A partial list of the competitors for WWE’s upcoming Mae Young Classic tournament was recently revealed by PWInsider. This list is almost a third of the entire field with a few more revealed by the Wrestling Observer in a different report.
*Zhao Xia – The first Chinese woman to sign a developmental deal with WWE and was brought over as part of a group of Chinese trainees who have been working out in the WWE Performance Center. Xia has trained in martial arts and has had multiple first-place finishes in various martial arts and fitness competitions, including the Second World Traditional Chinese Wushu Championship, the Nike Challenge Competition and First China Throw Down: Battle on the Bund.
*Mary Kate- The former Rosie LottaLove in TNA, was originally trained at the Team 3D Academy, who completely remade herself on the independents and later toured in Japan.
*Bianca Blair – former crossfit and track star that was signed by WWE in April 2016
*Danielle Kamela – Trained by Rikishi’s Knox Pro school in Arizona, Kamela was an on air personality for Fox Sports Arizona, an Arizona Cardinals cheerleader and a former member of the Phoenix Suns’ dance team before signing a WWE deal. She was in the top 30 finalists for the most recent version of Tough Enough as well.
*Julia Ho – Canadian model and MMA fighter, who trained with Brian Kendrick before being signed.
* Kimberly Frankele aka Kimber Lee – The former CHIKARA Grand champion.
*Lacey Evans – Former Marine, who recently debuted on WWE NXT TV.
*Victoria Gonzales – The daughter of Rudy Boy Gonzales Gonzalez played basketball for two seasons at Texas A&M-Kingsville before transferring to Sam Houston State, redshirting one year and playing another before graduating in 2013. She was signed to a WWE developmental deal last year.
*Sarah Logan- The former Crazy Mary Dobson aka Sarah Bridges, who recently debuted under that name on WWE NXT TV.
*Taynara Melo – A black-belt judoka from Brazil who was signed last year.
Besides these ten wrestlers, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer recently stated Toni Storm and Tessa Blanchard are also expected to be among the field although at the moment, neither have signed deals yet with the WWE. Previous reports from PWInsider and the Wrestling Observer hinted at Evie, Viper, Nixon Newell, and former Stardom star Kairi Hojo also being included while former Impact stars Jade and Marti Belle being in talks for the tournament.
The Mae Young Classic is currently set to be taped on July 13th and July 14th while the finals is planned to be a live event for the WWE Network on September 12th.
Source: PWInsider