Mae Young Classic (2018)


The Mae Young Classic was a women's professional wrestling tournament produced by American–based promotion, WWE. The event was the second Mae Young Classic.

Background

In April 2018, the WWE announced a second Mae Young Classic tournament, following up on the 2017 tournament.
On June 22, 2018 the WWE confirmed the tournament would once again be 32 competitors, with the event being held at Full Sail University. On July 12, 2018 the first two competitors for the 2018 tournament were announced as Kaitlyn and Rhea Ripley. The finals will be held as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
On August 8, it was announced that the show would air every Wednesday on the WWE Network immediately after WWE NXT, beginning September 5. The show is announced by Beth Phoenix, Renee Young, and Michael Cole. In addition, the week prior to the first episode, WWE Network aired a bracketology special.

Qualifying match

; NXT tapings'' – July 18

Participants

Broadcast team

Tournament bracket

The following time limits were in place:

Aftermath

Performers on the tournament such as Deonna Purrazzo, Io Shirai, Jessie Elaban, Kacy Catanzaro, Kavita Devi, Lacey Lane, MJ Jenkins, Reina González, Rhea Ripley, Taynara Conti, Tegan Nox, and Xia Li already had signed contracts with the company. While Xia Brookside, Isla Dawn, Jinny, Killer Kelly, and winner Toni Storm had signed contracts with the company, performing on the NXT UK brand.
On August 25, 2018, Rhea Ripley started competing on the NXT UK brand, where she would eventually become the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion.
On October 18, 2018, WWE announced that Mia Yim had been signed to a contract, performing on the NXT and NXT UK brand.
In February 2019, WWE announced that Rachael Ellering and Karen Q signed to contract and training at the WWE Performance Center.
In November 2019, announced that Big Swole signed to contract All Elite Wrestling.
In January 2020, WWE
announced that Mercedes Martinez signed to contract WWE Performance Center.
On April 15, 2020, Deonna Purrazzo was released from her contract. Two days later, Taynara Conti was also released from her contract as part of budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.