The second round of the Mae Young Classic kicks off episode 5, as the final 16 look to continue their journey.
As ever, we’ve got Mauro Ranallo voicing over the hype video, before kicking it over to Jim Ross and Lita on commentary. All 16 women in the second round are on the stage, and we get the updated brackets before throwing to the pre-match video.
Mae Young Classic – Second Round: Rachel Evers vs. Abbey Laith
Commentary and the video package puts over Laith as a protege of Mae Young… yeah, I’m not even touching that. New graphics detail everyone’s height, finish and style, as Kassius Ohno is randomly shown at ringside.
If only they could have flown in Lance, eh?
Laith beat Jazzy Gabert in the first round, whilst Evers had a forgettable win over Marti Belle to get here. An early trip gets Laith a near-fall, before an armdrag takes Evers outside for a wild tope into the aisle!
After kicking out, Evers lands a Stunner and a back senton for a near-fall as JR somehow manages to confuse Toronto with Calgary. This made it into the edit?! Evers’ corkscrew legdrop out of the corner gets a two-count, before both women hit simultaneous pump kicks to leave the other laying. Some head kicks from Laith finally put Evers down, but Abbey takes too long to go up top and gets caught with a top rope Exploder for a near-fall!
Evers tries to follow-up with a kick, but Laith catches it and turns it into a powerbomb before folding up Rachel in the alligator clutch for the pin. A good opener to get us going in the second round, and a much better outing for Evers than on night one. ***
Abbey’ll face either Mercedes Martinez or Princesa Sugehit in the quarter-finals.
Mae Young Classic – Second Round: Piper Niven vs. Serena Deeb
Deeb hugs the trophy on the way to the ring, but she’s instantly cornered as Piper tries to play around with her.
Yup, the JR soundboard returns with “it’s a long way back to Scotland” – that interchangable phrase that apparently annoyed so many during the initial batch of episodes. A slam from Deeb goes badly wrong as Niven falls on her for an early two-count, before Serena gets a surprise near-fall from a roll-up. Piper keeps up the pressure with a back suplex and a diving crossbody, before a back senton misses…
Deeb rebounds with a headlock takedown, before throwing some punches… only for a monkey flip to get caught as Niven instead finds her head thrown into the corners as the monkey flip comes off eventually! A slam gets Piper down too, as does a neckbreaker, but Piper won’t stay down.
Niven stuffs a fireman’s carry and takes Serena into the corner for a swift cannonball, which collects another two-count, but she’s able to escape a Piper Driver and hit a headlock driver of her own for a near-fall. Piper sidesteps a spear, and whips Deeb face-first into the corner a la Bret Hart, before finishing her off with the Vader Bomb… but still Serena kicks out!
The crowd chant “one more time”, but instead Piper heads up top – and crashes with a diving headbutt. It doesn’t affect her too badly though as she’s able to avoid another spear, before blasting Serena with the Piper Driver for the win. Another fun outing, and Piper’s coming over like the monster that WWE could really do with… if they want to sign her permanently. ***¼
Piper’s got Lacey Evans or Toni Storm in the quarters…
Mae Young Classic – Second Round: Princesa Sugehit vs. Mercedes Martinez
Sugehit takes Martinez down early, looking for the arm, but after not being able to grab it they squared off instead.
A schoolboy into the corner trapped Martinez for a cannonball as the veteran struggled to get into gear, before finally dropping the luchadora with an inverted slam for a near-fall. Martinez rolls together a pair of suplexes and a Whiplash as the Trifecta gets her a near-fall, before she misses a boot into the corner as a Codebreaker left Martinez in the corner once more.
Mercedes blocks a monkey flip, only to be dropped with a tornado DDT out of the corner, before Sugehit tries for La Mistica. Instead she has to make do with a Fujiwara armbar that Martinez fights out of, before landing a Fisherman’s buster for the win. Pretty brief, with Sugehit getting most of this one – but a tidy match nonetheless. Martinez – injured shoulder and all – heads to face Abbey Laith in the quarters. **½
Charly Caruso’s in the 3D studio to run through what we’ve seen so far, before building to today’s main event – we’re not having to wait long to see more Kairi Sane!
Mae Young Classic – Second Round: Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair
The relative rookie Belair looks to keep Sane grounded early, using waistlock takedowns before a swift shoulder tackle snapped Sane to the mat hard.
Sane catches a kiss and stomps all over it, much to the delight of the Full Sail crowd… and the anger of Belair, who quickly kicks out from a dropkick before some elbows knocked Bianca down again. Belair uses her hair to whip Sane in the midsection, which draws massive boos as the ref is powerless to stop the (legal) weapon.
A big clothesline gets Belair a near-fall as the crowd continued to voice their disapproval, but she shrugs it off as she squats Kairi up into a stalling suplex for another two-count. Belair keeps Sane grounded with a double chickenwing, then hoists her up for a facebuster… but still Sane fights on!
Belair rushes in with a big splash, but Sane gets the knees up and begins to fight back with double-handed chops, before a flying forearm out of the corner barely gets a one-count. A modified straitjacket hold follows, but Belair’s almost able to get to the ropes for a break… and ends up having to throw herself free.
Sane rushes back in but takes a powerslam as Belair looked to get back in it, utilising a spinebuster slam before going up top… and nails a 450 splash! Kairi kicks out as Bianca looked like she’d seen a ghost. Belair misses a charge into the corner as she tried to keep up the pressure, and that’s her downfall as she eats a sliding elbow in the corner, then a spinning backfist, before Sane’s crushing top rope elbow gets her the win. WHAT. A. MATCH. A beautiful way to end the first half of second-round matches – these two worked really well together, and I’d hope this is far from the last time they’re matched against each other. ****
Kairi’s got either Dakota Kai or Rhea Ripley in the quarter finals…
That’s all from episode five – we’re still dealing with four-matches-a-show, but the overall quality has risen – and that main event… my word! Kairi Sane’s ability was well touted ahead of the tournament, but Bianca Belair made a name for herself with one match. Hopefully it’s not too soon in her career!