By Mark Rodriguez
The first round continues in the second Mae Young Tournament. It's been pretty cool so far, so let's check out the last few matches for the first round. Last time we saw Toni Storm win her match to advance as well as the return of Kaitlyn. Who else will advance to the second round?
Match 1- Rachel Evers VS Hiroyo Matusmoto
Both women started rather evenly matched, with nothing working on the other until Hiroyo finally shoulder tackled Rachel down. Even though Rachel managed to pull a power slam on her, Hiroyo nailed her with a missile drop kick off the turnbuckle that knocked the wind out of her. From there Hiroyo 'The Lady Godzilla' would leave Rachel hanging on the ropes as she'd press her foot against her. She'd then hit Evers with a running crossbody as well as a double knee off the top turnbuckle.
Rachel finally turned the tide by getting of on an attempted slam and hitting Hiroyo with a power bomb. Rachel would try to win this with a Running Senton and a Spinning Leg Drop off the top rope, but The Lady Godzilla would kick out both times. Hiroyo would hit Rachel with a suplex, the Queen of Strong Style would get right back up and tell her to bring it on. From them both women tried to throw each other and keeping reversing their holds against each other until Hiroyo slammed Evers down with the Rock Drop to win the match.
Oh my god, what a match! This almost felt like a main event, especially with the ending sequence of them trying to reserve holds, throws, power bombs, roll up pins and all that. While the match started with it being all Hiroyo, once Rachel got some offense in, it eventually turned into anyone's match. Both woman dispalyed some great power moves and damaging strikes. I'm wondering how the other matches will top this one. And oh man, Hiroyo is going to face Toni Storm in the next round? This is gonna be epic.
Match 2- Taynara Conti VS Jessie Alaban
Conti showed her viciousness against the overly cheerful Jessie. The Brazilian Judo blackbelt got Jessie trapped in some painful armlocks, bending her wrist back and even raked her fingers against the ropes. Conti would kick Jessie's hand when she was lying up against the turnpost, but when she went for it a second time, she accidentally kicked the post itself. Jessie managed to slingshot Conti facefirst into the mat. Jessie would then use her long legs to kick and stomp Conti down. Conti would grab her into a judo hold followed into a slam and get the one, two, three.
Wow, what a mismatch. Conti is serious and shown as a blackbelt, already having been in the previous May Young Classic. Jessie comes off as overly cheery, goofy, clumsy and full of energy. The commentary states she has no wrestling experience and she's already up against a blackbelt, so I guess the match went like you'd expect. At certain times, with all the skipping around and the shorts, she reminded me a bit of AJ Lee, and Tanayra even called her crazy. At least she got some decent kicks in until Tanayra took her down. There was a bit of an emotional moment as Tanayra was overjoyed at making it to the second round, while doing her best to still look tough. She moved on to face Lacey Lane. I can't wait to see the Brazilian blackbelt take on someone with her level of skill.
Match 3- Isla Dawn vs Nicole Matthews
After some taunts between the two, Dawn managed to take Nicole down and stomp on her stomach. Nicole got control in the match when she hit Dawn with a neckbreaker while her legs were stuck on the ropes. After some more punishment, Nicole would get Dawn tied against the ropes and kick the heck out of her. Nicole would trashtalk her until Dawn would finally strike back, hitting her with a running knee to the face. Dawn got her in the Fisherman Plex (Perfect Plex) but Nicole still managed to kick out. In the end, Nicole managed to get Dawn locked in the Boston Crab (Lion Tamer) and the Modern Day Witch had no choice but to tap out. Nicole advances to the next round.
This was kind of a slow methodical match as the veteran Nicole knew she didn't have too much to worry about with Dawn and just took her time bringing the pain. I almost thought all her trashtalk would have been downfall and Dawn would have won with the Fisherman Plex. It was kinda too bad that didn't score a win since I've always liked that move. Dawn put up a decent fight, I kinda wish she had some witch-inspired moves or some sort of dark themed slam or something, especially with how the commentary kept joking that she needed to use some spells if she was going to win this match. It was decent showin and I hope we see her again, I was impressed with how she was able to lift and slam the much larger Nicole Matthews several times. As for Nicole, I like her kinda laid back 'been there, done that' veteran attitude. Nicole will advance to face Tegan Nox in round 2 and that will be pretty awesome.
Main Event- Xia Brookside VS Io Shirai
Xia would run right into Shirai and start her attack but Shirai would quickly shrug it off and flip out of her attack. Shirai would get Xia on the ringpost and hit her with a double knee to her chest. After taking some damaging knees to the face, Xia would finally grab Shirai and slam her face first into the mat. In the end, Shirai run into Xia with the Meteora (double knee to the face) and end it with a Moonsault and score the pin.
Wow, just wow. Xia is the youngest competitor of the MYC starting at 19 (which I believe so did Paige), and it was clear she was not afraid to take down The Genius of the Skies, Shirai. On the other hand, it was clear that the veteran Shirai was not going to hold back against the rookie, and damn, did it make me wince every time I saw Xia take those knees to the face. The match itself was ok, in the sense seeing Xia make her first big time performance and also for people getting to see Io Shirai in action, who is said to be one of WWE's biggest signings, but I mean it was pretty much a squash. While the first match of the night was main event material, I think they saved this one for last for the significance that both Shirai and Xai represent. Shirai will be taking on Zeuxis in the next round, and that will be pretty cool.
As for Xia, she has some fire in her, but she might have had a better chance against someone like Jessie Alaban or Kacy Cantanzaro.
My overall thoughts on Round 1
Round one has been pretty exciting and I can't wait for Round 2. We have cut the roster in half and are down to 16 women. It's too soon for me to choose a winner of the whole thing. I already assume Kaitlin, Toni Storm, Mercedes Martines and Io Shirai will be making it far.
So far my favorites are Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Xia Li and Tanayra Conti. I still can't seem to decide which one of these would be my pick to win the whole thing. Even though Io Shirai is 'WWE's biggest signing' I would hate to think the one we were just introduced to in the final match of the first round would also happen to win the whole thing, but who knows. Maybe Xia Li?
Of the ones that didn't make it, I would have loved to have seen Reina Martinez, Killer Kelly and Priscilla Kelly make it past the first round,
but oh well.
The first round continues in the second Mae Young Tournament. It's been pretty cool so far, so let's check out the last few matches for the first round. Last time we saw Toni Storm win her match to advance as well as the return of Kaitlyn. Who else will advance to the second round?
Match 1- Rachel Evers VS Hiroyo Matusmoto
Both women started rather evenly matched, with nothing working on the other until Hiroyo finally shoulder tackled Rachel down. Even though Rachel managed to pull a power slam on her, Hiroyo nailed her with a missile drop kick off the turnbuckle that knocked the wind out of her. From there Hiroyo 'The Lady Godzilla' would leave Rachel hanging on the ropes as she'd press her foot against her. She'd then hit Evers with a running crossbody as well as a double knee off the top turnbuckle.
Rachel finally turned the tide by getting of on an attempted slam and hitting Hiroyo with a power bomb. Rachel would try to win this with a Running Senton and a Spinning Leg Drop off the top rope, but The Lady Godzilla would kick out both times. Hiroyo would hit Rachel with a suplex, the Queen of Strong Style would get right back up and tell her to bring it on. From them both women tried to throw each other and keeping reversing their holds against each other until Hiroyo slammed Evers down with the Rock Drop to win the match.
Oh my god, what a match! This almost felt like a main event, especially with the ending sequence of them trying to reserve holds, throws, power bombs, roll up pins and all that. While the match started with it being all Hiroyo, once Rachel got some offense in, it eventually turned into anyone's match. Both woman dispalyed some great power moves and damaging strikes. I'm wondering how the other matches will top this one. And oh man, Hiroyo is going to face Toni Storm in the next round? This is gonna be epic.
Match 2- Taynara Conti VS Jessie Alaban
Conti showed her viciousness against the overly cheerful Jessie. The Brazilian Judo blackbelt got Jessie trapped in some painful armlocks, bending her wrist back and even raked her fingers against the ropes. Conti would kick Jessie's hand when she was lying up against the turnpost, but when she went for it a second time, she accidentally kicked the post itself. Jessie managed to slingshot Conti facefirst into the mat. Jessie would then use her long legs to kick and stomp Conti down. Conti would grab her into a judo hold followed into a slam and get the one, two, three.
Wow, what a mismatch. Conti is serious and shown as a blackbelt, already having been in the previous May Young Classic. Jessie comes off as overly cheery, goofy, clumsy and full of energy. The commentary states she has no wrestling experience and she's already up against a blackbelt, so I guess the match went like you'd expect. At certain times, with all the skipping around and the shorts, she reminded me a bit of AJ Lee, and Tanayra even called her crazy. At least she got some decent kicks in until Tanayra took her down. There was a bit of an emotional moment as Tanayra was overjoyed at making it to the second round, while doing her best to still look tough. She moved on to face Lacey Lane. I can't wait to see the Brazilian blackbelt take on someone with her level of skill.
Match 3- Isla Dawn vs Nicole Matthews
After some taunts between the two, Dawn managed to take Nicole down and stomp on her stomach. Nicole got control in the match when she hit Dawn with a neckbreaker while her legs were stuck on the ropes. After some more punishment, Nicole would get Dawn tied against the ropes and kick the heck out of her. Nicole would trashtalk her until Dawn would finally strike back, hitting her with a running knee to the face. Dawn got her in the Fisherman Plex (Perfect Plex) but Nicole still managed to kick out. In the end, Nicole managed to get Dawn locked in the Boston Crab (Lion Tamer) and the Modern Day Witch had no choice but to tap out. Nicole advances to the next round.
This was kind of a slow methodical match as the veteran Nicole knew she didn't have too much to worry about with Dawn and just took her time bringing the pain. I almost thought all her trashtalk would have been downfall and Dawn would have won with the Fisherman Plex. It was kinda too bad that didn't score a win since I've always liked that move. Dawn put up a decent fight, I kinda wish she had some witch-inspired moves or some sort of dark themed slam or something, especially with how the commentary kept joking that she needed to use some spells if she was going to win this match. It was decent showin and I hope we see her again, I was impressed with how she was able to lift and slam the much larger Nicole Matthews several times. As for Nicole, I like her kinda laid back 'been there, done that' veteran attitude. Nicole will advance to face Tegan Nox in round 2 and that will be pretty awesome.
Main Event- Xia Brookside VS Io Shirai
Xia would run right into Shirai and start her attack but Shirai would quickly shrug it off and flip out of her attack. Shirai would get Xia on the ringpost and hit her with a double knee to her chest. After taking some damaging knees to the face, Xia would finally grab Shirai and slam her face first into the mat. In the end, Shirai run into Xia with the Meteora (double knee to the face) and end it with a Moonsault and score the pin.
Wow, just wow. Xia is the youngest competitor of the MYC starting at 19 (which I believe so did Paige), and it was clear she was not afraid to take down The Genius of the Skies, Shirai. On the other hand, it was clear that the veteran Shirai was not going to hold back against the rookie, and damn, did it make me wince every time I saw Xia take those knees to the face. The match itself was ok, in the sense seeing Xia make her first big time performance and also for people getting to see Io Shirai in action, who is said to be one of WWE's biggest signings, but I mean it was pretty much a squash. While the first match of the night was main event material, I think they saved this one for last for the significance that both Shirai and Xai represent. Shirai will be taking on Zeuxis in the next round, and that will be pretty cool.
As for Xia, she has some fire in her, but she might have had a better chance against someone like Jessie Alaban or Kacy Cantanzaro.
My overall thoughts on Round 1
So far my favorites are Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Xia Li and Tanayra Conti. I still can't seem to decide which one of these would be my pick to win the whole thing. Even though Io Shirai is 'WWE's biggest signing' I would hate to think the one we were just introduced to in the final match of the first round would also happen to win the whole thing, but who knows. Maybe Xia Li?
Of the ones that didn't make it, I would have loved to have seen Reina Martinez, Killer Kelly and Priscilla Kelly make it past the first round,
but oh well.
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