All 32 wrestlers have been confirmed for this summer’s Mae Young Classic.
The final five participants were announced for the tournament today, with Sienna, Xia Li, Rachael Ellering, MJ Jenkins, and Zatara rounding out the lineup. Tapings for the tournament will be held at Full Sail University next Wednesday and Thursday, leading into the finals taking place at WWE Evolution on October 28.
Sienna was announced by her real name (Allysin Kay). She is a former two-time Knockouts Champion in Impact Wrestling and recently left the company when her contract expired while she was out of action with blood clots in both of her lungs.
Li and Ellering are both returning from last year’s Mae Young Classic. Li is from China and made her in-ring debut in the 2017 tournament, losing to Mercedes Martinez in the first round. She’s under WWE contract and wrestles on NXT house shows in Florida.
Ellering is again going by “Rachel Evers,” which is a reference to her trainer Lance Storm’s real last name. She defeated Marti Belle in the first round last year, with Dave Meltzer reporting that WWE changed the finish midway through after Belle had originally been booked to win. Ellering lost to Abbey Laith in the second round and has wrestled outside of WWE since the tournament.
Jenkins was signed by WWE as part of the most recent group of wrestlers to report to the Performance Center. She wrestled on the indies before joining WWE and was formerly part of the Impact Wrestling roster.
Zatara is a masked wrestler from Santiago, Chile. She is 26 years old and started wrestling in 2008.
The full Mae Young Classic 2018 lineup is listed below. Taynara Conti won a qualifying match at July’s NXT television tapings but has yet to be officially announced by WWE.
Kaitlyn
Rhea Ripley
Io Shirai
Nicole Matthews
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Deonna Purrazzo
Tegan Nox (Nixon Newell’s new WWE name)
Jessie Elaban
Reina Gonzalez
Taynara Conti
Mia Yim
Mercedes Martinez
Kavita Devi
Killer Kelly
Zeuxis
Isla Dawn
Lacey Lane
Karen Q
Toni Storm
Meiko Satomura
Ashley Rayne (Madison Rayne)
Priscilla Kelly
Xia Brookside
Hiroyo Matsumoto
Aerial Monroe
Vanessa Kraven
Allysin Kay (Sienna)
Xia Li
Rachel Evers (Rachael Ellering)
MJ Jenkins
Zatara