WWE Mae Young Classic 2018 Preview And Predictions Roundtable
By Harmony Cox
Who do you think might be this year’s breakout star?
Ashley: This might sound weird after going on about Isla, but I honestly feel like Rhea Ripley and Xia Li are going to show out this year. They had participated in the MYC last year as relative greenhorns. Li especially was very green, but her style alone impressed me in her match with Mercedes Martinez. With a whole year to polish up especially after her injury, I feel like she’s going to be especially cool. Going back to Rhea though, she has this new punk rock look and if the scuttlebutt from the Coconut Loop is that she also has the attitude to match? Forget it, she’s going to kill it.
Aerial Monroe also has so much charisma that I think she could also steal some hearts along the way.
Chelsea: I think people will be pleasantly surprised with Kacy Catanzaro. It’s no secret she has an extensive history with the American Ninja Warrior franchise, and I think instead of that fact highlighting her inexperience, it will rather prove to be a tremendous advantage. It proves that she’s already hyper-aware of her own body and how it moves, which is dangerous inside the ring.
Christopher: For me, returning participant Mia Yim seems like a great breakout candidate. She had a couple of entertaining matches in last year’s tournament before bowing out to Shayna Baszler in the second round. Honestly, I’m surprised that WWE didn’t try to scoop her up afterward. Yim is a very good worker with a cool look, so a spot in NXT made all the sense in the world. With an opening round match against fellow former Impact Wrestling standout Allysin Kay (f.k.a. Sienna) and prospective matches against Kaitlyn, Toni Storm, Jinny, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and/or Rachel Evers/Ellering, Yim is primed to have a standout tournament. Honorable mentions go out to Kay, Evers/Ellering, Deonna Purrazzo, Karen Q and Xia Brookside.
Harmony: I’m putting it all on Karen Q. She is a fantastic performer in the ring. Very athletic, fun, and charismatic enough to steal the spotlight for herself. She has a lot of the all-around skills that really help a wrestler stand out in this kind of tournament format- for example, her match with Brandi Rhodes was one of the clear standouts in the mostly-uneven first round of the Women of Honor tournament, and a great deal of credit goes to Karen for that. So if she gets the chance to shine, I think people will be surprised by how good she is, and hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things for her.
Joe: I think Karen Q is one of the most underrated wrestlers on the planet, if not THE most underrated. Part of that is because most of the women in Women of Honor fly under the radar big-time. Tenille Dashwood is a known name for hardcore wrestling fans, and Deonna Purrazzo became one in ROH. To me, Karen Q is as good as those two, but she gets half of the attention. I think that changes after the Mae Young Classic 2 airs.
Kristen: Lacey Lane. Lane has already been signed at the WWE Performance Center, and her career will only go up from there. She’s studied under the Dudley Boyz, so you know she has some tricks of the trade up her sleeve. Lane has proved she’s athletic enough for competition: she was on the 2012 NCAA Division II championship basketball team at Shaw University. Watch for Lane’s lucha libre style to take center stage quickly in the tournament.