Our final match of the card, night and first round sees the super popular Kairi Sane from Japan’s Stardom go head-to-head with third generation wrestler and daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard, Tessa Blanchard! Shinsuke Nakamura is at ringside to watch our only Japanese competitor, Kairi Sane, make her mark at the Mae Young Classic.
Both competitors shake hands at the top of the match and these two experienced competitors start the feeling out process. A couple tests of strength show that the two are quite evenly matched, but it’s Tessa who has started to starts the chain wrestling sequence. After a quick back and forth, it’s Kairi who hits a running blockbuster out of nowhere to get the first 2 count of the match.
Kairi attempts another running maneuver, but Tessa is right behind her to hit her with a clubbing blow that stops her in her tracks. Tessa hits her own running neckbreaker for her own 2 count. Tessa whips Kairi into the corner and goes for a running attack, but Kairi hits a big boot and props herself onto the middle ropes… only to get hit with a Codebreaker! 1.. 2.. No! Kairi kicks out, but Tessa is now in the driver’s seat. It’s not for long though because Kairi hits a brutal spear out of nowhere!
Instead of getting the cover, Kairi marches to the end of the plank and hits a sliding forearm shot on Tessa in the corner. She teases for her signature diving elbow, but Tessa isn’t quite in position… so she hits her with a beautiful flying Superman punch from the top rope! 1.. 2… not yet! She tries to lock in a Black Widow, but Tessa fights out and gets to the ropes. Tessa then hits 2 stiff running attacks against Kairi’s lower back by the ropes to try and ground her down. Tessa works her way up to the top rope and after headbutting Kairi down, she is in perfect position for a senton! 1.. 2.. No! Kairi kicks out to the shock of Tessa!
We have a chain of close call roll-ups, which end with Kairi blocking a kick from Tessa and hitting a stiff kick to ground her. She hits an Alabama Slam to lay in the final bits of damage before she signals for her elbow one more time. Kairi climbs up to the top rope and her opponent is still in position. Kairi leaps off the top rope to hit a beautiful diving elbow, 1.. 2.. 3! Tessa Blanchard is eliminated and Kairi Sane proceeds to the second round!
As Kairi’s arm is raised in victory, Tessa is visibly upset but she seems to be crying tears of joy. She applauds her opponent and the two give each other a hug, while the crowd cheer on. Kairi Sane will be facing Bianca Belair in the next round.
Kairi is thrilled after her victory backstage and promises to deliver more diving elbow drops, so Bianca better be prepared!
Thoughts: Wow, is all I can say. We already knew that this was going to be a strong match and boy did both women deliver. Booking-wise, the WWE knew that they would need to end the first round strongly and that’s exactly what this match did!
Now if I’m honest, I think that we all knew Kairi would be moving forward anyway (even if you didn’t read any spoilers). Therefore, it would have been very easy to book Kairi as someone like Asuka – a machine, with elements of no-selling and deadly finishing attacks. Thankfully, they didn’t, which allowed the crowd to invest into both women. Tessa has been working her ass off lately and if someone had to go out on a high early, then she definitely would have been your woman.
I’ve always wanted to see Tessa (and her beau Ricochet) in the WWE, so who knows if the time will come, but this should definitely have placed herself right at the top of that list. Meanwhile, while Kairi has shown on the surface that she’s definitely one to watch out for. Understandably as a first round match, she hasn’t even scratched the surface of her talent just yet, but I’m already looking forward to that next match which will be a completely different kettle of fish. Bianca is bigger and stronger, but also much more inexperienced so how will these two mesh. It’s all very exciting as we move to Round 2 of the Mae Young Classic!
What did you think of the end of the first round? What match was your favorite in this episode? Who has unexpectedly blown you away? Sound off in the comments below.
