5 WWE Superstars Weigh in on the Mae Young Classic
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Courtesy WWE.com
If you follow WWE, chances are you’ve heard of the Mae Young Classic.The 32-woman, single-elimination tournament is the brainchild of Paul “Triple H” Levesque as a new way to highlight up-and-coming and lesser-known female superstars. In many ways, it’s another phase of WWE’s “women’s revolution,” showcasing how women superstars can hold their own just like the guys.We had the chance to talk to Levesque along with a number of notable WWE superstars (a few of whom spectated the tournament firsthand) to get their perspective on the Mae Young Classic, and what it means to them.The first four episodes of the single-elimination tournament will be available on-demand starting Monday, August 28.Episodes five through eight will be available on-demand on Monday, September 4.The final match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
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Per Bernal
Charlotte Flair
“I do believe it’s another step in the Women’s Revolution. It think it’s another opportunity to highlight and showcase women around the world. It’s also is an opportunity to talk about Mae Young and what she’s meant to our business, and how she opened the door for women today.”Click here for the full interview with Charlotte Flair >>>
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Courtesy WWE.com
Natalya
“I mean, I think the Mae Young Classic is…it’s just another way to integrate more women into WWE. A lot of these women that were in the Mae Young Classic, they never had an opportunity to sign. You could see them all…I just felt like the energy was contagious. I had said that to my best friend, Beth Phoenix, who came to the Mae Young Classic to watch girls jump up and down, get so excited, just made me feel invigorated. Made me feel like all those girls got to do a lot of that this weekend in Georgia, for example. We’re all just like on cloud nine. I was jumping up and down going, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do more and more stuff.’ Because I was watching these girls, these 32 women from around the world, at the Mae Young Classic doing ground-breaking stuff.”It was just inspiring to all of us. One of my best friends is actually in the Mae Young Classic, Shayna Baszler. She’s a pioneer in women’s MMA. She helped me prepare for my match that I had against Charlotte at [NXT] Takeover in 2014. It’s really just strong women helping strong women.”Click here for the full interview with Natalya >>>
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Courtesy WWE.com
Carmella
“Honestly, it’s, I can’t even explain how lucky I feel and happy I am to be in women’s wrestling at this time. It’s a revolution, again everyone keeps saying the women’s revolution, and to actually have the opportunity to go to the Mae Young Classic and watch the matches, I was so inspired. A couple of the girls that I’d never even met before, I had to go up to them and give them a hug after their match. I was like, ‘Thank you so much, you’ve inspired me to be in women’s wrestling.’ I already am, but all I want to do is work that much harder, and these girls are just—you can just see the passion in their eyes and their faces, and how bad they want it; and I mean, it’s such an exciting time, it just makes you, you can never get complacent. You always have to work hard, because you never know. Everyone’s vying for a spot and a position just to get here, and I’m going to do whatever I can to stay here and, you know, continue to make history.”Click here for the full interview with Carmella >>>
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Courtesy WWE.com
Becky Lynch
“I was there, and it was incredible. It was so good and…I’ve been on the independents with a lot of those women that had made it there, and to see that they had stuck with it consistently, and that they were getting their due rewards, was amazing. It made me so happy. It made me so happy to see the crowd interaction with them. They loved it. They never tired, and they were so invested in every single one of these characters. Women just poured their heart and soul into it, and you could see how much they cared and how passionate they were. That’s what we need. I keep talking about…that we need women’s championships, we need a women’s tournament. That is all in the sight line now, and that’s all very possible. There’s so many women that I saw, that I would love to be in the ring against.”Mercedes Martinez was somebody that I knew from the independents, and Nicole Matthews, who actually didn’t have a match on the TV taping…she hasn’t done as much, and being able to see her and perform…I actually watched her first match. So it’s crazy. Just seeing the distance that people have come, and that they’re getting seen. The crowd is reacting so well to them. That’s what makes me happy.”Read the full interview with Becky Lynch >>>
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Courtesy WWE
Paul “Triple H” Levesque
“When we first started, to be honest, I was concerned with doing a 32-woman tournament. I thought it might need to be 16 to keep the skill level at its peak, but the more I started to dig the more I started to uncover gold, and seeing these diamonds that were just kinda sitting out there. And I started this because women that are in this tournament, the respect level I have for them of doing what they do, they do it for the same reasons we all got into the business, [which] is for the love of it, right? You see something, or you go to an event, or whatever, and you fall in love with it. You think it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen, and you determine that’s what you’re going to do with your life.“But the difference for the guys is [that] no matter what level you’re at—even for the Cruiserweight guys—there’s always this chance that there’s this pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, right? And that’s why you get on the rainbow in the first place. For these women, they got on that rainbow and they started to do it. They did the same grind, they tried to do the same, you know, make the same name for themselves and do all those things, except there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For many, one or two or a small handful there was maybe WWE. Really, outside of that, there wasn’t much opportunity for them, but yet they still continued to grind and they made it their life and their life’s work, you know?“That, to me, is an even bigger respect level than what the guys go through. So now I’m happy that they can jump on that rainbow, and now they’re seeing that that pot of gold is there. That that rainbow has an end to it, and then there’s something there for them. And now I feel like the Mae Young Classic, while the attention has been there on the main roster of the Women’s Division and NXT, but now the main roster is going to be set by things like the Mae Young Classic. That’s the pot of gold for these guys to transition into something more.”Click here for the full interview with “Triple H” >>>
The 32-woman, single-elimination tournament is the brainchild of Paul “Triple H” Levesque as a new way to highlight up-and-coming and lesser-known female superstars. In many ways, it’s another phase of WWE’s “women’s revolution,” showcasing how women superstars can hold their own just like the guys.
We had the chance to talk to Levesque along with a number of notable WWE superstars (a few of whom spectated the tournament firsthand) to get their perspective on the Mae Young Classic, and what it means to them.
The first four episodes of the single-elimination tournament will be available on-demand starting Monday, August 28.
Episodes five through eight will be available on-demand on Monday, September 4.
The final match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
Charlotte Flair
“I do believe it’s another step in the Women’s Revolution. It think it’s another opportunity to highlight and showcase women around the world. It’s also is an opportunity to talk about Mae Young and what she’s meant to our business, and how she opened the door for women today.”
“I mean, I think the Mae Young Classic is…it’s just another way to integrate more women into WWE. A lot of these women that were in the Mae Young Classic, they never had an opportunity to sign. You could see them all…I just felt like the energy was contagious. I had said that to my best friend, Beth Phoenix, who came to the Mae Young Classic to watch girls jump up and down, get so excited, just made me feel invigorated. Made me feel like all those girls got to do a lot of that this weekend in Georgia, for example. We’re all just like on cloud nine. I was jumping up and down going, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do more and more stuff.’ Because I was watching these girls, these 32 women from around the world, at the Mae Young Classic doing ground-breaking stuff.
“It was just inspiring to all of us. One of my best friends is actually in the Mae Young Classic, Shayna Baszler. She’s a pioneer in women’s MMA. She helped me prepare for my match that I had against Charlotte at [NXT] Takeover in 2014. It’s really just strong women helping strong women.”
“Honestly, it’s, I can’t even explain how lucky I feel and happy I am to be in women’s wrestling at this time. It’s a revolution, again everyone keeps saying the women’s revolution, and to actually have the opportunity to go to the Mae Young Classic and watch the matches, I was so inspired. A couple of the girls that I’d never even met before, I had to go up to them and give them a hug after their match. I was like, ‘Thank you so much, you’ve inspired me to be in women’s wrestling.’ I already am, but all I want to do is work that much harder, and these girls are just—you can just see the passion in their eyes and their faces, and how bad they want it; and I mean, it’s such an exciting time, it just makes you, you can never get complacent. You always have to work hard, because you never know. Everyone’s vying for a spot and a position just to get here, and I’m going to do whatever I can to stay here and, you know, continue to make history.”
“I was there, and it was incredible. It was so good and…I’ve been on the independents with a lot of those women that had made it there, and to see that they had stuck with it consistently, and that they were getting their due rewards, was amazing. It made me so happy. It made me so happy to see the crowd interaction with them. They loved it. They never tired, and they were so invested in every single one of these characters. Women just poured their heart and soul into it, and you could see how much they cared and how passionate they were. That’s what we need. I keep talking about…that we need women’s championships, we need a women’s tournament. That is all in the sight line now, and that’s all very possible. There’s so many women that I saw, that I would love to be in the ring against.
“Mercedes Martinez was somebody that I knew from the independents, and Nicole Matthews, who actually didn’t have a match on the TV taping…she hasn’t done as much, and being able to see her and perform…I actually watched her first match. So it’s crazy. Just seeing the distance that people have come, and that they’re getting seen. The crowd is reacting so well to them. That’s what makes me happy.”
“When we first started, to be honest, I was concerned with doing a 32-woman tournament. I thought it might need to be 16 to keep the skill level at its peak, but the more I started to dig the more I started to uncover gold, and seeing these diamonds that were just kinda sitting out there. And I started this because women that are in this tournament, the respect level I have for them of doing what they do, they do it for the same reasons we all got into the business, [which] is for the love of it, right? You see something, or you go to an event, or whatever, and you fall in love with it. You think it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen, and you determine that’s what you’re going to do with your life.
“But the difference for the guys is [that] no matter what level you’re at—even for the Cruiserweight guys—there’s always this chance that there’s this pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, right? And that’s why you get on the rainbow in the first place. For these women, they got on that rainbow and they started to do it. They did the same grind, they tried to do the same, you know, make the same name for themselves and do all those things, except there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For many, one or two or a small handful there was maybe WWE. Really, outside of that, there wasn’t much opportunity for them, but yet they still continued to grind and they made it their life and their life’s work, you know?
“That, to me, is an even bigger respect level than what the guys go through. So now I’m happy that they can jump on that rainbow, and now they’re seeing that that pot of gold is there. That that rainbow has an end to it, and then there’s something there for them. And now I feel like the Mae Young Classic, while the attention has been there on the main roster of the Women’s Division and NXT, but now the main roster is going to be set by things like the Mae Young Classic. That’s the pot of gold for these guys to transition into something more.”
