News of the upcoming WWE women’s tournament has been trickling out pretty much ever since last summer’s Cruiserweight Classic. The official announcement of the tournament happened over WrestleMania weekend at Axxess, and updates have been coming in steadily since then. WWE is courting competitors for the tournament both domestic and international, and the company may have even signed WWE’s first female referee in 30-plus years for the event.
WWE is reportedly planning on rolling out the preliminary rounds of the tournament all at once, rather than releasing them as a weekly show, like the CWC. The reported taping dates were happening in July at Full Sail, and on Tuesday, Triple H confirmed those dates. He also unveiled the new, official name for the tournament and its logo.
The WWE Women’s Tournament is now officially rechristened the Mae Young Classic, in honor of late WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
A tournament with top female talent from around the world is the next stage of the Womens Evolution in @WWE…July 13/14th from @FullSail. pic.twitter.com/qidXuWBGXA
— Triple H (@TripleH) May 23, 2017
Triple H elaborated on the new name in WWE.com’s official announcement.
“The Mae Young Classic will mark a significant moment in the evolution of WWE,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative. “We are proud to provide this unique opportunity for the best female talent from around the world.”
Young, of course, was reintroduced to modern-day wrestling fans in the Attitude Era as a pioneer of women’s wrestling, but was mostly used for comedic relief during her renaissance. Like the Dusty Rhodes Classic in NXT for tag team wrestling, the Mae Young Classic is intended to be a tribute to a formative figure in the division.
