Line #30 Wrestling/WWEMaeYoungClassic


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mae_young_classic_logo.jpg]]
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3	The ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Mae Young Classic'' is a professional wrestling tournament featuring 32 female wrestlers from around the world, named in honour of women's wrestling legend Wrestling/MaeYoung. The first four rounds were taped on July 13 and 14 with the finals airing after ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown SmackDown]]'' on September 12, 2017. The winner was Kairi Sane.
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5	After the success of the inaugural tournament, WWE announced another one in April 2018, with a possible eye to making it a yearly event. It began airing after ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'' every week starting from September 5, with the finals taking place as part of the all-female ''Evolution'' PPV on October 28th. The 2018 winner was Wrestling/ToniStorm.
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7	A third tournament for 2019 was announced by Wrestling/TripleH, but it was apparently cancelled.
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9	!!Tropes:
10	* AscendedExtra:
11	** Wrestling/LaceyEvans and Sarah Logan had appeared a couple of times as {{Jobber}}s or battle royal participants. Here they got spots in the tournament.
12	** Wrestling/MercedesMartinez had jobbed to [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]] on an episode of ''Sunday Night Heat'' way back in the early 2000s.
13	** Kay Lee Ray, Wrestling/CandiceLeRae, Rachel Evers, Santana Garrett and Wrestling/TessaBlanchard had already competed on NXT as part of {{Squash Match}}es. Here they appeared as actual tournament participants.
14	* TheBusCameBack:
15	** Serena Deeb was previously in WWE back in 2010 as part of Wrestling/CMPunk's Straight Edge Society.
16	** Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}} returned for the 2018 tournament after briefly retiring in 2014.
17	* ContinuityNod:
18	** Serena Deeb's video package referenced her time with the SES.
19	** Unusually for former [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] competitors, [[Wrestling/MadisonRayne Ashley "Madison" Rayne]]'s intro video explicitly discussed her time with TNA.
20	* DistaffCounterpart: This was the all-female equivalent to the Wrestling/WWECruiserweightClassic and UK Tournaments, which had been all male.
21	* EarlyBirdCameo: A lot of developmental female talent who hadn't appeared on NXT yet, or had only made minimal appearances, made their debuts in the tournament. Wrestling/BiancaBelair and Vanessa Borne were homegrown debuts, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Abbey Laith and Wrestling/ShaynaBaszler were indie women under contract who had yet to debut.
22	* FauxActionGirl: Rather obvious on newer girls such as Vanessa Borne in the first tournament. The 2018 tournament had a more experienced roster.
23	* FiveTokenBand: Promoted as an international tournament, it featured the following nationalities being represented by women in WWE for the first time: Germany (Jazzy Gabert), Brazil (Taynara Conti), India (Kavita Devi) and China (Xia Li, Zeda).
24	* GameBreakingInjury: Nixon Newell was slated to compete, but tore her ACL before the tournament. She was replaced with Miranda Salinas. Heartbreakingly enough, she participated in the second tournament, getting all the way to the quarterfinals before tearing her ''other'' ACL in the ring during a match with Wrestling/RheaRipley.
25	* TheHecateSisters: Notably used with the female broadcasters. Dasha Fuentes - the young model - was the Maiden. Wrestling/{{Lita}} - the star from the Wrestling/RuthlessAggressionEra - was the Matron. And Wrestling/{{Madusa}} - the veteran from the [[TheEighties 80s]] and [[TheNineties 90s]] - was the Crone.
26	* TheJuggernaut: Combined with OldMaster, this was Meiko Satomura in the 2018 tournament. 40 isn't particularly old, but for women in wrestling, it definitely is. In spite of her age, Meiko's skill level is unparalleled, and even her opponents (in particular Killer Kelly and Lacy Lane) bowed in deference upon Meiko defeating them.
27	* TheOneGuy: Uniquely for WWE, the commentary team was almost all-female - except for Wrestling/JimRoss in 2017 and Wrestling/MichaelCole in 2018.
28	* SensoryAbuse: Kay Lee Ray's theme, though less than her indie themes which all [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry7lH5383bo pretty much sounded like this]].
29	* {{Stripperiffic}}: Notably averted with Jessicka Carr - WWE's first full time female referee. If females had refereed in the past, it was usually the talent in custom versions of their wrestling gear, which being usually sexy by default, ended up looking more like a SexyWhateverOutfit.[[note]]Jacqueline for instance, wore a button shirt she tied under her boobs to give them a lift[[/note]] Jessicka wore the same uniform as the males.
30	* TournamentArc: Held during the third quarter of the year featuring 32 women competing in a two-three month duration.
31	* WorldOfActionGirls: This is notably the first time WWE has ever done an entirely all-female wrestling broadcast.
32	* WorthyOpponent:
33	** Despite being a heel, Vanessa Borne still shook Serena Deeb's hand.
34	** Reina Gonzalez to Kacy Catanzaro, after Kacy's upset victory. No one considered the 4'11" newbie Kacy a threat to 5'10" Reina, but Kacy showed off an impressive skill set. Reina raised Kacy's hand in victory.
35	** Meiko Satomura considered Wrestling/MercedesMartinez this in the 2018 tournament. Meiko was gracious to other competitors, even toward Wrestling/ToniStorm, who eventually beat her, but Mercedes and Meiko considered each other true veterans.

Context Wrestling / WWEMaeYoungClassic