The best and worst of the Mae Young Classic episode 8
Last night's episode of the Mae Young Classic was the best yet. Thankfully, the semifinal matches both lived up to the hype, unlike the disappointing quarterfinal matches last week.
The end result was that the final at Evolution was set, with Toni Storm set to take on Io Shirai. The contest isn't a surprising one, but it should be eagerly anticipated nonetheless, especially after the performances both women gave last night. Evolution felt like a filler pay per view that badly needed some excitement and this is a welcome development on that front.
Was there anything bad about a great episode last night? Let's take a look at how things played out.
Best: Meiko Satomura, Toni Storm, crank it up
After last week's disappointing match with Mia Yim, there was reason to be skeptical about Toni Storm's semifinal match. Thankfully, there was no reason to be disappointed. This was excellent, aside from there being too many finisher kickouts for my taste.
The thing that made this match great was that Toni Storm wasn't playing the underdog role that isn't particularly suited for her. Instead of getting beaten up for 90% of the match, she was actually the one on the offensive at the beginning of it, taking the fight to Meiko Satomura in a surprising way.
Meiko Satomura responded with some vicious kicks and submissions, but while Toni Storm's selling was inconsistent on this front, it was nice to see the two of them trade dominance back and forth. Neither woman is good at being an underdog, and thankfully, neither of them was. Both looked like they belonged in that semifinal.
Eventually, Toni Storm won after hitting the second Storm Zero and punched her ticket to Evolution. Last year's winner who beat her in the semifinal, Kairi Sane, presented her with flowers after the match.