WWE Mae Young Classic 2017 - Episode 2

The WWE Mae Young Classic 2017 Episode 2 was a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's WWE Mae Young Classic 2017. It took on July 13, 2017 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. It was aired on the WWE Network on August 28, 2017.

Summary
China’s Xia Li, a pupil of the WWE Performance Center, wasn’t just wrestling her very first match under the bright lights of the historic Mae Young Classic, but she was doing so against Mercedes Martinez, the battle-tested independent wrestling icon from Waterbury, Conn.

Despite the daunting circumstances, the champion martial artist from China showed tremendous poise, blocking Martinez’s attack and cracking her with graceful strikes. A spinebuster by Martinez, however, allowed the 16-year veteran to regroup and cinch in a back-wrenching modified dragon sleeper to make Li submit.

Representing her childhood home of the Dominican Republic, New Yorker Marti Belle battled second-generation competitor Rachel Evers, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering, in a back-and-forth match.

Evers displayed her world-class power with a series of moves that culminated with a variation of a powerbomb. The notoriously scrappy Belle fought back with a faceplant, but Evers surprised her with an inside cradle out of nowhere to score the pin and move on to face Abbey Laith in the Second Round.

Miranda Salinas’ solution for countering the size and strength advantage of the tournament’s youngest competitor, 20-year-old Australian Rhea Ripley, was to fight dirty. The strategy worked intermittently, but Salinas’ win-at-all-costs approach couldn’t contain Ripley’s athleticism.

With the WWE Universe bellowing out Aussie chants to voice their support for Ripley, the former soccer standout showed off her kicking acumen, launching big boots and dropkicks at Salinas. A sky-high full-nelson slam secured the victory and Ripley’s spot in the Second Round.

Expectations ran high as Mia Yim and Sarah Logan, two of the Classic’s most lauded competitors, clashed in the main event, and the battle did not disappoint. Logan, the scary strong, Kentucky-tough disciple of Taka Michinoku, went blow for blow with Yim, the world-traveled Taekwondo specialist representing South Korea.

Full-force suplexes, ferocious kicks, headbutts and chops flew both ways. Logan looked to seal the victory when she screamed “Off with your head” and launched into a handspring knee attack. Yim dodged the move, threatened like retaliation, and nearly took off Logan’s head with Eat Defeat to win the thrilling match. Yim now moves on to face Shayna Baszler in the next round.

Results

 * Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
 * Mercedes Martinez defeats Xia Li (3:06) in a Mae Young Classic First Round Match
 * Rachael Evers defeats Marti Belle (6:10) in a Mae Young Classic First Round Match
 * Rhea Ripley defeats Miranda Salinas (3:51) in a Mae Young Classic First Round Match
 * Mia Yim defeats Sarah Logan (7:18) in a Mae Young Classic First Round Match