9/19 MAE YOUNG CLASSIC 2018 – EP. 3: Mia Yim vs. Allysin Kay, Kaitlyn vs. Kavita Devi, Jinny vs. Toni Storm, Xia Li vs. Karen Q

MAE YOUNG CLASSIC II – EPISODE THREE
PREMIERED ON SEPT. 19, 2018
TAPED IN ORLANDO, FLA. AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY
AIRED ON WWE NETWORK

Announcers: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Beth Phoenix.

-The third installment of this year’s Mae Young Classic opened with a quick recap of the last two episodes, before running down the card for the evening:  Former Diva’s Champion Kaitlyn vs. Kavita Devi, Toni Storm vs. Jinny, Karen Q vs Xia Li, and finally Mia Yim vs. Allysin Kay.

-Michael Cole kicks off the show welcoming everyone to the show, and introducing his counterparts Renee Young and Beth Phoenix. Wasting no time, they jump right into the action.

(1) Kaitlyn vs. Kavita Devi

-Devi’s video package is up first, where she talks about her loss in the tournament last year. She says she is a powerhouse, and will do anything for this MYC trophy. Kaitlyn’s video package played next, where she talks about debuting 8 years ago for WWE and becoming Diva’s champion. She talks about leaving the company, and how crazy the last four years have been through divorce and personal demons. She’s back and ready to leave the competition in the dust.

-Ring announcer Kayla Braxton first introduces Kaitlyn to the ring, who enters to a good pop from the Full Sail crowd. Cole says she is one of her favorites, and he hopes she’s able to advance. Devi makes her way to the ring next, to a lukewarm reaction from the crowd. The announcers talk about how she is the first Indian woman in a WWE ring, and how she wishes to be the first woman to bring a championship back to India. The camera pans to two NXT signees, Rinku Singh and Saurav Gurjar, cheering on their country’s representative in the tournament.

Lindberg’s Analysis: Kaitlyn looks awesome coming off of her hiatus from the WWE. She could certainly be a favorite to win the classic. Devi looks equally impressive, and gave off a very tough vibe.

-Kaitlyn goes for a handshake, but is snubbed by Devi as the ref called for the bell. The two lock up in the ring, and Devi overpowers Kaitlyn by throwing her to the mat. They lock up again, and Devi wrestles her to the ropes. Kaitlyn countered, locking Devi up on the ropes. The ref breaks it up, and Devi locks in a headlock. Kaitlyn countered with a snap mare to a sitting clothesline followed by three leg drops. She covers, and Devi kicks out at two. The two get to their feet, and Devi gets the upper hand slamming Kaitlyn to the mat, covering but Kaitlyn kicked out. Devi whipped Kaitlyn off the ropes, clothesline and covers, for two. She maintained offense, and went for two more covers, which Kaitlyn kicked out of.

-Devi locked in a modified triangle choke submission on Kaitlyn, who struggled to get out. The announcers mention that Devi was trained by the Great Khali, while Kaitlyn manages to escape. She gets to her feet, and overpowers Devi with an arm drag. Devi recovers first, and gets Kaitlyn up on her shoulders, seemingly going for a Samoan drop or Death Valley Driver. Kaitlyn counters, and shoves Devi into the ropes. Kaitlyn gets a few stiff forearms to Devi, and then shoulder tackles Devi to the mat. She maintains offense with a body slam and dropkick.

-Kaitlyn nailed a running cannonball on Devi. Devi gets to her feet, but is met by a spear by Kaitlyn into a cover for the victory.

WINNER: Kaitlyn

Analysis:  Kaitlyn looked very strong during this bout, like she hadn’t missed a step. The match itself was slowly paced, but action packed enough to keep the crowd entertained. Smart… keep the crowd invested, and keep your bump card clean.

-Cole wonders if Kaitlyn will be the Cinderella story of the classic, as the replays show the highlights from the match.

(2) Toni Storm vs. Jinny

-Next up, Toni Storm vs. Jinny. Jinny’s video plays first, and the British “Fashionista” introduced herself to the Full Sail crowd. She says her in ring style is ruthless, and she does not care about her opponent. She’ll do ANYTHING to win. Storm’s video is up next, focusing on her loss last year in the semi-finals. She says this year, she will not let herself or her fans down. She’s here to fight, and WIN. It’s Toni Time.

-Mmmm Gorgeous! One half of the Fashion Police, and Full Sail Favorite, “Prince Pretty” Tyler Breeze is ringside for the bout. The crowd erupts as Toni Storm makes her way to the ring. Throughout her entire entrance, the crowd was louder than for any other competitor thus far. Obnoxious as ever, Toni’s countrywomen, The IIconics, are shown ringside cheering Storm.

-Jinny makes her way to the ring next, oozing a cocky charisma: “I’m better than you.” Boos can be heard sporadically throughout her entrance. The crowd chants for Toni during the handshake, but Jinny slaps her hand away. The bell rings, and the two circle each other before locking up. Toni pushed Jinny away, and they lock up again. Toni pushes Jinny to the ground this time, and they lock up for a third time. Jinny nails an arm drag, but they both get to their feet and lock up once again. Jinny backs Toni into the corner, as the ref breaks them up. Jinny gets Toni in a headlock, but Toni escapes, twisting the arm of Jinny.

-Jinny fights back, raking the eyes of Toni before elbowing her in the chest. Toni nails a rapid succession of strikes, and a knee to the corner. Jinny throws Toni face first into the turnbuckle. Jinny maintains the upper hand after an unsuccessful pin attempt. She snap mares Toni, and kicked her in the spine before attempting another unsuccessful cover. Jinny maintained offense, snap suplex into another cover for two.

Lindberg’s Analysis: Jinny is getting a lot of offense, garnering sympathy for Toni Storm from the crowd. So far, I’d say Toni is the fan favorite out of all the competitors we’ve seen thus far.

-Jinny got Toni in an armbar submission in the center of the ring. Toni fights out, but Jinny countered with a forearm to the face. Toni recovers, and sends Jinny to the corner. Toni goes for a cannonball, but Jinny moves sending Toni into the turnbuckles. She quickly covers Toni for two. Toni fights back, and rolls Jinny up for two. Toni whipped Jinny into the ropes, and Jinny rolls through her legs and into an impressive modified surfboard submission. Toni writhed in pain, as Jinny torqued the hold. After at least a minute or so, Toni managed to free one arm and crawl to the bottom rope. Jinny breaks the hold, and began to strike Toni over and over, then slapped her in the face. Toni eventually recovers and landed a German Suplex so powerful, she may now be the mayor of Suplex City. Center of the ring, Toni lands her finisher, the Tiger Driver, on Jinny for the 1, 2, 3.

WINNER: Toni Storm

Lindberg’s Analysis: Crazy how the crowd is into Toni Storm. She clearly has potential in the WWE system. An excellent, hard hitting match between the two and both women came out of the bout looking incredibly strong. Jinny has nothing to be upset about, she put on a great performance despite the loss.

(3) Xia Li vs. Karen Q

-Xia Li’s video package played, introducing Li to the audience. She brings Chinese martial arts to the ring, setting her apart from the other women. Karen Q’s video is up next, and she says she can’t wait to show what she can do as part of the Women’s Revolution. She says her college degrees will help her outsmart the competition.

-Full Sail’s favorite couple, Candice Larae and Johnny “Wrestling” Gargano are shown ringside for the match. Gargano stood on a chair to hype up the crowd. Q makes her way to the ring first, to a decent pop from the crowd. The announcers touted her gymnastics background, her master’s degree and how she is a P.E. teacher for elementary school students. Li makes her way to the ring next to some traditional Chinese music. She clapped her way to the ring, getting the crowd behind her before showing off some karate moves in the center of the squared circle.

-The two shake hands as the ref calls for the bell. They bow to one another, and strike martial arts poses as they trade a plethora of kicks and strikes. Li takes Q down, but Q kips right up. They bowed again as the crowd erupted. Q slapped Li in the face, upsetting Li who backed Q into the corner. Li delivered rapid strikes in the corner, as the ref broke up the action. Q kicked Li in the jaw, and then unloaded strikes to the face of the downed Li. Q mocked Li by bowing again, before delivering a handspring back elbow to the corner. Q nailed an Exploder suplex on Li, into an unsuccessful cover. Li tried flipping Q over for a Boston crab, but Li countered with a kick to Q. Li went for a vertical suplex, but Q reversed with a full nelson slam into a cover for two. Li wrenched Q’s neck, looking for Q to tap. Q fought her way out, getting the upper hand once again. Li delivered well placed kicks to Q’s hamstrings, before Q retaliates with kicks of her own. She covers Li, but Li kicked at two. Q goes to the top rope, and missed a frog splash, allowing Li to nail a flipping axe kick for the victory.

WINNER: Xia Li

Lindberg’s Analysis: I can’t decide if this match, or Toni Storm vs. Jinny was better! Both Q and Li showcased some amazing martial artistry, keeping the crowd engaged for every second of the bout. Hard hitting, fast paced action. Both women came off looking very strong.

(4) Mia Yim vs. Allysin Kay

–Q and Li hugged in the center of the ring, as the next match is introduced. Allysin Kay’s video played first. She says she’s rough around the edges, yet she likes to think she’s still classy. She says Bad News Brown was her inspiration. She then talks about the ongoing indie rivalry between her and her opponent, Mia Yim. Mia Yim’s, the “Blasian Baddie”, is up next. She says she is over being nice and is out for blood. She says her long history with Kay all started when she broke Kay’s nose, and she’s looking forward to kicking Kay’s ass again in the Classic.

-Smackdown’s Sonya Deville is shown ringside for the match.  Mia Yim makes her entrance first, making her way to the ring with a bandana covering her face. Cole says she is one of the veterans of the tournament, as her friend Shelton Benjamin is shown in the crowd cheering her on. Kay makes her way to the ring next. Renee says she was a victim of domestic abuse, and talked about what she does to help other victims of abuse outside of the ring.

-The two stare each other down in the center of the ring, refusing to shake hands. The ref called for the bell, as the two locked up. They break the lock up, before the two trade strikes back and forth on the mat. Yim caught one of Kay’s punches into an armbar, but Kay got the rope break. Kay whipped Yim into the ropes, and Yim channeled former NXT Champ Andrade Cien Almas, by doing his “Tranquilo” pose between the top and center ropes. Kay ran at Yim, who faked Kay out sending Kay to the floor below. Yim, standing on the apron, punted Kay in the chest.

-The two make their way back into the ring, and Yim maintains the advantage striking Kay over and over on the mat. Kay recovered and nailed a shoulder tackle to Yim. Yim rolled out of the ring to catch her breath, but Kay went on the chase. She slammed Yim’s head off the mat, and chopped her in the chest before throwing her back in the ring. Yim kicked her in the face, stunning Kay outside the ring. Yim nailed a suicide dive, sending Kay crashing to the floor. Kay gets to her feet, leaning against the ring post while she caught her breath. Yim went to chop her in the chest again, but Kay ducked. An audible “Pa-tink!” was heard as Yim’s knuckles bounced off of the metal ringspot.

Lindberg’s Analysis: The bad blood between these two is coming off very well during the bout. The facial expressions of hatred can be seen over and over, and they seemingly stop at nothing to ‘hurt’ one another.

-Kay works the injured hand of Yim, wrenching her fingers backwards. She faceplants Yim into the apron, and rolls her into the ring for an unsuccessful cover. Yim props herself up, sitting in the corner. Kay stomped a mudhole into Yim and walked it dry! She maintained the upper hand, pulling Yim’s hair before the ref broke it up. Kay gets a fall away slam on Yim, and then wrenched the neck of Yim, looking for a submission. Yim makes her way to her feet, and fought back with an armbar submission, but couldn’t quite lock it in. Kay picked her up by the arm into a spine buster. She covered Yim for two. Kay told Yim to get up, while stomping her in the head.

-Yim countered with an armbar, but Kay got the quick rope break. The two trade strikes in the center of the ring, before getting in each other’s face trash talking one another. They trade forearms to the face, before Kay bounced off the ropes and kicked Yim square in the face. The ref starts his 10 count, as the two make their way to their feet at the count of 5. Yim nailed three dropkicks on Yim before going to the top rope for a missile dropkick. She covered Kay, but Kay kicked at two.

-Yim tried to set Kay up for a package piledriver/powerbomb, but Kay escaped. Kay went for a crucifix powerbomb, but Yim rolled through delivering a sunset powerbomb of her own into an unsuccessful pin attempt. Yim got to her feet first, attacking Kay, who reverses into a discus lariat. She covered Yim for two, before yelling at the ref for counting too slowly. Kay went for a roundhouse kick, but Yim ducked and delivered her own roundhouse. Kay ducked, and then they simultaneously roundhouse kicked each other, sending both women to the mat.

-The ref starts his 10 count once again, as both women struggle to their feet. Yim recovered first, and went up top, but Kay punched her, and tried setting her up for a superplex. Yim headbutted Kay, sending Kay staggering into the middle of the ring. Yim adjusts on the top rope, grabbed Kay’s arm, and delivered a finishing kick to the face off the top rope for the win.

WINNER: Mia Yim

Lindberg’s Analysis: Wow! Another very impressive match in this year’s classic. The story of their indie rivalry played excellently into this one-off tournament match, and neither woman held anything back.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Tough to pick a “Match of the night,” as all four matches were thoroughly entertaining. Toni Storm came off as the biggest name of the whole competition, but the other three winners also came off as viable contenders to make it to the finals. All four matches were very different, Kaitlyn and Devi in a powerhouse contest, Storm and Jinny in more of a technical bout, Q and Li in a martial arts-meets wrestling type match, and Yim vs Kay in a brawl. Very entertaining, and all eight women have something to be proud of.

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NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S REPORT: 9/12 MAE YOUNG CLASSIC 2018 – EP. 2: Deonna Purazzo vs. Priscilla Kelly, Zeuxis vs. Aerial Monroe, Reina Gonzalez vs. Kacy Catanzaro