RAW Deal: The Mae Young Classic, Part 2

After a rather unpredictable first round of action, the Mae Young Classic rolls on with the last few rounds of the tournament this week. 

The contest is, as most tournaments usually go, becoming more consistent as the more elite contenders remain, but is also showing a lot of its cracks at the same time.

First, the negatives. I’ve already discussed how the tournament sacrificed some long-term viability in its attempt to provide a lot of good stuff in the first round, but the good thing is that that’s been offset by the sheer amount of talent among the wrestlers WWE and Triple H rounded up for this. Despite that, though, we’ve still ended up with some rather lopsided quarterfinal and semifinal matchups, like an awkward heel vs heel matchup in Shayna Baszler vs Mercedes Martinez, or a flat face vs face bout between Kairi Sane and Dakota Kai—just because nobody seemed to have thought the entire bracketing through.

However, the intended three-week tournament length that required them to shoot almost the entire thing over two days takes a real physical toll on the wrestlers and the crowd. Round two may be very well the best round of the tournament barring the live finals next Wednesday, Manila time, simply because most of the inexperienced performers have been eliminated in the first round and everyone is still running fresh.

By the later rounds, though, you can see everyone slowing down just a step because it will have been their second or third match of the night, and in quick succession as well. While there isn’t anything wrong with slow matches, there wasn’t enough support given by the storytelling and commentary, who could’ve easily mentioned that these women were wrestling almost a whole tournament in only two days. Acknowledging that would have gone a long way in contextualizing the action and making it even more prestigious, as it would’ve meant everyone knew Sane and Baszler—the ladies heading to the finals—outlasted 30 other women in a short span of time. That, and they already set a precedent with the United Kingdom Championship Tournament earlier this year.

Had we gotten even a slightly more protracted tournament, the Mae Young Classic would probably not suffer from these missteps. So much was made about the ability to watch programming on demand via the WWE Network that they never really thought about how this would actually affect people with real schedules.

That said, they learned their lesson from the Cruiserweight Classic and pretty much ensured the Mae Young Classic finals everyone wanted to see. Fan-favorite and real babyface Kairi Sane from Japan is headed up against low-key fan-favorite and MMA crossover star Shayna Baszler, who has a lot of potential, but also brings with her a huge link to infamous judoka Ronda Rousey.

Again, it’s worth noting that there are many competitors in the tournament who would’ve done a fine job of representing women in the finals, but this might be the best possible matchup they have given talent, potential, and buzz, and I’m glad they fully embraced it. I can’t wait to see how these two tear the house down in a fresh matchup next week.

Matches to watch from round 2, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals: Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair, Princesa Sugehit vs Mercedes Martinez, Piper Niven vs Toni Storm, Candice LeRae vs Shayna Baszler, Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm

A quick word about Enzo Amore

Enzo has been hanging out in the cruiserweight division for a few weeks now, and they’ve already established a pattern for him—he’s a babyface going up against the division’s biggest heels, but he’s being made to look like a complete loser who can’t win a match without cheating. As in he won’t even wrestle; he’ll come in and finish a match with some cheating.

This makes zero sense, no matter how you look at it. Even as a babyface, Eddie Guerrero’s cheating came after a good match, and his skirting the rules was definitely hardworking. Amore’s isn’t, and is just designed to annoy anyone who may be fans of the other cruiserweights. So what’s the deal?

My guess is that Amore’s real backstage issues with many wrestlers and other people hasn’t yet completely translated to the crowd reaction the WWE would rather have for him, and they’re booking him like this to get the crowd to turn. That’s fine and all, except stunts like this really do hurt the product and the story. It’s the problem with writing stories and booking based on feelings and politics—the politics will prevail even when they don’t make sense. If the WWE also wants to be taken seriously as an entertainment company, they’ll graduate from this sophomoric mindset.

That said, it’s only a matter of time, really, before Amore either fizzles out or steps up big time. Until then, it feels like they’re just wasting our time.

*****

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