Mae Young Classic Episode 3 Recap – Venomous

The 32-women single-elimination tournament makes its way to the WWE Network after months of hype. It’s the Mae Young Classic. Featuring 32 of the finest female athletes from across the globe, competing for the chance to be crowned the first ever winner of the inaugural tournament. This episode marked the second half of the first round match-ups, and while it got off to a slow start, it ended with another sublime main event that made me want to see a rematch between Piper Niven and Santana Garrett.

Piper Niven def. Santana Garrett
Superb. Absolutely superb.

Once again, the Mae Young Classic has taken a scenario that doesn’t seem incredibly appealing on paper, and made me into a fan.

Going into this match, I knew something of both women. Piper Niven I had seen on ITV’s World Of Sport special, (which Jim Ross also called and alluded to in this episode, which was a nice touch) and as for Santana Garrett, I had seen her appearance on NXT but never really accustomed myself to what I now see she is capable of being. After watching the two women have a vicious, back-and-forth main event, I now see Niven as a tremendously dominant yet surprisingly agile wrestler, while Garrett has a gift of being an adapt and creative babyface through and through. She was born to play that role and she won me over big time, even though she lost.

The crowd reacted very vociferously to both women, and as the match progressed, they responded in universal acclaim at their stellar performance. As it goes, it might not go down as the mat classic that Bayley and Sasha Banks had at Takeover: Brooklyn, but it established a dynamic that if the styles mesh well, and the characters are eventually given enough time to develop, these two can fill that spot. The match had a good blend of speed, agility, power and technicality. Niven is quick at the right moments and establishes a comfortable level of control, while Garrett is tenacious and fights out of every opportunity and mounts a comeback. It had me hooked from the opening bell.

My words for this bout won’t do it justice but all I will say is if you had to watch ANY match of the Mae Young Classic so far, it’s this one. I still have yet to see Episode 4 but Niven-Garrett stood out to me the most.

Also mad props to JR who said “fish and chips” and “bangers and mash” are some of his favourite British dishes. Never change.

Bianca Belair def. Sage Beckett
I am happy that I enjoyed this match from an in-ring perspective, because this episode definitely needed that.

Before Niven and Garrett completely stole the show, we were treated to a match featuring Sage Beckett (the former Rosie Lottalove in TNA) and Bianca Belair. Both women had competed on NXT so Full Sail was familiar with both, although you wouldn’t think it considering they barely reacted to anything these two women did in their match.

Beckett’s Dudley Boyz training is evident in her ring style and her power moves, and it became obvious that she has refined her qualities to a much better standard. Belair has something of a unique look and arsenal too, utilising her hair as a whip. Ultimately it won her the match, or at least helped to, which is a strange precedent to set. Should someone as physically imposing as Beckett be afraid of Belair’s hair? Maybe not, but now Belair has this to her advantage.

But at the same time, in a wrestling match, should that not be a disqualification? It’s an object that a competitor wouldn’t otherwise use – but perhaps that it is not separate from the competitor’s body gives it leeway. No complaints whatsoever from me, but it just felt a bit strange. Not to mention that Belair is athletically gifted enough, and hits a gnarly looking spear, so ultimately a hair flick isn’t going to do her much benefit. She’d be just as talented and vicious without it.

Also from watching this match, it became apparent how formulaic some of the offensive moves can be. Specifically dropkicks. As one wrestler establishes a level of control, it seems the only move that stuns them enough is a dropkick, to the point now where they are almost overused. I’ve seen dropkicks utilised in excess so far. Not to discredit them because they are legitimately worth using, but the scenario just feels a little played out to me.

I was impressed with both women on this night, and I’d like to see more of Beckett in NXT. As she has been signed, I foresee more good fortunes coming her way.

Dakota Kai def. Kavita Devi
I liked the dynamic of this match.

It seemed as though WWE were trying to position Dakota Kai (Evie as some NXT die-hards and indie fans might know) as a never-say-die babyface from her pre-video package and just by how she carried herself against the much bigger, stronger and physically imposing Kavita Devi. One clear emphasis of Kai’s strengths was her kicks.

As Devi controlled the majority of the match, Kai was able to hit a stunning kick when it mattered, followed by a Coup de Grace that earned her the win. Presented somewhat as a lucky escape for Kai, it still showed that her kicks are deadly and everyone should be on the lookout for them. Devi should also be reprimanded because she allowed Kai the opportunity to recover enough to hit those kicks, when she had otherwise made no mistakes in the bout up to that point. Even so much as hitting some very agile moves like second rope arm drags and a military press slam. That kind of arsenal mix makes a competitor like Devi look all the more gifted.

But this match was all about getting Kai over as an underdog, being one of the smaller participants in the Mae Young Classic. Now, in the second round, she faces Rhea Ripley, someone who also outmatches her physically – so it depends whether fortune will strike twice for the New Zealand girl.

Toni Storm def. Ayesha Raymond
It was good for what it was, even if I feel it could have been better.

I realise time constraints play a large part in tournaments, especially considering there are 32 women competing and we have short enough attention spans as it is. Toni Storm, an Australian gift to the world, I already know has the ability to win over any audience. The first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion has a unique offensive style, and within seconds she had the crowd in the palm of her hand. She hit a decent array of moves, like a modified backstabber and a Northern Lights suplex.

I liked how London-born Ayesha Raymond trash talked the crowd, which hadn’t really been done in this tournament so far, establishing herself as a mouthy and confident heel. But sadly, she didn’t do much else of note in this bout. Storm was the easy favourite and Raymond didn’t do much else that stood out, so it was a foregone conclusion and the right decision to allow the Gold Coast prodigy to proceed.

An interesting dynamic, but it just fell a bit flat at times. Storm’s best match is yet to come though.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Sweet Sixteen is beginning to take shape, and I’m already looking forward to seeing what the remaining matches hold. Doing these recaps allows me to study the participants a bit more, and the types of matches that they could be capable of having with the right people. It seems as though so far, the second round has already given us enough reason to believe the match quality is only going to get better.

And that can only be a good thing, considering in these first round bouts, the match quality has ranged from okay to downright vicious. So I am optimistic for the later rounds.

As for this episode as a whole, that match quality as a whole was of a better standard, so I will grade this episode an 8.5/10. That main event sealed the deal for me. Top stuff.

Seriously, watch that bout again.