Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler

Here's the match video of Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler. This was the final of the Mae Young Classic. This was broadcast live from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on the WWE Network. From the tournament matches that were taped in July, it looked like the WWE was planning a Four Horsewomen angle probably for The Survivor Series. But it seems that from July to this week, the WWE decided against doing it probably because Ronda Rousey wouldn't agree to do it. There's not much point in doing it without her. The assumption that the WWE was doing that angle led a lot of folks to believe that Shayna would win this match. I disagreed. I didn't think she needed to win to do that angle. Now it seems the plan all along was for Kairi to win the tournament. Shayna got to the final because of the possibility of a Four Horsewomen angle. Her comments before the match played her up as a heel against cute little Kairi. But Kairi turned out to be much tougher than most folks expected. BTW, Kairi wore all new ring gear. Shayna dominated the first part of the match. She worked on Kairi's arm and a kick to the head sent Kairi to the floor. The worm turned after Kairi hit a spear that seemed to hurt Shayna's ribs. I don't think it was a real injury but it helped sell the drama. So when Shayna applied the rear naked choke that beat her other tournament opponents, Kairi elbowed her in the ribs to escape. And you all know that when a wrestler kicks out of her opponent's finisher, that wrestler, in this case Kairi, will win. And of course Kairi won with her flying elbow drop. The match was pretty good. I think it was hurt by time constraints. Kairi gave another great performance playing up the drama mostly using facial expressions. She reminded me a lot of 70s AJW legend Mimi Hagiwara who also was an actor who got into pro wrestling. Hikaru Shida and Yumi Ohka are also actors turned wrestlers. In STARDOM, Kairi was always going to play second fiddle to Io Shirai who taught her a lot of moves including the diving elbow drop. Her ring skills and her dramatic ability stands out in the WWE. I'm sure HHH was very pleased with Kairi's performance. Like Asuka, Kairi knows how to get herself and her opponent over. Neither of them need to be scripted. That is a very valuable attribute. HHH announced that Kairi will be in an NXT Women's Championship match in November in Houston. At last night's NXT tapings, it was announced that it would be a five way match. They are having qualifying matches to determine the participants. One other thing. Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling Erica Wiebe was in attendance. The WWE has been after her for two years. I expect her to be signed very soon. I can't wait to see her. Enjoy the video!