WWE has announced that the first-ever Mae Young Classic women’s tournament will take place Thursday, July 13, and Friday, July 14, from Full Sail Live in Orlando, Fla.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. ET via www.nxttickets.com.

The tournament, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will feature 32 of the top female competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament. The unprecedented event will stream later this summer exclusively on WWE Network.

“The Mae Young Classic will mark a significant moment in the evolution of WWE,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative. “We are proud to provide this unique opportunity for the best female talent from around the world.”

Additional information on the Mae Young Classic will be announced in the coming weeks.

Click here for additional information on the life and legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.

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Cwalker said:

This the woman's tournament we've been hearing about for months? Or something different

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Cwalker said:

Well good for them for dedicating it to Mae

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KeepItFresh said:

Why isn't it dedicated to Moolah?

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International standout Toni Storm, NXT Superstars Lacey Evans and Sarah Logan, and lucha libre champion Princesa Sugehit are the first four competitors officially confirmed for WWE’s inaugural Mae Young Classic.

The announcement brings into focus the global scale of the 32-woman tournament, coming this summer to the award-winning WWE Network.

Twenty-one-year-old Toni Storm (pictured above) is the first and reigning PROGRESS Women’s Champion in the United Kingdom. Already an eight-year veteran, Storm has carved out a reputation worldwide: Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and based in the U.K., she wrestled in 13 countries before age 20, capturing championships along the way. With an aesthetic flair that finds inspiration in ‘80s rock, plus a ring style that is equal parts technical and hard-hitting, Storm looks to impress on her biggest stage yet in the Classic.

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Lacey Evans, of Parris Island, S.C., is a familiar face to WWE Network subscribers. A newcomer inside the yellow ropes of NXT, Evans joined the WWE Performance Center in April 2016. Prior to pursuing sports-entertainment, she served in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years, including time spent as military police and a member of the Special Reactions Team, which is the Marine equivalent of a SWAT Team. Nicknamed “The Lady of NXT,” Evans has said she hopes to use her platform in WWE to show women all over the world, including her 4-year-old daughter, that there are no limits on what you can achieve.

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Hailing from Louisville, Ky., Sarah Logan is proud to have been “born in the woods and raised in the mud,” as she puts it. Like Evans, Logan is an NXT competitor and recruit at the Performance Center. She began her in-ring career on the U.S. independent scene in 2011, and quickly gained notoriety for her rough-and-tumble fights. She refined her skills in Japan under former WWE Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku before signing with WWE in October 2016. Logan, who has also won Olympic powerlifting competitions, made her NXT TV debut earlier this year.

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One of the most esteemed grapplers in Mexico, the masked Princesa Sugehit, from Monterrey, brings 20 years’ experience to the Classic. Since turning professional in 1996, Sugehit has earned countless accolades while competing in her home country’s top organizations, CMLL and AAA. Not only that, but she has claimed the masks of numerous rivals over the year, which is considered the ultimate sign of triumph in lucha libre. She is also the current Mexican National Women’s Champion.

Stay tuned to WWE.com in the coming weeks for more updates on the Mae Young Classic.

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The anticipation for WWE’s inaugural Mae Young Classic continues to grow with the announcement of five more entrants into the tournament, as first reported by ESPN.com.

Third-generation wrestler Tessa Blanchard, hard-hitting veteran Abbey Laith, black-belt judoka Taynara Conti, international bruiser Jazzy Gabert and Great Khali protégé Kavita Devi are the latest additions to the Classic, which streams this summer, exclusively on WWE Network.

They will join Toni Storm, Princesa Sugehit, Lacey Evans and Sarah Logan, who were announced last week for the 32-woman tournament.

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Twenty-one-year-old Tessa Blanchard, of Charlotte, N.C., may be new to the WWE Universe, but her last name isn’t. The daughter of WWE Hall of Famer and Four Horseman Tully Blanchard, granddaughter of wrestler-turned-promoter Joe Blanchard, and stepdaughter of NWA legend Magnum TA, Tessa decided to follow in the family trade after watching her father’s Hall of Fame induction in 2012.

Since her 2014 debut, Blanchard has competed across the globe, including in the U.K., China, Japan and the Maritimes (where she once wrestled 23 nights in a row). She has even garnered praise from The Rock, whom she worked with on the set of the movie “Fighting with My Family.”

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Abbey Laith grew up admiring revolutionaries like Lita, Chyna and Ivory, but the WWE Performance Center standout — renowned for her strikes and suplexes — will have a chance to break new ground of her own in this summer’s Classic. Coming to wrestling with an extensive background in dance, particularly ballet, Laith began training for the ring while working toward a bachelor’s degree in dance education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Laith, who counts WWE Cruiserweight Drew Gulak as one of her original coaches, developed into wrestling royalty on the independent scene. She captured titles in SHIMMER Women Athletes and Shine Wrestling and became the only woman to hold the Chikara Grand Championship before joining the Performance Center earlier this year.

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A newcomer to sports-entertainment, 22-year-old judo master Taynara Conti might be one of the Classic’s least-seasoned wrestlers inside the ring. However, the Performance Center recruit isn’t lacking world-class combat-sport experience.

Conti spent years honing her martial arts skills in her native Brazil, eventually being promoted to black belt in judo and blue belt in jiu-jitsu. She competed in the 2016 Olympic trials in judo, and though Conti narrowly missed the cut, her thunderous throws helped put her on the radar of WWE talent scouts. Having trained under WWE coaches since last October, Conti will get her first chance at The Mae Young Classic to show the world what happens when a decorated judoka enters the ring.

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Representing Germany in the Classic is Jazzy Gabert, a muscle-packed, 6-foot-1 brawler who has wrestled internationally for more than 15 years. A strongwoman and professional MMA fighter outside the ring, the bruising Berliner has achieved her greatest success in Europe and Japan.

Gabert is a multi-time champion in Japan’s Stardom organization, and she is currently a women’s champion for groups in Germany and Switzerland. In MMA, she has fought under the banners of the Rizin Fighting Federation and IFO Europe.

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Kavita Devi is a powerhouse student of former World Champion The Great Khali. Hailing from Jind, Haryana, India, the 5-foot-9 Devi is a top competitor in Khali’s Punjab-based organization, Continental Wrestling Entertainment. She gained the attention of WWE talent scouts at a tryout this past April in Dubai.

Devi was an accomplished kabaddi player in high school and is also a competitive powerlifter. In 2016, she won gold in the 75 kg weightlifting division at the South Asian Games. Inside the ring, Devi has racked up victories using a head-caving roundhouse kick.

Stick with WWE.com for more details on the Mae Young Classic, including new competitor announcements, as they become available.

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Deezy said:

why not put Lo Shirai in this and use it to make her Asukas major challenge?

Better than pushing that botchfest Ember Moon.

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