WWE has announced the first four participants who will compete in the upcoming Mae Young Classic women’s tournament event on the WWE Network.
International standout Toni Storm, NXT Superstars Lacey Evans and Sarah Logan, and lucha libre champion Princesa Sugehit are the first four competitors officially confirmed for WWE’s inaugural Mae Young Classic.
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The announcement brings into focus the global scale of the 32-woman tournament, which will take place on July 13th and July 14th and is set to feature wrestlers from 17 different countries.
Toni Storm is the first and reigning PROGRESS Women’s Champion in the United Kingdom. The 21 year old has been wrestling since she was 13, carving out a reputation worldwide. She wrestled in 13 countries before age 20, capturing multiple championships along the way.
Hailing from Mexico, Princess Sugehit is the current Mexican National Women’s Champion. That belt, currently promoted by CMLL, has been around since 1955 and is one of the oldest women’s titles actively being defending in the world today. Since turning professional in 1996, Sugehit has earned countless accolades while competing in her home country’s top organizations.
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Two of the confirmed participants have previously been featured as enhancement talent on NXT, and will represent the WWE Performance Center in the tournament.
Sarah Logan (fka Sarah Bridges and Crazy Mary Dobson) is an Olympic powerlifter who gained notoriety for her rough-and-tumble fights on the independent scene. She previously trained in Japan under former WWE Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku before signing with the WWE in 2016 and making her NXT debut earlier this year.
Lacey Evans (real name Macey Estrella) is a former U.S. Marine who wrestled briefly on the independent circuit before signing with WWE in 2016. Nicknamed “The Lady of NXT,” Evans hopes to use her platform in WWE to show women all over the world that there are no limits on what you can achieve.
Other NXT talents rumored to be participants in the tournament event include Bianca Blair, Taynara Melo, Kimber Lee, Julia Ho, Victoria Gonzalez, Mary-Kate, Danielle Kamela, and WWE’s first female Chinese talent, Zhao Xia. Recently it was reported that Serena Deeb, a former member of CM Punk’s “Straight Edge Society” stable, may be in talks to come out of retirement to participate in the tournament as well.
The taping for WWE Network‘s Mae Young Classic tournament is less than a month away, and many members of the 32 competitor field supposedly still haven’t been “locked in” yet. There’s still 28 more names to be announced, so expect more details in the coming weeks.
WWE plans air the first round of the tournament in late August, with the second round being released in early September and the finals of the tournament to be aired as a live WWE Network special on September 12th.
[H/T Cageside Seats, Wrestling Inc]
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