Another NXT UK female wrestler is entering the Mae Young Classic competition. WWE just announced Toni Storm, 22, will compete in the same tournament she was already a part of last year. She will be joined by fellow NXT UK wrestlers Isla Dawn, Killer Kelly and Jinny.
Like Mercedes Martinez last year, Toni Storm was one of the last four in the inaugural tournament, reaching the semifinals to be defeated by Kairi Sane. She’s the current wXw Women’s Championship and was the inaugural PROGRESS Women’s Champion.
Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and based in the U.K., the 8-year wrestling veteran worked in 13 countries before the age of 20. She mixes “snap suplexes, British technical grappling and the odd bit of high-flying”, like quotes WWE.
WWE announced just a few moments after a Japanese Legend would join the tournament in Meiko Satomura. The 23-year veteran made her in-ring debut at 16 in her native country. In 1996 she even took part of the inaugural WCW Women’s World Championship.
After more than 10 years with Gaea Japan, she created her own promotion, Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling, while appearing in CHIKARA events in the USA. “Known for her debilitating Death Valley Bomb and explosive Scorpion Rising axe kick, Satomura is a master of Joshi Strong Style, the hard-hitting in-ring female wrestling style,” tells WWE.
Here are the 21 competitors announced for the Mae Young Classic 2018, as of today:
- Deonna Purrazzo (USA)
- Io Shirai (Japan)
- Isla Dawn (Scotland)
- Jessica Elaban (USA)
- Jinny (England)
- Kacy Catanzaro (USA)
- Kaitlyn (USA)
- Karen Q (China)
- Kavita Devi (India)
- Killer Kelly (Portugal)
- Lacey Lane (USA)
- Meiko Satomura (Japan)
- Mercedes Martinez (USA)
- Mia Yim (South Korea)
- Nicole Matthews (Canada)
- Reina Gonzalez (USA)
- Rhea Ripley (Australia)
- Taynara Conti (Brazil)
- Tegan Nox (Wales)
- Toni Storm (Australia)
- Zeuxis (Puerto-Rico)
More names will be announced by WWE in the coming days and weeks. The Mae Young Classic 2018 Tournament tapings are taking place on August 8 and 9 at Full Sail Live in Orlando, Florida. The shows were sold out a few hours after the announcement of the tapings. The finals will be held as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
All pics courtesy of WWE.com