, Storm backed Niven into the corner and did that slow punch motion to the jaw that Niven did to her previous two opponents. Niven laughed it off nonchalantly, impressed that Storm has obviously studied her. That’s just such a nice touch.

Storm’s strength glowed eloquently when she was able to bridge Niven’s entire body weight throughout an impressive chain wrestling sequence. It was a test of mind games between the two competitors, each with their unique touches. Like when both women were both locked in bridges on the mat and executed a handshake upside down. That’s just classy and interesting.

JR said it himself about Niven; “you would think she would just be a powerhouse”.

How right he was, as Storm tried one too many clever manoeuvres and Niven just caved and hit a devious looking splash. It’s a tournament. The time for games, in Niven’s mind, were now over. She was serious.

As the two women executed another decent array of back-and-forth moves, Niven seemed to hit her Michinoku Driver out of nowhere. The end seemed nigh, but Storm kicked out! Niven then viciously hit a cannonball senton on Storm in the corner, and showed signs of remorse as she prepared to hit a diving splash on Storm, who clearly had nothing left in the tank.

Except Storm did, as she got up and HIT A GERMAN SUPLEX ON NIVEN FROM THE TOP TURNBUCKLE! Awesome stuff. Storm then hit a diving legdrop to get the 1-2-3 and punch her way to the Semi-Finals.

This was a surprising result but my god I’m glad there was a good match, and I’m glad both women came out looking great. And I’m especially glad that they seem to be viewing Toni Storm as a big prospect. Everything about this was good. Hats off to Niven as well.

Mercedes Martinez def. Abbey Laith
The opening match of this episode saw two accomplished Shimmer athletes going at it in a WWE ring. It’s not often you hear that statement.

When Mercedes Martinez gets her brawl game on, she is most enjoyable to watch. When Abbey Laith is just, well, Abbey Laith, she is always fun and exciting.

This match, as a result of that, was what was needed. Martinez’s shoulder problem that is being alluded to throughout the tournament, and the experience of both women, had a big fight feel to it. Even if the crowd were largely dead for all of it, we knew from their limited time in the ring together that they have good chemistry. Time constraints play a large part in hindering what could be a decent long match from both women, so in hindsight, I don’t have any complaints.

And even by the end result, which saw Laith go for the Alligator Clutch finisher, only for Martinez to hit a Fisherman Buster to send Laith out of the tournament in what can only be described as an upset, I was wanting a rematch.

Fair play to Laith for getting this far and getting so over with the significantly hard-to-impress WWE audience. As she has signed to NXT I foresee other fortunes coming her way. She will do well. She will be fine.

The crowd were none too pleased at Laith’s exit, but Martinez looks even more legit the longer she progresses in this tournament. And that’s a good thing if nothing else.

The only problem is, she has a certain Shayna Baszler waiting for her. But I doubt Martinez is going to go easy. One word: slobberknocker.

Kairi Sane def. Dakota Kai
Well, I stand corrected, I thought Dakota Kai was the smallest in the entire tournament. Turns out Kairi Sane is smaller.

I liked the sheer babyface dynamic between these two. We had the lovable New Zealand ‘girl next door’ and the world’s deadliest and happiest pirate competing in a match where we know both women would not be afraid to get fierce. Both happy on the surface, but inside both have a fierce side.

They certainly didn’t hold back.

I liked that both women, both gifted strikers, knew they had an even contest ahead of them. For once, it might have appeared that Kai wasn’t the underdog in this situation.

Sane definitely had the majority of the crowd support, but Kai didn’t care as she unleashed more of her sick kicks.

It definitely felt as though the crowd had drained since the last match (Niven-Storm) which I guess makes sense because this is a tournament, so there is no ‘main event’ as such. No match is more important than the other by definition.

When Kai had Sane locked in the tree of woe, flashbacks immediately occurred to her match with Rhea Ripley, who Kai defeated with a diving foot stomp whilst she was in that exact position. This time however, she missed, and Sane capitalised by hitting a diving forearm. One diving elbow drop later and Sane was in the Semi-Finals.

It’s interesting in hindsight how someone so naturally charismatic and gifted as Kairi Sane could be in the last paragraph in a wrestling show recap, but so much else happened on this show. Kairi Sane if anything, will leave the longest lasting impression as someone who wins by any means necessary. Her quirky and smiling nature hides an absolute warrior.

And Toni Storm should pay attention.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

A tremendous episode. Enjoyed it from start to finish. Nothing else needs to be said really. I don’t have many complaints here, other than what I mentioned in the opening prelude. But that is not a complaint about this episode specifically. It gets an 8.75/10.

The truth of the matter is, I know the Semi-Finals, and the Final are going to be even better.