Mae Young Classic Episode 2 Recap

Episode's 1 recap is on the Observer site and ep 2 begins with a recap of week 1. Marti Belle faces Rachel Evers/Ellering, Rhea Ripley faces Miranda Salinas, Xia Li faces Mercedes Martinez, and Mia Yim battles Sarah Logan. Xia-Mercedes is up first, with Xia being discovered during a WWE trip to China. We see Mercedes kick ass in Shimmer and she gets over being an ass-kicking brawler type. Mercedes is out first, followed by Xia, who has some Chun-Li-esque thick thighs on her.

Mercedes mocks her with a crane style taunt. Xia is sloppy with her strikes, but Mercedes is nice and crisp and gets 2 off a spinebuster. Surfboard into a dragon sleeper ends it - so Mercedes advances. Martil Belle and Rachel are hyped up. We see that Rachel's FATHER IS PAUL ELLERING and yet they still go with the wacky Evers name. She says she wants to make him proud and she talks about her powerlifting background. Marti talks about being in NYC without knowing English and being street smart. Marti comes out to a nice ovation, while Rachel fires up the crowd - at least with the goofy name, she gets to keep her RE shirt.

The crowd is behind Rachel, who gets a nice headlock and Ross brings up Rachel being trained by Lance Storm. STO by Evers leads to a neck snap on the rope by Marti. Marti goes to bonk her into the buckle, but Rachel Hulks up and gets 2 off a spinebuster. Fisherman buster into a spinebuster gets 2. Marti gets a sloppy facejam for 2, but Rachel wins with a small package. Some aspiring female wrestlers are shown.

HHH tells them they've bucked the odds and they will allow them to smash the glass ceiling. Miranda was trained by Booker T and says she'll make everyone tap. Ripley is hyped up as a longtime soccer player and loves heavy metal concerts and enjoys kicking thanks to her soccer background. Miranda exudes confidence, while Rhea looks fine, but seems a bit sheepish. Rhea lands a nice dropkick and chops away in the corner. Rhea is only 20 and Lita says that she was a pirate traveling the world when she was that age, so JR brings up Kairi and Lita says she met her before. Miranda hits a shining wizard for 2. Bull Hammer by Miranda gets nothing and a shotgun dropkick hits for Rhea and gets 2. Rhea lands a Cro Cop kick and a big full nelson slam to win it. This wasn't great, but they each looked solid at points.

Mia Yim's video focuses on her domestic violence story last year. She said that whole experience made her stronger and she wants to be around for a while. Sarah Logan gets a redneck-ish video package and talks about hunting to survive. We see her kick ass in NXT and that's about it. Beth and Nattie are shown in the crowd. Sarah gets a wacky backwoods song that is so bad it's good. Ross talks about how she fought her Uncle Tater's goat as a youngster. Mia Yim comes out to a slick theme and has new badass gear. They shake and we see them turn the lights down on the crowd - just killing things.

Ross talks about Mia being influenced by Gail Kim and Lita. Logan knocks her down with a tackle and then eats a flurry of kicks. Sarah hits a big headbutt while Ross talks about her being a trained firefighter. Wacky armbar/straightjacket choke by Logan leads to a cradle for 2. Pele gets 2 for Mia leads to a ton of kicks. Tarantula by Mia leads to a missile dropkick for 2. Basement front choke by Mia and they go back and forth with forearms. Logan creates separation with some kicks and punches away.

Logan hits a shotgun knee to a seated Yim and gets 2. German gets 2 for Mia after a backdrop initially left Logan's shoulder up. Another German hits for 2. Mia kicks away, but Logan gets 2 off a schoolboy. Mountain bomb hits for Logan and gets 2. Shotgun knees send Mia to the corner and a super fisherman's suplex gets 2. Logan misses a big knee and eats a reverse buzzsaw kick before Eat Defeat hits and ends it.