Jim Ross and Lita to announce the Mae Young Classic

[cero2k]

Source: wwe.com

WWE has announced that the first-ever Mae Young Classic women’s tournament will stream exclusively on WWE Network, starting Monday, Aug. 28, with the first four episodes available on demand. Episodes five through eight will be available on demand on Monday, Sept. 4. The final match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.

The Mae Young Classic will be called by WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross, who will be joined on color commentary by four-time Women's Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Lita. The tournament, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will feature 32 of the top female competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament.

“The Mae Young Classic is a unique and exclusive offering for WWE Network subscribers and further highlights our ongoing commitment to the ‘women’s evolution’ in sports and entertainment,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative. “It’s a privilege to showcase these talented women from around the world and to provide them with an opportunity to shine before a global audience on WWE Network.”

Competitors announced thus far include Toni Storm from New Zealand; Princesa Sugehit from Mexico; Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Tessa Blanchard, and Abbey Laith from the United States; Kavita Devi from India; Jazzy Gabert from Germany; and Taynara Conti from Brazil.

WWE Network will also stream an exclusive special entitled, Mae Young Classic: Bracketology immediately following SummerSlam, on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11 p.m. ET.

[KILLdozer]

Would y'all just stop saying the "Women's evolution" all the time?

Maybe instead of fitting it in, no , jamming it innnnnnnnnnnn maaaaaaaaannnnn , at every possible thought of chance, why not just stop saying it and all related phrases, continue to let the women just have whatever matches they decide that are different for them, and then let the rest all happen naturally?

Then, people will of course see and talk. You know, if you build it, they will come.

[cero2k]

Would y'all just stop saying the "Women's evolution" all the time?

that's the bad part of reading news and articles from wwe.com, the corporate lingo is fringeworthy, they always refer to wrestlers by their nicknames, it's seriously annoying.

[KILLdozer]

So how's Lacey Evans gonna seem when she comes in here doing this 60's burlesque/school teacher stripper thing in this tournament for her entrance?

That in itself is hilarious.

[Big Red Machine]

Lita? Uch. Is it really that hard to throw a bunch of money at Veda Scott (i.e. a woman who is actually great at color commentary)?

[cero2k]

Lita? Uch. Is it really that hard to throw a bunch of money at Veda Scott (i.e. a woman who is actually great at color commentary)?

Veda is completely unknown, but why not Rene Young or Natalya

[Big Red Machine]

Lita? Uch. Is it really that hard to throw a bunch of money at Veda Scott (i.e. a woman who is actually great at color commentary)?

Veda is completely unknown, but why not Rene Young or Natalya

Because there is proof that Veda is an excellent commentator, and if you want a female commentator, why not sign the best one there is?
I thought the consensus on Renee is that she's not very good at it (I remember her constantly going "ooh!?" in surprise basically every time someone hit a move). As for Nattie, I'm not sure how she would be. I don't think we've ever heard her to actual commentary as opposed to WWE guest commentary, which is really just chatting with the announcers while cutting a promo to get your program over.

[cero2k]

Because there is proof that Veda is an excellent commentator, and if you want a female commentator, why not sign the best one there is?

you can bring Veda in, but she's not getting this big gig out of the box, she's an unknown, especially as a commentator

[Big Red Machine]

Because there is proof that Veda is an excellent commentator, and if you want a female commentator, why not sign the best one there is?

you can bring Veda in, but she's not getting this big gig out of the box, she's an unknown, especially as a commentator

So what? Lita hasn't done much commentary, either. If one partner is Jim Ross it doesn't matter how well known the other is. Just that he/she is competent. We know Veda is much better than competent. We know Lita isn't competent.

[cero2k]

So what? Lita hasn't done much commentary, either. If one partner is Jim Ross it doesn't matter how well known the other is. Just that he/she is competent. We know Veda is much better than competent. We know Lita isn't competent.

Are you really comparing Lita vs Veda in popularity? Veda is niche to indie wrestling, and even then, not a lot of people have even heard her do commentary, she could be as good as JR and Mauro combined, but WWE is not about quality, it's about recognizable and popular. This is not NXT that you can say it's developmental (when it suits them) and have interchangeable commentary and switch them out every other season, for this tournament they need recognizable voices.

[Big Red Machine]

So what? Lita hasn't done much commentary, either. If one partner is Jim Ross it doesn't matter how well known the other is. Just that he/she is competent. We know Veda is much better than competent. We know Lita isn't competent.

Are you really comparing Lita vs Veda in popularity? Veda is niche to indie wrestling, and even then, not a lot of people have even heard her do commentary, she could be as good as JR and Mauro combined, but WWE is not about quality, it's about recognizable and popular. This is not NXT that you can say it's developmental (when it suits them) and have interchangeable commentary and switch them out every other season, for this tournament they need recognizable voices.

I'm saying when one of the people in the broadcast booth is Jim Ross, the popularity of anyone else in there doesn't matter. JR could call the match with ME and no one is going to say "I think I'll skip this one because one of the guys in the booth in a nobody" because the other person in the booth is JIM ROSS (and especially if you've got the WWE brand name on it). They don't need recognizable voices. They need a recognizable voice. JR is that. If you really want to use Lita, stick her in the Corey Graves role of introducing video packages (although I think Renee or Charly would do a much better job because unlike Lita they don't embarrass them with their inability to string together a complete sentence every time they are asked a question on the pre-shows the way Lita (along with HBK and Booker T) does.
Also, if it is so important to you to have a female announcer on staff, why not snatch one up from the indies. And it's not like Veda has to be announcer forever, because she's an outstanding manager as well, plus she can work. Not only that, but her character on commentary is the type of character can naturally lays the groundwork to transform her into a manager or other non-wrestling character should you want to do that.
The bottom line is that if you want a female commentator, Veda is not only the best, but comes with a lot of flexibility and upside for how you can use her if you don't want her on commentary anymore. You'd have to be crazy not to throw tons of money at her.

[KILLdozer]

^ The WWE way of doing things isn't that far from crazy, so...

[KILLdozer]

Kairi Sane (Hojo) is in now as well.