Now that the Mae Young Classic is officially over, I wanna talk about it.

Obviously, there will be spoilers, but it's over, so it's not my fault if you haven't watched it.

I will say, if you didn't enjoy last year's and that's why you haven't watched it: this year's is so much better.  Like, nothing against the women in last year's (there were some great matches), but everything about this year's was better.

I'm gonna talk about each competitor because I truly believe all of them stood out in one way or another, which I can't really say about last year's competitors (again, nothing against them).

But first: the commentary.

I've since unpublished it, but if you read my review last year, you know I had a big problem with the commentary team of Jim Ross and Lita.  They just did not gel together, and neither of them were particularly good.

If you watched Evolution, then you got to hear this year's team of Michael Cole, Beth Phoenix, and Renee Young.  THEY WERE SO MUCH BETTER.

Obviously, Beth and Renee are still learning, but they did very well with what little training they had.  I've enjoyed listening to Renee improve every week on Raw + Beth gradually got more comfortable as the night went on (she did AMAZING at Evolution).

I had started re-watching last year's tournament a little while ago, and I just went ahead and muted it because I didn't want to listen to the commentary.  But it's good this year, so you don't have to do that.

Now, on to the competitors (who will be in alphabetical order because that's how they're listed on Wikipedia lmao).

Aerial Monroe
If you haven't seen the tournament yet, you may recognize Aerial because she was one of Nia Jax's squash matches back in 2016.

I absolutely loved Aerial, and I wish she had made it past the first round.  She faced Zeuxis, and I really enjoyed their match.

Aerial has such a unique look, and I think she'd do really well in NXT, and eventually the main roster.  She hasn't signed, as far as I know, but I'd love to see her in the next MYC (maybe next year? I don't know if it's a yearly thing).

It was cute seeing Cedric Alexander (her husband/boyfriend - I'm not sure which) with their daughter in the crowd.  It was adorable.

Allysin Kay
So, when it comes to the TNA women in this, I've only ever seen one wrestle actually with that promotion.  Allysin Kay is not that person lmao

With that said, I was very into her match with Mia Yim, and I know she's got some health problems, but she just seems ready to debut on the main roster.  I know most people go through NXT first, but if there was someone who didn't have to, I'd pick her.

She's got a great look and character, and the fact that her only match had some backstory (as she's had a few matches with Mia - the Frenemy World Tour) made it that much more compelling.

She's one of those people who exudes confidence and charisma, and I hope things go well for her if she never signs with WWE.

Ashley Rayne
This is the TNA girl I'm familiar with!

So, I watched this tournament with my mom, who has never really watched wrestling before.  Considering she didn't make it past the first round, I didn't have to talk about her much, but when I did, I had to keep stopping myself from saying "Madison" instead of "Ashley."

Of the TNA girls, Ashley was probably the most surreal to see in a WWE ring.  Mia and Allysin both wrestled there for a few years, but Ashley pretty much spent most of her career there; I consider her one of the original Knockouts (whether she is or not, I don't know), and I'm assuming she'll go into their Hall of Fame whenever she's done wrestling.

Her match with Mercedes Martinez was a lot of fun to watch, and I'm glad that she's signed a ROH contract and is able to do what she loves.

Deonna Purrazzo
(For some reason, I couldn't find the official MYC picture for Deonna, so here's the picture of her after she signed to WWE)

If I had to pick someone in this tournament to be the next NXT Women's Champion, it would be Deonna.

Every time I'd hear her name before the MYC, I'd think, "how is this girl not signed yet??" And now she is, and she seems so happy, and I'm so happy for her.

She's an insanely talented wrestler, especially considering how young she is, and once she debuts on NXT as an official part of the roster, I can only see things going up for her.

All of her matches were really good, and if she had made it to the finals, I wouldn't have even questioned it.

When I think of that quote that goes something like, "She's beauty, she's grace, she'll punch you in the face," I just instantly think of two people: one of them in Charlotte Flair.  The other is Deonna Purrazzo.

Hiroyo Matsumoto
Wow, she was super impressive.

Of the Japanese women in the MYC, Hiroyo had the least fanfare when she was announced.  Everyone was freaking out over Shirai and Satomura, but Matsumoto is important, too.

Both of her matches were really good, and the second round matchup with Toni Storm was one of the best matches from that round (I would only put one above it).

She's insanely good and has a great look, and I just wish everyone was as excited for her as all the other Japanese women.

Io Shirai
Is anyone even surprised that I was impressed by Io Shirai?

She was probably most people's picks to win the whole thing, and while she didn't, I'm not disappointed.  All of her matches were spectacular, and I completely understand why everyone is so in love with her.

If Deonna isn't next in line for the NXT title, then it's Io (ooh, let them feud!).

People on Twitter have been saying that heel Io is the best, so I'm excited for her to eventually (and hopefully) turn.

Also, my mom really likes the mask she comes out in.

Isla Dawn
When Isla first came out during that parade of champions (or whatever it's called), Beth Phoenix said that her life is influenced by two things: feminism and witchcraft.  So, uh, you could say I kinda love Isla Dawn.

Her match with Nicole Matthews was pretty good + I just love her look.  I haven't checked out that UK thing they did earlier in the year (where Toni Storm won an NXT title opportunity?), so this was my first time actually seeing Isla wrestle.  I can't wait to see where she is in just a few years because she's already impressing me.

Jessie Elaban
Earlier in the year, Jessie went on her first NXT tour outside of Florida, so I assumed that she must be pretty good if they're letting her do that.

With that said, her match against Taynara Conti wasn't...bad.  But it wasn't very good, either.

I have very little to complain about when it comes to this tournament, and I'm not even really complaining about Jessie because I think she has a lot of potential.  I just think they should've maybe waited for the next tournament to have her debut.

She reminds me a lot of early AJ Lee (before she was crazy), as well as Bayley, so I'm interested to see what she does with the character.

Jinny
So, like Isla Dawn, I'd never seen Jinny in a match, either.  I know she's the Progress Women's Champion, so she must be pretty good, I just never checked her out.

Her match with Toni Storm felt like it should've happened later in the tournament (I also feel this way about Kay/Yim), because I think Toni is the person she beat for that title?  So there's a built-in story and everything, yet it happened in the first round.

With that said, that match was really good, and I thought Jinny was really cool.  I like this fashionista character she's got going on.

Kacy Catanzaro
Considering what little training she has, Kacy really impressed me.

Her first match was sorta there, but I really liked her second one against Rhea Ripley.

The fact that Kacy has such an athletic background is obviously helping her with the training, and she can easily play the underdog in most of her matches (I think she's somehow shorter than me!).

There was a spot in the Rhea match where she botched something, but everything that happened after was perfect and professional.

It was like Rhea knew exactly what to do, and she did it.  She didn't try to cover up the botch, she simply attacked Kacy, and then when Kacy was able to defend herself, she tried the move again.

And commentary!  They said that this is the biggest stage she's ever performed on, so her nerves got the best of her (I think?  This might've been a different match lol)

Anyway, I'm loving everything about Kacy Catanzaro already.

Kaitlyn
(Her official MYC picture was horrible, so here's a nice looking one instead)

I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN THEY ANNOUNCED HER FOR THE TOURNAMENT

Kaitlyn was the very first person they announced, and ugh I'm so happy she got to be a part of it.

Her first match was good, it showed that she still knows what she's doing (especially since she hasn't wrestled in at least 4 years).

But her match with Mia Yim was her best one.  Mia is a ring veteran, so she always puts on great matches, and Kaitlyn never once looked lost or like she couldn't keep up.

I was hoping we'd see Kaitlyn at Evolution (not in a match or anything, I just wanted to see her).  I know she's got a business to run now, but I'd love to see her back in the ring full-time (or even part-time, as long as they don't give her the title).

Karen Q
I think I've actually seen one of Karen's matches before.  It was some random Women of Honor match I saw on YouTube.  I don't remember who she faced or anything, and tbh, she might not have been in it (they showed some backstory or something before the match started, and she may have been in that).

Anyway, I was super impressed with Karen Q!  I would love to see her come back for the next tournament.

She and Xia Li put on an amazing match, and one of the best first round matches (there were a lot of good first round matches this year).

I just think she's really, really cool.

Kavita Devi
Last year, I wasn't really impressed with Kavita.  She didn't make it past the first round, but it felt like she needed more training, just based on her one match.

This year, she looked a lot more comfortable in the ring, and everything she did seemed more fluid, and I'm glad.

Triple H must have some faith in her, as she was Kaitlyn's first match back in 4+ years.  I don't think he'd give her the match if she was bad.

It sucks that she never makes it past the first round, but I look forward to eventually seeing her on NXT.

Killer Kelly
Oh my god, Killer Kelly is so cool.

She reminds me a lot of Sonya Deville.  I don't know if she has an MMA background or not, but I want them to be a team.

She had one of the best first round matches with Meiko Satomura (there were A LOT of really good first round matches).

I look forward to seeing her on NXT UK because I'm not all that familiar with her, and she seems super cool.

Lacey Lane
WWE signed quite a few women before the tournament, and of all of them, I think the one with the most potential is Lacey Lane.

She has a unique look, a unique moveset, and is just all-around awesome.

She faced Vanessa Kraven in the first round, and that match was a lot of fun to watch.  Her match with Meiko Satomura was also really, really good.

I'm wondering if she'll have to change her name?  Because NXT already has a Lacey, I'm not sure if they'd want more than one person named that.

MJ Jenkins
She had a really good match with Rhea Ripley in the first round.

MJ seems super cool and super fun, and I think she could be one of those babyfaces that little kids absolutely love (like Bayley, or Johnny Gargano before he ruined all our lives).

I don't know too much about her, I just think she's cool.