RealGM

The first four episodes of the single-elimination tournament will be available on demand starting Monday, August 28th. Episodes 5-8 will be available on demand on Monday, September 4th. The final match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 12th, at 10 p.m. ET.

The Mae Young Classic, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will be called by WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross, who will be joined on color commentary by four-time Women's Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Lita.

WWE Network will also stream an exclusive special, “Mae Young Classic: Bracketology,” immediately following SummerSlam on Sunday, August 20th, at 11 p.m. ET.

Confirmed Participants by WWE.com:

• Shayna Baszler — Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Marti Belle — New York, New York (Representing the Dominican Republic)
• Kairi Sane — Tokyo, Japan
• Mercedes Martinez — Waterbury, Connecticut
• Nicole Savoy — Sacramento, California
• Toni Storm — Gold Coast, Australia
• Mia Yim — Fontana, Calif. (Representing South Korea)
• Candice LeRae — Riverside, California
• Sage Beckett — Tampa, Florida
• Princesa Sugehit — Monterrey, Mexico
• Bianca Belair — Knoxville, Tennessee
• Tessa Blanchard — Charlotte, North Carolina
• Serena Deeb — Fairfax, Virginia
• Vanessa Borne — Scottsdale, Arizona
• Taynara Conti — Rio de Janiero, Brazil
• Kavita Devi — Haryana, India
• Lacey Evans — Parris Island, S.C.
• Rachel Evers — St. Paul, Minnesota
• Jazzy Gabert — Berlin, Germany
• Santana Garrett — Ocala, Florida
• Reina González — Rio Grande Valley, Texas
• Dakota Kai — Auckland, New Zealand
• Abbey Laith — Seattle, Washington
• Xia Li — Chong Qing, China
• Sarah Logan — Louisville, Kentucky
• Renee Michelle — Washington, D.C.
• Piper Niven — Ayrshire, Scotland
• Kay Lee Ray — Glasgow, Scotland
• Ayesha Raymond — London, England
• Rhea Ripley — Adelaide, Australia
• Miranda Salinas — Houston, Texas
• Zeda — Richmond, Va. (Representing China)

I doubt this will be as good as the Cruiserweight Classic or the UK Tournament, but I'm still looking forward to it.

Hopefully Hojo or Shirai wins it.

Lita and JR are calling this.

One of the best things about the CWC was all the different stories. I thought one of the most compelling was Kendrick as the old vet who'd been with the company and made some mistakes and was now back with one last shot. And I was thinking about who could replicate that story and I'm struggling to come with names for that role. She retired a couple years ago, but Serena would've really fit the role

Is it just me or would it be smart for WWE to get a deal with Netflix to air the Women's Tournament. With the success of GLOW, it could potentially bring in another audience to the table. They could release all episodes after its completion or release it episode by episode on Netflix the day or week after.

MistyMountain20 wrote:Is it just me or would it be smart for WWE to get a deal with Netflix to air the Women's Tournament. With the success of GLOW, it could potentially bring in another audience to the table. They could release all episodes after its completion or release it episode by episode on Netflix the day or week after.

Would it be smart? Probably. Honestly, anything that has the potential to bring in more viewers to them would be smart.

Will the do it? Probably not. Vince isn't really in the business of doing what's smart. After all, we're on year four of face Roman Reigns getting booed out of arenas.

Pretty solid lineup, shame Shirai couldn't make the tournament, i'm sure she would have been one of the hot favourites.

Have a feeling that Hojo/Sane will win, she's just the one name that stands out from the lot (though Kai, Laith, Logan and Storm are pretty big names).

I'm amazed that they didn't make a bigger push to bring in Candace LaRae in. She's like the biggest name in women's independent wrestling, plus she is married to Gargano.

safi wrote:Lita and JR are calling this.

One of the best things about the CWC was all the different stories. I thought one of the most compelling was Kendrick as the old vet who'd been with the company and made some mistakes and was now back with one last shot. And I was thinking about who could replicate that story and I'm struggling to come with names for that role. She retired a couple years ago, but Serena would've really fit the role

Gail Kim perhaps could have done exactly that i think.

Spens1 wrote:I'm amazed that they didn't make a bigger push to bring in Candace LaRae in. She's like the biggest name in women's independent wrestling, plus she is married to Gargano.

She is in.

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:I'm amazed that they didn't make a bigger push to bring in Candace LaRae in. She's like the biggest name in women's independent wrestling, plus she is married to Gargano.

She is in.

nice. she is a contender for sure then.

Spens1 wrote:

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:I'm amazed that they didn't make a bigger push to bring in Candace LaRae in. She's like the biggest name in women's independent wrestling, plus she is married to Gargano.

She is in.

nice. she is a contender for sure then.

Yeah, although I think Kairi is taking this one home.

MistyMountain20 wrote:Is it just me or would it be smart for WWE to get a deal with Netflix to air the Women's Tournament. With the success of GLOW, it could potentially bring in another audience to the table. They could release all episodes after its completion or release it episode by episode on Netflix the day or week after.

Nah, I don't think so. The more first-run content the Network has the better.

But, I also don't think people who are not inclined to watch wrestling will do so because of GLOW. Wrestling is just the backdrop of this show and people who watch will do so because of the characters, acting, etc.

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:

improper wrote:
She is in.

nice. she is a contender for sure then.

Yeah, although I think Kairi is taking this one home.

you would think so but given that WWE is an american promotion i could easily see them giving it to LaRae (either or, it should be between these two are heads and shoulders above everyone else in this, except maybe Crazy Mary Dobson).

I think Hojo vs LaRae in the finals could be the best woman's match the company has had, ever maybe (at least until Hojo vs Asuka and Shirai vs Asuka).

Spens1 wrote:you would think so but given that WWE is an american promotion i could easily see them giving it to LaRae (either or, it should be between these two are heads and shoulders above everyone else in this, except maybe Crazy Mary Dobson).

I think Hojo vs LaRae in the finals could be the best woman's match the company has had, ever maybe (at least until Hojo vs Asuka and Shirai vs Asuka).

I think that would matter more if it were Vince running this, but I am pretty sure these tournaments are mostly ran by Triple H and his NXT people. I also think they'll be positioning Kairi to pick up where Asuka left off after she is (presumably) called up some time after Summerslam.

I do hope we get a Kairi/Asuka match before Asuka leaves, though. I think I recall reading they don't like each other in real life, so that has the potential to be stiff AF.

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:you would think so but given that WWE is an american promotion i could easily see them giving it to LaRae (either or, it should be between these two are heads and shoulders above everyone else in this, except maybe Crazy Mary Dobson).

I think Hojo vs LaRae in the finals could be the best woman's match the company has had, ever maybe (at least until Hojo vs Asuka and Shirai vs Asuka).

I think that would matter more if it were Vince running this, but I am pretty sure these tournaments are mostly ran by Triple H and his NXT people. I also think they'll be positioning Kairi to pick up where Asuka left off after she is (presumably) called up some time after Summerslam.

I do hope we get a Kairi/Asuka match before Asuka leaves, though. I think I recall reading they don't like each other in real life, so that has the potential to be stiff AF.

Well I'd imagine in NXT Shirai and Hojo will both get positioned in the main event positions, though i think Moon will take the title and then drop to one of those two.

Also yeah pretty sure Asuka has heat with almost everyone from Stardom so Shirai vs Asuka should be interesting also.

Spens1 wrote:Well I'd imagine in NXT Shirai and Hojo will both get positioned in the main event positions, though i think Moon will take the title and then drop to one of those two.

Also yeah pretty sure Asuka has heat with almost everyone from Stardom so Shirai vs Asuka should be interesting also.

Sounds like Shirai won't be debuting any time soon, as I read she got the injury flag. I'm not sure if that means they pulled her contract offer or if she just has to rehab before she's ready to start, though.

Seems weird with Asuka, as basically everything I've read about her is that she's super quiet and polite backstage. I remember reading that Triple H was concerned she wouldn't be able to go out and perform because she was so meek backstage.

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:Well I'd imagine in NXT Shirai and Hojo will both get positioned in the main event positions, though i think Moon will take the title and then drop to one of those two.

Also yeah pretty sure Asuka has heat with almost everyone from Stardom so Shirai vs Asuka should be interesting also.

Sounds like Shirai won't be debuting any time soon, as I read she got the injury flag. I'm not sure if that means they pulled her contract offer or if she just has to rehab before she's ready to start, though.

really, i thought she was just finishing off dates for Stardom and that's why she couldn't make the tournament.

Spens1 wrote:

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:Well I'd imagine in NXT Shirai and Hojo will both get positioned in the main event positions, though i think Moon will take the title and then drop to one of those two.

Also yeah pretty sure Asuka has heat with almost everyone from Stardom so Shirai vs Asuka should be interesting also.

Sounds like Shirai won't be debuting any time soon, as I read she got the injury flag. I'm not sure if that means they pulled her contract offer or if she just has to rehab before she's ready to start, though.

really, i thought she was just finishing off dates for Stardom and that's why she couldn't make the tournament.

This wasn't the report I originally read, but it was the first one that popped up via a google search:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/from-the-wwe-rumor-mill-io-shirais-debut-in-the-wwe-postponed-due-to-injury

improper wrote:

Spens1 wrote:

improper wrote:
Sounds like Shirai won't be debuting any time soon, as I read she got the injury flag. I'm not sure if that means they pulled her contract offer or if she just has to rehab before she's ready to start, though.

really, i thought she was just finishing off dates for Stardom and that's why she couldn't make the tournament.

This wasn't the report I originally read, but it was the first one that popped up via a google search:
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/from-the-wwe-rumor-mill-io-shirais-debut-in-the-wwe-postponed-due-to-injury

that sucks. She'll be fine though either way. In fact this may give Hojo a chance to not be in Shirai's shadow (for once).

Does anyone know if these episodes will release at midnight EST tomorrow night? Or is it a later in the day launch? If it's midnight, might stay up and watch tomorrow.