Please note: there are FULL spoilers for the first six episodes of the Mae Young Classic here. If you have yet to watch these episodes, read my spoiler free reviews found here.
The quarter finals are set and ready to go, in the WWE Mae Young Classic. The field of 32 women is down to just eight, with all four quarter final matches ready to go here on episode 7 of the tournament. First up, the underdog Abbey Laith will look to take on the most experienced competitor, Mercedes Martinez, before Candice LeRae has th unenviable task of taking on the submission juggernaut that is Shayna Baszler. Then, the feisty Australian Toni Storm will do battle with the largest competitor remaining, the Scotswoman Piper Niven, and lastly Dakota Kai, the kick master from New Zealand, must take on the tournament favourite in Japan’s Kairi Sane. The semi finals will be decided on this show, called once again by Lita and Jim Ross.
I’ll admit, I am only familiar with a handful of the competitors, so this will be mostly a ‘clean slate’ for me to form my opinions.
+ Toni Storm vs Piper Niven (Quarter Final Match): the earlygoings of this match may well be my favourite so far, as both women tried to one up each other in strength, agility and showmanship. This was a really good match, having watched Storm and Niven’s previous outings, as each countered or avoided the moves of the other. A few big moves, and a few surprising moves made for a good match between two of the crowd’s favourites
+ Candice LeRae vs Shayna Baszler (Quarter Final Match): If LeRae is the mold that all heroes should come from (and she sure might be), then Baszler is playing the perfect villain. LeRae busted out her husband Johnny Gargano’s “Gargano Escape”, which was cool. This was a really good match, with a really good ending (and post match, which is something we have not quite seen yet)
+ Abbey Laith vs Mercedes Martinez (Quarter Final Match): Laith has been one of, if not the best underdog throughout this tournament so far, and the story of underdog versus veteran always adds some drama. This was a surprisingly slow match, with a handful of bigger, scarier moments, but it all evened out to be a good match
– Dakota Kai vs Kairi Sane (Quarter Final Match): Kai had her hair down for this match, which made her look completely different – I was confused for a second at the beginning. This was a fine match, but it never quite matched the Storm/Niven match before it, and I think it was just that Sane was in this that it went on last. There was a few clever moments here, but for the most part it felt lacking
> It is funny hearing JR and Lita work their way around referencing just how big Piper Niven is. Eventually, JR just had to use the word ‘dimensions’.
> there were more seeds planted for the seemingly certain to happen “Four Horsewomen versus Four Horsewomen” feud. I don’t know how I feel about it – at least Shafir has appeared on WWE TV properly (as Roderick Strong’s wife on NXT)
Should you watch this event: Overall this was fine, and now sets up two huge Semi Final matches, though the Sane/Kai match was a bit lackluster. Storm/Niven and LeRae/Baszler were both worth watching themselves.
MoshFish Reviews 