The Mae Young Classic: Episode #2

WWE Mae Young Classic

Episode #2

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Lita

Episode 2 begins with some international flair, China's Xia Li taking on indie vet Mercedez Martinez. Martinez has been active on the scene for over a decade while Xia Li comes to the WWE from a fitness/martial arts background. As expected, Martinez plays the mean-spirited bully vet and dominates Li from the start but mistakenly drops her guard, allowing Li to come at her with some well-placed strikes. Martinez is able to withstand Li's initial offensive flurry, though, proving her toughness before locking in the dragon sleeper to put her opponent to bed. A good showcase for Martinez, but as I wrote in a review of an Episode 1 match, I wouldn't have minded this being even more one-sided to get over Martinez as a strong favorite to win the tournament. (1.5/5)

Paul Ellering's daughter, Rachel Evers, takes on the Dominican Republic-by-way-of-NYC's Marti Belle next. The crowd is somewhat split on these two as Belle comes in with some indie acclaim while Evers is a second-gen superstar who comes in with plenty of pep in her step. Despite Belle's experience and good character work, her offense was pretty paltry. There's potential there because her stalking is good and there's always room for a trash-talking heel, but there was not enough "steak" to match the sizzle (to steal a line from JR). Evers also showed a promising amount of room for growth, though I doubt she'll get past the next round as her inexperience is obvious. This match might've even been considered decent in 2002 when Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler were competing, but compared to where the bar is today, it would be a disappointment even at an NXT house show. (0.5/5)

Moving on to hopefully better things - Australia's 20-year-old talent Rhea Ripley vs. Miranda Salinas. Ripley has the crowd behind her and, as JR notes, the WWE's talent scouts on notice based on her youth and impressive size. Salinas is no slouch, though, the Booker T-trained performer maximizing her minutes with big expressions and enthusiastic bumping. Ripley, meanwhile, has the tools to build a house, but lacks the know-how to make it anything but a starter home. Like Evers in the previous bout, I don't expect Ripley to go too far in the tournament as her relative inexperience was pretty glaring here. An improvement on the previous bout thanks to Salinas' efforts and Ripley's unique power-based offense. (1/5)

Mia Yim headlines the second episode, taking on the rough-and-ready Sarah Logan from the backwoods of Kentucky. Lita notes on commentary that this is not the first time these two have tangled. The crowd is fairly split, unsurprising considering Logan has a little bit of NXT experience under her belt already while Mia Yim built a bit of a name for herself on the indies and in TNA. Yim hits a crowd-pleasing dropkick to the chest of Logan and follows it up with an absolutely nasty front facelock submission (the name of it escapes me at the moment). Logan fights out and we get a harsh exchange of stiff strikes on the ground and then on their feet, Young eventually getting a nearfall after a running knee to the face. Yim regains control, though, and hits a pair of beautiful back suplexes. Logan won't stay down, though, cutting Yim's offense off with a high suplex off the ropes and then a fisherman from the corner. Yim's finisher is cool, but needed a little more "oomph" to really get it over with the crowd after what was definitely the episode's best worked contest. To me, this is the type of match you could've had in your second round as Logan has the skills to warrant a second round match. (2.5/5)