The best and worst of the Mae Young Classic episode 3
Picking up after a clunker of an episode last week, the Mae Young Classic showcased a solid night of wrestling. Even though the Meiko Satomura vs. Killer Kelly match from the first episode remains the best match of the tournament so far, tonight's lineup was the overall strongest of the bunch to this point.
Let's take a look at the best and worst of episode 3.
Best: Still clunky, but better commentary
While it still wasn't great, the commentary for this episode merits a passing grade. After the Kaitlyn vs. Kavita Devi match (where the team tried to get across that Devi was a "trailblazer" in its usual bludgeoning way), it didn't do much to take away from the action in the ring, in contrast to the previous two episodes.
Hopefully, subtlety will grow more and more as we advance into the tournament. We don't need to hear about the participants being "trailblazers" or "making history" every time we see them. Let the work speak for itself. The Mae Young Classic commentary has resembled the main roster more than NXT so far, and that's why it's been one of the worst parts of the tournament.
Let's hope the trend of improvement continues!
Worst: Kaitlyn vs. Kavita Devi
Kaitlyn looked crisp in her return and Kavita Devi improved from last year, but that isn't saying much. This match was the worst of the bunch. Kavita Devi still isn't ready for any kind of role on television and Kaitlyn proved incapable of elevating her in the match.
The best part about this was that it was short. Kaitlyn will be better served in the second round. It was also good that the two women were of comparable size, because the David vs. Goliath trope has been played out in this tournament over the past few weeks.