Three more participants confirmed for WWE Mae Young Classic
With three more participants being announced today, there are only five wrestlers left to be confirmed for this year’s Mae Young Classic.
WWE added Hiroyo Matsumoto, Aerial Monroe, and Vanessa Kraven to the lineup for the tournament today. The tapings will take place at Full Sail University on August 8 and 9, with the finals then being held at WWE’s Evolution pay-per-view in Long Island, New York on October 28.
Matsumoto is a standout freelancer from Japan who has been wrestling since 2006. She’s the third Japanese wrestler announced for the tournament, joining Io Shirai and Meiko Satomura. In one of Shirai’s last appearances before coming to WWE, she went to a time-limit draw with Matsumoto and Satomura in a three-way match.
Monroe is an independent wrestler from Clearwater, Florida and a United States Air Force veteran. She debuted in 2015 and lists George South and WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander as two of her trainers. Monroe and Alexander also got married earlier this summer.
In August 2016, Monroe appeared on Raw and lost a squash match to Nia Jax.
Kraven is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is being billed at 6-foot-2 by WWE. She has over 14 years of in-ring experience.
Here’s the updated Mae Young Classic 2018 lineup:
- Kaitlyn
- Rhea Ripley
- Io Shirai
- Nicole Matthews
- Jinny
- Kacy Catanzaro
- Deonna Purrazzo
- Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell)
- Jessie Elaban
- Reina Gonzalez
- Taynara Conti (won a qualifying match at NXT TV tapings)
- Mia Yim
- Mercedes Martinez
- Kavita Devi
- Killer Kelly
- Zeuxis
- Isla Dawn
- Lacey Lane
- Karen Q
- Toni Storm
- Meiko Satomura
- Madison Rayne (announced as Ashley Rayne)
- Priscilla Kelly
- Xia Brookside
- Hiroyo Matsumoto
- Aerial Monroe
- Vanessa Kraven
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.