YMMV / WWE Mae Young Classic

• Author's Saving Throw: Serena Deeb abruptly disappeared from WWE TV following her release in 2010, with no explanation. Her vignette here explained that she was kicked out for her alcohol relapse.
• Base-Breaking Character: Bianca Belair big time. Some feel she had a lot of potential despite her greenness, and others felt she didn't deserve a spot over some of the other NXT girls.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Lacey Evans and Bianca Belair were noted to be quite impressive amongst the greener NXT developmentals making their debuts in the 2017 tournament.
  • Kacy Catanzaro impressed many people in the 2018 tournament, particularly as someone who'd just started wrestling and is a very petite 4'11".
• Growing the Beard: The second round matches were noted to be where the tournament really started getting good, in both the 2017 and 2018 versions (mainly because the first round matches tended to be fairly predictable - it would be a massive upset for someone like Xia Brookside to beat a high profile signee like Io Shirai).
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Seeing top indie women such as Candice LeRae, Kay Lee Ray, Mia Yim, Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez being part of a WWE show entirely for their wrestling. Five years previously, it would have been thought impossible that WWE would actually showcase female wrestling in such a way.
  • Cedric Alexander and his daughter in the crowd for wife Aerial Monroe's match.
• The Scrappy: Kavita Devi and Marti Belle were both noted by many as the weakest performers in the tournament (the former also received some backlash for being perceived by some to be only included due to WWE's failed attempt at expanding the Indian market, see Jinder Mahal), with Belle in particular allegedly performing so badly that the finish of her match was changed on the fly to advance her opponent Rachel Evers instead.
• Tainted by the Preview: The qualifying matches that aired before the tournament were very tepidly received - notably giving spots in the contest to Bianca Belair and Vanessa Borne, who were clearly far too green to appear on TV. Especially over slightly more experienced girls and NXT regulars like Liv Morgan and Aliyah.