WWE Mae Young Classic 2018 Quarter Finals

Meiko Satomura vs Lacey Lane

This was the match it needed to be. Lane is vastly under-powered against Meiko, but is able to use her speed and obvious agility to avoid some big shots early on. Unfortunately, she then refuses a handshake and gets kicked to fuck for her disrespect. Lane misses a kick pretty badly, looked like she was never going to hit Meiko with it, but she does look good evading a flurry of offence and hitting a neat crossbody for two. Ultimately though, Satomura is too good, she kicks the crap out of Lane and gets the pin.

Io Shirai vs Deonna Purrazzo

I thought this was fine, but there’s bits that also didn’t work for me. Shirai lands on her feet from a flying headscissors, as per the first round Brookside match, but it looked less impressive her as Purrazzo barely grazed her with the move. Shirai is quick as can be though, and she ploughs through Purrazzo with a suicide dive, and I loved her rolling through a takedown right into a double stomp. Part of the problem with the match is with the layout – twice Shirai gets locked in Purrazzo’s Fujiwara armbar, and twice Shirai is able to reverse it to a crossface. Escaping Purrazzo’s signature move once was fine, but twice seems a bit of overkill especially as Shirai has to use the injured arm to hold onto the crossface. It doesn’t feel like a match Purrazzo is going to win, and it comes to pass as Shirai hits another overshot moonsault for the win. I really like both, but this was underwhelming.

Tegan Nox vs Rhea Ripley

If that was underwhelming, this was heart-wrenching. As someone who has seen Nox live countless times, from playing T-Bone’s sister in a long-forgotten angle in HOPE to having one of the best intergender matches I’ve ever seen with Chris Brookes in Fight Club Pro last year, I was more invested in her performance this year than anyone elses, especially with her injury keeping her out last year. So for her tournament to end in this fashion was horrible. Bless her for trying to continue after injuring her leg on the suicide dive, and huge kudos to Ripley for maintaining character, not getting lost and carrying on as everything they would have had planned changed. This was a hard watch.

Toni Storm vs Mia Yim

I had high hopes for this, and it ended up being another match that didn’t live up to my expectations. The opening stages just felt like a bunch of strikes from both women, with nothing really linking it all together. I do think Storm had a good performance as things went along though. Kicking Yim in the injured hand looked neat, and she laid in a nasty headbutt. The leg-trapped German suplex she hit looked choice, and I liked that she again went to the bad hand in the finish, as it caused Yim enough pain that she could slip behind and hit a German suplex, followed by a Tiger Driver for the victory. These were all good moments, and the match itself wasn’t bad, it just didn’t feel as important as I’d maybe expected.

Mae Young Classic 2018 - Round 2 #2

Zeuxis vs Io Shirai

This was a better showing for Zeuxis than her first round match, she looked nicely aggressive and the equal of Shirai here. Neat fast rope running exchange ends with Zeuxis baseball dropkicking Io off the apron with full force into her shoulder. I liked this, Shirai had steamrolled her way through her first round match, this was she started the match with a disadvantage. Shirai hits a nice handstand knees to the face and a nice suicide dive, but her crossface is easily broken by Zeuxis thanks to the bad wing. Zeuxis misses a moonsault with a nice thud, and her Spanish Fly is reversed to a top rope rana. Overshot moonsault gets the win for Io, and this was nice stuff.

Xia Li vs Deonna Purrazzo

Xia Li is legit, guys. Considering her experience levels, she looks tremendous here. Her first round match had seen her work in some neat kung fu, but here she bumped like a boss, faceplanting on a drop toehold, and nailed some lovely looking moves. Some neat strikes, good legdrops and a really great elbow drop. She also hit a great kick from the second rope. Purrazzo wisely focuses her attack on the arm to set up the armbar, she hits a great divorce court. Li escapes an armbar by rolling though to a cradle for two, but her aggressiveness proves to be her downfall. She kicks Purrazzo from the corner, but dives off the top into an armbar and Purrazzo locks in a Rings of Saturn to get the tap. Really loved this.

Tegan Nox vs Nicole Matthews

The shortest match of the show, and Matthews suffered from wardrobe issues again (despite it being a different outfit, hard not to feel sorry for her). Nox dives right into a forearm from the floor in the opening stages, made it look like she wasn’t expecting it. Matthews hits nasty kicks on the apron, as well as a big clothesline and a neat Northern Lights suplex. Nox hits a vicious headbutt (complete with woozy sell) and a great Wild Boar style cannonball, before the shiniest wizard gets the win. Good little sprint.

Kaitlyn vs Mia Yim

Hey, Mia Yim’s phantom hand injury returns. Despite suffering no ill-effects from chopping the post during her first round match, they’ve seemingly decided to run with it as a story point here. Kaitlyn looked great here, loved her sliding clothesline and her bodyscissors, due to the muscularity of her legs, made it look deadly. Yim starts working Kaitlyn’s leg after a missed baseball slide, and you can see the bruising on the thigh after a bunch of nasty kicks. Yim hits some punches with the “bad hand”, but when she punches the mat, Kaitlyn really goes to work on it, wrenching it backwards in a manner not previously seen on this apparently devastating injury. It looked nasty from Kaitlyn, and actually made it feel like a real disadvantage. Yim hits a shaky Eat Defeat for two, and a great looking Kaitlyn spear also only gets two. Kaitlyn misses a stomp on the hand, and Yim takes her down, locking on a kneebar for the submission. Thought Kaitlyn looked great here, hope it’s not just a brief return.

Mae Young Classic 2018 Episode #3

Kaitlyn vs Kavita Devi

This felt like it veered between really good bits and being very amateur. At times, Devi looked pretty lost, and there were awkward transitions where neither looked like they were sure what to do next. On the positive, Kaitlyn really whipped Devi over with a snapmere, hit a really nice shoulderblock and flew into the corner on a cannonball. It wasn’t a pretty match, but was quite nicely hard-hitting. Kaitlyn won with a spear.

Toni Storm vs Jinny

This was comfortably match of the episode, both ladies worked a nice competitive opening and gave a real air of aggression. Jinny slapping Storm feels like a mistake, as it prompts Storm to fire back, with Jinny taking a big bump from a Storm kick. Jinny comes back with a nasty kick to the spine, and I loved her Japanese armdrag into the corner. She locked in a surfboard that looked absolutely vicious, and it felt like Toni really had to battle to make the ropes. Eventually, she does escape, planting Jinny with a German suplex, charging her in the corner and hitting a Tiger Driver to win. Great stuff here.

Xia Li vs Karen Q

Li really impressed in last years tournament, and she looked like the extras year’s experience had helped continue her progress. The opening exchange, where both girls went for each other with some martial arts, really popped the crowd by being so different. Q slapped Li in the face, and at a monstrous barrage of strikes in the corner. This was briskly paced, with Q hitting a lovely back elbow and an exploder to take over, Li firing back with a nice range of kicks, before Q missed a frog splash, giving Li an opening for a flipping ax kick for three. Only 4 minutes long, but I really enjoyed this.

Mia Yim vs Allysin Kay

Bit of a disappointment here, both ladies have big reputations and are experienced working together, but this felt like they were just throwing things out there with no rhyme or reason. There’s a poor opening scuffle supposed to indicate animosity between the two, but the hatred never feels that real. There’s some nice wrestling, loved Yim’s big kick from the apron and her suicide dive, but then you get the moment like Yim violently chopping the post by accident that never goes anywhere, and you wonder what the point of that was. Kay taking over and choking Yim with her hair was nicely done, and she does nail a lovely discus clothesline, but then there’s a strike exchange that almost feels like a reset. Yim gets the win in the end with a top rope Eat Defeat, but I didn’t love this.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 6

Toni Storm vs Lacey Evans

Much better performance by both women than in the first round. Evans in particular looks more comfortable, possibly due to being in the ring with a more experienced opponent, and this ended up being a better showcase for her than the match she won. Liked her avoiding a third butt thrust by rolling Storm into a roll up, and she hit some nice legsweeps from the apron including a sort-of 619 around the post. Storm also looks more comfortable, and she look so fluid quickly reversing a boot in the corner into a backcracker. Evans tries a backflip into a pin, but eats knees and the Strong Zero gets the win for Storm.

Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler

Good match, but one where I never thought the result was in question. Baszler hits some nice early kicks to down Yim, but Mia sends her outside and follows with a great looking dive. Loved how Baszler had this look of disdain at Yim’s strikes before taking control again. Later in the match, Yim tries another strike combo, which looks more successful until Shayna just belts her with a knee to the face. Baszler is really smooth at countering into an ankle lock, first from out of a Yim pinfall then later as a counter to a German suplex. It also helps to convey the idea that she can hook a submission from nowhere, which she proves by getting her knees up on a Yim 450 and swiftly locking on the choke for the win.

Rhea Ripley vs Dakota Kai

Another fun match here, and another where the loser is elevated in defeat. Loved the early spot where Ripley lands on her feet on getting sent to the floor, scoops Kai onto her shoulders and drops her face first on the apron. Ripley has some nice kicks, including a big dropkick to the stomach. Even better is that moments later Kai tries a bridging cradle, but can’t commit to it due to selling her stomach. Kai also has her own share of nasty looking offence, with a facewash in the corner standing out. The end sees Ripley making a mistake by putting Kai on the top rope for a superplex, only to get knocked down and hit with a top rope stomp for the win. Both women came out of this looking great.

Candice LeRae vs Nicole Savoy

Probably the weakest match of the show. At least this time the “Queen of Suplexes” got to hit some, and they looked pretty good. Loved the rolling butterfly suplex chained into an armbar, and she plants LeRae with a back suplex. Savoy looks pretty impressive throughout, really liked her diving clothesline in the corner. LeRae looks less impressive, though she does sell pretty well, but her offensive run is pretty forgettable and never seems truly convincing against the bigger, stronger Savoy. LeRae gets the win with a 2^nd rope neckbreaker.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 2

Mercedes Martinez vs Xia Li

Li has a massive disadvantage in terms of experience, as this is played up as her first ever match. In contrast, Martinez is the veteran, and obviously someone the WWE trust to work with their green talent. With that said, Li looked terrific here. She’s got a unique look that makes her stand out, but her offence was really on point here. Loved her range of kicks and her movement to slide into a crucifix behind Martinez. Her running punch to a kneeling Martinez was really great before she gets caught in a lovely looking spinebuster. Mercedes gets the win by locking in a surfboard into a Dragon sleeper. Bit of a Li showcase, but an effective one, with Martinez moving on to get more chances to shine later.

Marti Belle vs Rachel Evers

Considering how good Li looked in her match, the fact that these two put on such a stinker is more telling. On the positive side, Belle does some nice character work as a condescending heel, but the rest…terrible. There’s an early tell as Evers barely gets over on a suplex. Evers and Belle exchange some woeful looking punches, though Evers does hit a nice looking senton. An Evers spinebuster looks sloppy, and she then takes an odd looking bump from a Belle Stroke. They just don’t look to be on the same page, so it’s a relief when Evers gets the win with a roll up. The worst match of the tournament so far.

Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Salinas

Another match with some impressive rookie performances. Ripley in particular had some great looking dropkicks, a lovely running boot in the corner and a diving dropkick into the corner. Salinas does some nice work in getting over as a heel despite being substantially shorter and her heel control was perfectly fine. Ripley gets the win with a full nelson slam, and both girls looked promising here.

Mia Yim vs Sarah Logan

You can really tell the fact that these two are more advanced than a lot of the competitors, as this is a really good match. They cut a much faster pace, working fluid looking sequences. Loved the sudden dropkick Logan hits to a kneeling Yim, and Yim fires back with some stiff kicks. They also exchange some nasty blows on the mat. A German suplex to Logan looks a little off as Logan has to roll into place to have her shoulders down after initially landing out of the pin. Logan misses a leaping kneedrop and Yim hits Eat Defeat for the victory. Really good stuff. 

TNA Knockout's Knockdown

So, this is the latest in TNA's One Night Only PPV series, which airs free in the international markets. Markets like the UK, so this was a free show on Challenge. I enjoyed the TNA Knocked Out DVD I reviewed last year, so I went into this with some, admittedly minor, hopes that it might be good.

Gail Kim vs Alissa Flash
Gail is a a bit cocky early on, at least until she gets planted by a Flash German suplex. Flash tries a giant swing into the safety rail, but Kim grabs the rail to stop it, and instead rams Flash into it to take control. Gail retains control with some fun offence including the slick corner cross body. They also show Kim's smarts, as she grabs the ropes to break a deathlock variation, then delivers a quick kick to the head before Flash can react to regain control. Flash comes back with some nice aggression, culminating with curb stomp for 2. Ultimately, Kim is victorious, as she avoids a corner charge, before hitting Eat Defeat for 3. Fun match to open up.

Lei'D Tapa vs Ivelise
Tapa is substantially bigger than Ivelise. Because of this, Ivelise has to fight from below, using a quick flurry of kicks to try and take control. Tapa is not at all graceful, but her size means moves have a bit more oomph than they would otherwise. Tapa hits a really sloppy press slam, bearly getting Ivelise up. Tapa hasn't got much offence so keeps using clothelines to stop Ivelise comebacks. An Ivelise comeback rana looks awkward as Tapa struggled to bump for it. Ivelise locks in a guillotine and bizarrely what I thought was an Ivelise DDT turns out to have been a shonky looking Tapa slam for 3. This wasn't great, but Ivelise looked really good

Tara vs Mia Yim
Tara uses her relative strength early on to dominate, but spends a lot of time flirting with Jesse Godderz at ringside, which allows Yim back into the match. Some Godderz interference gives Tara the advantage, and I like how Tara shows a bit more aggression, as if Yim has embarrassed her by getting in some offence. We do get one odd blown spot, where Yim runs the ropes and barely touches Tara, before getting back on track with Yim getting her knees up on a standing Tara moonsault. Yim hits a nice Asai and a German suplex for two. Some more Godderz interference causes Yim to miss a corkscrew moonsault and Tara hits the Widow's Peak for the win.

Miss Techmacher vs Santana
Santana dominates and takes Tessmacher to the mat early. This is the first match where the outside talent has dominated a good chunk of the match, as Santana works over Tessmacher's arm and . Tessmacher has to fight back to get back in and, even after hitting a running corner charge, she goes back on defence as Santana quickly regains control. A missed handstand moonsault by Santana gives Tessmacher the chance to hit a facebuster to win, but Santana really was in control for most of this and looked good doing so. Fun match.

ODB vs Trinity
First time Trinity has been in TNA for years. Some early ODB advantage sees Trinity leave the ring, but ODB chases her out there to dish out a bit more. A missed splash by ODB gives Trinity the advantage, though nothing much really happens. It's pretty unexciting until ODB comes back with a meaty looking clothesline. ODB gets pissed up from her hipflask, and hits a corner splash, a bronco buster and a TKO for an easy win. Pretty much a squash.

Taryn Terrell vs Jackie Moore
The announcers hype up how tough Jackie is, and she in in charge early to prove this, just throwing Taryn around the ring. A lot of Jackie chinlocks do nothing to help make this match exciting. Taryn gets back on offence and, though not everything looks too crisp, she always looks suitably fired up which covers up a lot of flaws. Spear gets two for Taryn. Taryn misses a bulldog and Jackie dropkicks her in the face for three. Pretty brief and not too good whilst it lasted, though I liked Taryn's energy.

Sojo Bolt vs Taeler Hendrix vs Hannah Blossom
Sojo and Taeler look to be teaming up early, and fool Hannah into joining a three way lock up, only to double team her. A double team submission on Blossom looks particularly nasty. However, their partnership breaks apart as they clearly hadn't planned ahead to realise only one of them could win, and they too start to fight. This allows Blossom to fire back on Hendrix, though her offensive flurry doesn't last long. More miscommunication between the heels allows Hannah to nail a big boot to Hendrix for the win. This was ok, played mainly for comedy, but perfectly fine.

Velvet Sky vs Jillian Hall
Jillian treats us to some pre-match singing. Even early on, this is pretty poor as Velvet's offence is paperthin. They clumsily tumble to the outside, where Jillian throws Velvet into the steps in a tough looking bump. Jillian retains control, which is probably for the best, as at least her offence is better. I love Taz telling Velvet off for kicking out of a pin, when grabbing the rope would've used less energy. A terrible suplex-facebuster gives Velvet an opening, but Jillian hits one of the shittiest victory rolls in history for a two. Velvet gets In Yo Face for three. This was really bad.

Serena Deeb vs Mickie James
Nice hug to start, which sort of previews the story of the match. The opening sees both girls battling for position, trying to get control of the match. They shake hands again, and the second stage features a bit more aggression and a higher pace, highlighted by a few Serena elbows to the face. The third handshake is more of a hand-slap as a bit more edge comes into their exchanges. Things start getting really good, with a nice knucklock exchange before Mickie sends Serena out of the ring. I love Serena subtly showing how the Mickie chants are getting to her with her facial expressions, and she grabs a headlock instead of accepting the next handshake. Having sent Mickie to the floor, she kicks Mickie as she climbs back in the ring, before unleashing a flurry of blows. This aggression goes against her though, as she misses a corner charge at full speed and Mickie hits a desperation neckbreaker. James hits the top rope Thesz press and the DDT to win. Easily match of the night.

Queen of the Knockouts Gauntlet
As with usual TNA rules, it's through the rope elimination to start, before the final two face off in a normal match. Hannah Blossom and Gail Kim are the first two. Gail blitzes her from the get go and, despite a small flurry of offence, Hannah is swiftly eliminated. Tapa is next in, and provides more of a test to Gail, though it's more a case of dominating her with size than offence, as Gail doesn't seem to be in trouble. Tara's entry provides a break for Gail, as Tara and Tapa face off, though Tara can't life Tapa up due to her size. By the time Mickie comes in, Tapa is dominating both. Mickie takes over on Tapa with a bit more success, though soon Tapa is dominating all three. Her offense isn't great, but she's got a great look. That said, she's soon eliminated as all three team up on her. Tessmacher comes in, as Tara and Kim start to team up on Mickie. Tessmacher goes straight for her ex-tag partner Tara in a nice bit of continuity. Jackie Moore is next up, and the heels start to work over Tessmacher and James. Not much is really happening, and ODB is in, which at least livens things up. Jackie is removed at roughly the same time as Velvet Sky enters. Velvet and ODB end up fighting on the apron, leading to Velvet outchopping ODB to eliminate her, before Gail and Tara swiftly eliminate Velvet and Tessmacher, leaving Mickie 2-on-1. Mickie manages to eliminate Tara with a kick to the midsection, and we end up with the pinfall section of the match between Gail and Mickie. Top rope Thesz press gets two for Mickie, but Gail feigns ankle injury after falling from the ropes. Mickie, clearly not having watched any wrestling in the last 30 years, falls for this and Gail rolls her up from behind to win. This was so boring, if they'd gone through the eliminations quicker and given us a longer Mickie/Gail match, this would've been so much better. The only effective bit of the battle royal was the early bit to make Tapa look like a monster, the rest was average at best.