10 Awesome WWE Moments That Went Absolutely Nowhere

9. Kairi Sane's History-Making Moment (Mae Young Classic)

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WWE.com

On September 12th, 2017, a company obsessed with making history and creating moments wrote Kairi Sane's names into the annuals by having her pin Shayna Baszler to take the first Mae Young Classic tournament. It was a huge deal at the time, but Sane's triumph brought few benefits.

'The Pirate Princess' was quickly inserted into the NXT Women's Title hunt. She was unsuccessful at TakeOver: WarGames, and injured soon after, but entered the women's Royal Rumble for a nothing run in January. Since then, Kairi has become a bit-parter in developmental, while Baszler is now the division's undisputed alpha, having unseated Ember Moon as champion at TakeOver: New Orleans.

She's still having decent matches when called upon, but Sane's stock has cratered. Her Mae Young Classic trophy may as well be the big gold monstrosity handed to the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal each year: it's a trinket when it should be a symbol of success.

While the company would be nuts not to push Kairi eventually, for now, she sits alongside Lacey Evans in the pecking order, and with her fellow former Stardom wunderkind Io Shirai on her way, the top table's about to get even more crowded.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.