5 Ups And 2 Downs From WWE Mae Young Classic (Sept 5)

by Scott Carlson

1. Meiko Time

meiko time
WWE.com

Ho. Lee. Hell.

There was a buzz when Meiko Satomura was announced for this year’s Mae Young Classic, and after her first-round match against Killer Kelly, it’s easy to see why.

Meiko was everything she was billed to be, controlling much of the match with stiff kicks and some innovative attacks. Her stuff looked crisper that a lot of the offense we see on WWE TV on a weekly basis, alternating the pace between deliberate and breakneck. At one point, Meiko sprung off the turnbuckles to catch Kelly with an armdrag, but she picked the leg on the way down and turned it immediately into a half-crab. Then, she transitioned into a variation of the Regal Stretch as Kelly reached for the ropes.

Having a 20-plus year veteran in the tournament is a great look for WWE and adds legitimacy and gravitas to the event, but it would be awesome if they could ship her up to Raw or SmackDown for a while to match up with some of the main roster superstars, because Wednesday’s sampling was pretty sweet.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.