6 Interesting Observations From WWE's Mae Young Classic

If you take a look at the ranks of the women’s divisions on Raw and SmackDown, you’ll see a lot of wrestlers who came up through NXT in the past couple years. In fact, the vast majority of active wrestlers cut their teeth in NXT.

With Asuka leaving NXT to head to Raw, it’s clear there was a talent gap forming due to all the departures. But the Mae Young Classic might help replenish NXT’s ranks in a big way. Some women already were under contract (such as Abbey Laith, Lacey Evans, Sara Logan and Bianca Belair), but it looks like several others have been added to the developmental territory, such as Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley and Taynara Conti.

If anything, the women already under contract got an opportunity to shine, while others used the tournament to introduce themselves to WWE and launch a new phase of their careers. If even half of the women who signed with WWE make it to the main roster, it will help fill out the ranks up there, so we can avoid repetitive bouts on Raw and SmackDown.

That might be one of the biggest legacies of the Mae Young Classic: bringing in new talent, introducing them to WWE fans and then bringing them into the fold to create deep divisions of skilled women’s wrestlers.