By Mark Rodriguez
We continue with the Mae Young Classic as we finally enter the second round. With so many women that proved their abilities in the first round, which ones will advance to the quarter finals? Let's find out!
Match 1- Toni Storm VS Hiroyo Matsumoto
Both women evenly matched, getting out of each other's wrestling holds. Toni offered a handshake as the crowd cheered for both of their skills, but Hiroyo would take this chance to kick her in the stomach and gain control of the match. The Lady Godzilla would hit her with a Missile Drop Kick off the ropes. Toni hit her with a German Suplex to regain control and tried to pin her with the Fisherman Plex, but Hiroyo kicked out. Toni would try for a German Suplex Bridge but Hiroyo would kick out. Upon trying for a second German Suplex, Hiroyo got her into the Rock Drop, but Toni placed her leg on the ropes to break the pin. In the end, Hiroyo nailed Toni with 2 clotheslines, and when she went with the third, Toni would reverse it into a roll up pin transitioning to the a jack knife pin. Toni scored the win and advances to the Quarter Finals.
Kinda had a feeling Toni would win due to her fanbase, though I was kinda rooting for Hiroyo due to the savagery of her style. She managed to get Toni in a very painful Boston Crab followed by a double knee to the stomach which would have been the perfect way to soften her up for the Rock Drop to end it, had she not done it so close to the ropes. It was kinda funny cause it kinda seems like it was the audience's fault that Hiroyo lost. She wasn't quite sure about going for a third clothesline, but with the audience chanting 'one more time! one more time!' she went for it and that brought her downfall. I don't think I've ever seen a jack knife pin before, but Toni pulled it off. Toni is also very skilled at escaping holds and a hard hitter on her own right. Let's see how far she will advance.
Match 2- Kacy Catanzaro VS Rhea Ripley
Kacy seems better prepared and more confident this time, using her speed and agility to avoid Rhea's strikes. However, Rhea would catch her in mid-air a few times and managed to throw and kick her around. Rhea got her in a viscous Clover Leaf that Kacy managed to slip out of. Kacy impressed the crowd as she managed to do an Around The World DDT to bring Rhea down. Kacy would now on the offensive, determined to put Rhea down, hitting her with several moves including a Missile Dropkick off the second rope. When it looked like Kacy was going to finish her off, Rhea caught her legs and kicked her in the stomach. She then picked up her smaller opponent and slammed her down with the Rip Tide and secured the win. Ripley shook her hand and then told her to get out of the ring.
I was actually surprised Rhea won since everything seemed to be building that Kacy was going to take her down. Similar to her match with Reina, Kacy was once again pitted against someone much larger than her, but she seemed more confident and eager to secure the win this time. Once Rhea ate that DDT and had to roll out to regroup, it really looked like Kacy was going to win. I kept thinking to myself as I saw Rhea mostly kick her around that if she would just slam her once, it would be over. Sure enough, the Rip Tide did the job. I hope she makes it past the quarter finals as well. She is awesome and we need to see her go against a larger opponent so we can really see her go all out.
Kacy did slip up on the ropes that first time when she tried to do the Missile Drop Kick but she was allowed a second chance at it. Pretty sure that was a botch, but Rhea did lunge at her, trying to take advantage of her folly.
Match 3- Lacey Lane VS Taynara Conti
These two were as viscous as you'd expect based on their prior matches, starting with Conti viciously kicking Lane's hands off the ropes, one at a time. Lane would slam Conti on the back of her head, which would make her legs wobbly and open for more punishment. Lane managed to slam Conti face first into the mat. Conti grabs Lacey into some sort of judo throw, but it's the perfect position for Lane to wrap herself around her and land the Crucifix Bomb. Lane gets the pin and advances to the Quarter Finals.
All I can say was... THAT WAS IT? It felt like the match ended before it could really get good. Both of these women display some amazing skills and moves and now that they have a 20 minute time limit, they should have used the most of it.
Well, both women are cool. It's too bad Conti had to lose but I hope we see her again. She's good at making that psycho face of her, licking her lips/teeth savagely every chance she gets. Maybe she over does it, but it does make her look like a woman out to bring pain. Sadly it didn't help defeat Lacey Lane.
Main Event- Mercedes Martinez VS Meiko Satomura
Meiko worked on Mercedes' arm, keeping her trapped in an arm lock while both tried different holds on each other. Martinez finally managed to bodyslam Meiko and get her in a front face lock. Martinez started throwing hands and chops until Meiko hit her with a roundhouse kick to the ear. Meiko got fired up and climbed the ropes but Mercedes grabbed her and slammed her with a spinning nick breaker. Meiko would break the pin and get Martinez in the Armbar. Martinez used her long legs to get to the rope and break the submission move. Meiko would hit her with the Frog Splash off the top turnbuckle but she would still kick out.
Meiko would slam Martinez face first into the mat twice and hit her with a double knee, but she would still kick out of a pin. Mercedes got up and managed to slam Meiko with the Fisherman Buster to end it, but Meiko still kicked out. Mercedes got her in a Surfboard submission move but Meiko would fight her way out of it. Meiko would nail Mercedes with the Scorpion Kick to the head and finally scored the win to the Quarter Finals! She will be facing Lacey Lane in the next round.
This one was another surprise. Even though Meiko is legendary, I thought Mercedes was gonna take this one, and everyone in the crowd though that Fisherman Buster was the end, and then Meiko rocked the place when she kicked out. Both woman are full of all sorts of submission moves, though Mercedes had the power slams, Meiko had the strong strikes and high flying moves. The Scorpion Kick looked cool, though I kinda wanted see another Death Valley Driver, it does show that Meiko has a huge bag of tricks. Meiko is awesome, and I think Lacey Lane is in huge trouble.
Overall Opinions
It was a very entertaining show, I guess the only downfall was how short the match between Taynara and Lacey's match was, though I guess they wanted to give Meiko and Mercedes as much time as possible. I still expected a lot more from those two though and I hope to see them have a decent length match out of the two of them sometime down the line.
I'm now rooting for Meiko and wondering how far she will go. I am also glad that Rhea wasn't taken out and will advance. I do want to see her go all out against someone more her size and stop pitting her against such tiny opponents. I know Rhea is rather tall, but she seems to end up going against the shorter of the shortest opponents. Apparently commentary mentioned Rhea and Reina are friends, so I wouldn't mind seeing them both fight sometime.
Though I was initially surprised Meiko took down Mercedes, I did remember Mercedes has a match against Tessa Blanchard for Rise 10 Insanity, so that will be cool. Rise 10 will also feature a match between Madison (Ashley) Rayne against Jinny, so it's a great way for me to see more of the women that didn't get to advance in the Mae Young Classic.
We continue with the Mae Young Classic as we finally enter the second round. With so many women that proved their abilities in the first round, which ones will advance to the quarter finals? Let's find out!
Match 1- Toni Storm VS Hiroyo Matsumoto
Both women evenly matched, getting out of each other's wrestling holds. Toni offered a handshake as the crowd cheered for both of their skills, but Hiroyo would take this chance to kick her in the stomach and gain control of the match. The Lady Godzilla would hit her with a Missile Drop Kick off the ropes. Toni hit her with a German Suplex to regain control and tried to pin her with the Fisherman Plex, but Hiroyo kicked out. Toni would try for a German Suplex Bridge but Hiroyo would kick out. Upon trying for a second German Suplex, Hiroyo got her into the Rock Drop, but Toni placed her leg on the ropes to break the pin. In the end, Hiroyo nailed Toni with 2 clotheslines, and when she went with the third, Toni would reverse it into a roll up pin transitioning to the a jack knife pin. Toni scored the win and advances to the Quarter Finals.
Kinda had a feeling Toni would win due to her fanbase, though I was kinda rooting for Hiroyo due to the savagery of her style. She managed to get Toni in a very painful Boston Crab followed by a double knee to the stomach which would have been the perfect way to soften her up for the Rock Drop to end it, had she not done it so close to the ropes. It was kinda funny cause it kinda seems like it was the audience's fault that Hiroyo lost. She wasn't quite sure about going for a third clothesline, but with the audience chanting 'one more time! one more time!' she went for it and that brought her downfall. I don't think I've ever seen a jack knife pin before, but Toni pulled it off. Toni is also very skilled at escaping holds and a hard hitter on her own right. Let's see how far she will advance.
Match 2- Kacy Catanzaro VS Rhea Ripley
Kacy seems better prepared and more confident this time, using her speed and agility to avoid Rhea's strikes. However, Rhea would catch her in mid-air a few times and managed to throw and kick her around. Rhea got her in a viscous Clover Leaf that Kacy managed to slip out of. Kacy impressed the crowd as she managed to do an Around The World DDT to bring Rhea down. Kacy would now on the offensive, determined to put Rhea down, hitting her with several moves including a Missile Dropkick off the second rope. When it looked like Kacy was going to finish her off, Rhea caught her legs and kicked her in the stomach. She then picked up her smaller opponent and slammed her down with the Rip Tide and secured the win. Ripley shook her hand and then told her to get out of the ring.
I was actually surprised Rhea won since everything seemed to be building that Kacy was going to take her down. Similar to her match with Reina, Kacy was once again pitted against someone much larger than her, but she seemed more confident and eager to secure the win this time. Once Rhea ate that DDT and had to roll out to regroup, it really looked like Kacy was going to win. I kept thinking to myself as I saw Rhea mostly kick her around that if she would just slam her once, it would be over. Sure enough, the Rip Tide did the job. I hope she makes it past the quarter finals as well. She is awesome and we need to see her go against a larger opponent so we can really see her go all out.
Kacy did slip up on the ropes that first time when she tried to do the Missile Drop Kick but she was allowed a second chance at it. Pretty sure that was a botch, but Rhea did lunge at her, trying to take advantage of her folly.
Match 3- Lacey Lane VS Taynara Conti
These two were as viscous as you'd expect based on their prior matches, starting with Conti viciously kicking Lane's hands off the ropes, one at a time. Lane would slam Conti on the back of her head, which would make her legs wobbly and open for more punishment. Lane managed to slam Conti face first into the mat. Conti grabs Lacey into some sort of judo throw, but it's the perfect position for Lane to wrap herself around her and land the Crucifix Bomb. Lane gets the pin and advances to the Quarter Finals.
All I can say was... THAT WAS IT? It felt like the match ended before it could really get good. Both of these women display some amazing skills and moves and now that they have a 20 minute time limit, they should have used the most of it.
Well, both women are cool. It's too bad Conti had to lose but I hope we see her again. She's good at making that psycho face of her, licking her lips/teeth savagely every chance she gets. Maybe she over does it, but it does make her look like a woman out to bring pain. Sadly it didn't help defeat Lacey Lane.
Main Event- Mercedes Martinez VS Meiko Satomura
Meiko worked on Mercedes' arm, keeping her trapped in an arm lock while both tried different holds on each other. Martinez finally managed to bodyslam Meiko and get her in a front face lock. Martinez started throwing hands and chops until Meiko hit her with a roundhouse kick to the ear. Meiko got fired up and climbed the ropes but Mercedes grabbed her and slammed her with a spinning nick breaker. Meiko would break the pin and get Martinez in the Armbar. Martinez used her long legs to get to the rope and break the submission move. Meiko would hit her with the Frog Splash off the top turnbuckle but she would still kick out.
Meiko would slam Martinez face first into the mat twice and hit her with a double knee, but she would still kick out of a pin. Mercedes got up and managed to slam Meiko with the Fisherman Buster to end it, but Meiko still kicked out. Mercedes got her in a Surfboard submission move but Meiko would fight her way out of it. Meiko would nail Mercedes with the Scorpion Kick to the head and finally scored the win to the Quarter Finals! She will be facing Lacey Lane in the next round.
This one was another surprise. Even though Meiko is legendary, I thought Mercedes was gonna take this one, and everyone in the crowd though that Fisherman Buster was the end, and then Meiko rocked the place when she kicked out. Both woman are full of all sorts of submission moves, though Mercedes had the power slams, Meiko had the strong strikes and high flying moves. The Scorpion Kick looked cool, though I kinda wanted see another Death Valley Driver, it does show that Meiko has a huge bag of tricks. Meiko is awesome, and I think Lacey Lane is in huge trouble.
Overall Opinions
It was a very entertaining show, I guess the only downfall was how short the match between Taynara and Lacey's match was, though I guess they wanted to give Meiko and Mercedes as much time as possible. I still expected a lot more from those two though and I hope to see them have a decent length match out of the two of them sometime down the line.
I'm now rooting for Meiko and wondering how far she will go. I am also glad that Rhea wasn't taken out and will advance. I do want to see her go all out against someone more her size and stop pitting her against such tiny opponents. I know Rhea is rather tall, but she seems to end up going against the shorter of the shortest opponents. Apparently commentary mentioned Rhea and Reina are friends, so I wouldn't mind seeing them both fight sometime.
Though I was initially surprised Meiko took down Mercedes, I did remember Mercedes has a match against Tessa Blanchard for Rise 10 Insanity, so that will be cool. Rise 10 will also feature a match between Madison (Ashley) Rayne against Jinny, so it's a great way for me to see more of the women that didn't get to advance in the Mae Young Classic.
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| Oh Lacey, your days are numbered. |
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